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Stories of mythical boats returning to sailing are among those we most enjoy telling. From
Scylla, the pilot boat Sangermani
, to the
Baglietto Elba
of the 1960s, today we move on to a more modern, but equally cult model: the Magnum 63 Fury! Do you know the Ford GT40? Here this boat pays homage to her by becoming her version “of the sea.”
By Federico Lanfranchi
The passion of an Italian entrepreneur and a boating legend abandoned in a shed are the explosive mixture that triggered in the mind of Tommaso Spadolini the desire to restore luster to a 1992 Magnum 63. A lover and former owner of other boats, Spadolini wanted to save the American speedboat, giving it a new look and modifying it: like many other people, he got involved with refitting and a vintage boat.
“The boat was in excellent condition despite its many years of inactivity, but the work needed to bring it back to seaworthy condition was a lot: the professional contribution of the C.A.R.M. shipyard in Lavagna and the commitment of its owner Marco Poerino certainly deserve to be mentioned.” says Tommaso Spadolini.
From the site, however, it is learned that: “The owner (and his children) are very tall, and in the interior and exterior common areas substantial changes were necessary. Thus, in addition to some hull rolling, the interior and engine room were completely overhauled. We then removed an ugly stanchion to revive the clean lines of the original Pininfarina lines.”
Fury’s new owner, being the classic car enthusiast that he is, is well aware of the modus operandi of such a restoration, the problems that can appear, and the steps to follow. Certainly this other passion of his helped him a lot in giving the yard guidelines for refitting.
Have you noticed the livery of the renovated Magnum? Well, it is Spadolini’s homage to another American legend: the Ford GT40. In the 1960s, the American Ford brand decided to get down on the track in a very serious way, and it did so with a very powerful V8-powered car that was just 40 inches tall (hence the 40 in the model’s initials) and that was capable of challenging no less than the Drake and his Ferraris. It was in a car with a white livery and blue stripes that Ford won the first duel between the curbs against Ferrari.
Back on the water, the 63 is one of the most iconic models from the U.S. shipyard
Magnum Marine
and Fury is one of the last produced by the shipyard in 1992. The yacht has an overall length of 19.20 m and a maximum beam of 5.20 m: its deep-V hull and Arneson surface propeller drive were the highlights of this model, which makes no secret of its true offshore origins: despite its less than racer-like dimensions, it also boasts a record-breaking victory at the 1976 Miami-Nassau in its palmares. The most salient changes desired by Tommaso Spadolini are below the deck.
As a speed lover, he wanted to replace the engines: “This Magnum had been outfitted with GM engines that were smaller than the MTU V12s we had decided to fit, and so the engine room and even the sundeck above it were lower than the original design, to which we referred by raising them about 20 cm. In addition, we also planned to raise the roll bar slightly to accommodate my height. It was decided to keep the Arneson transmissions, but shipped to the U.S. for a complete overhaul.”, the owner explains.
As a matter of interest, the two MTUs have 2,000 horsepower each and during the first sea trial launched Fury at 55 knots. As for the on-board instrumentation and controls, they have been completely revolutionized using modern and ultra-high-tech materials.
We get Spadolini to tell us about the interior of his Fury, completely revised in layout and materials: “A major intervention, because I wanted two spacious cabins with a 205-centimeter-long bed in the master cabin. This required us to sacrifice the sailor’s cabin that was in the bow, which was replaced by a locker for fenders and ropes, using part of its volume to expand the owner’s cabin, complemented by a large bathroom.
For guests there is a second cabin with a French bed and a second, well-sized bathroom with a separate shower. This was a complex intervention that saw us remove some non-structural bulkheads and undertake a complete refurbishment of all the furniture. Another originality of the underdeck is in the choice of not wanting a dinette in preference to a large kitchen; therefore, the generous outdoor cockpit has been allocated as a common space, which, taking advantage of the rollbar with a protective bimini, is livable even in less than friendly weather.”
Federico Lanfranchi
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