The 2021 Rybovich III Amigos is looking for a new friend. The full-custom sportfish was delivered to an American billionaire three years ago for a rumored $23 million. Many thought that price was impossible for a 94-foot fishing boat, but the vessel has been listed on the brokerage market with Galati Yachts for $19,995,000, so if a buyer bites, the initial price seems to be in the ballpark.
(The boat, sharing the same name as the 1986 comedy with Chevy Chase, Martin Short, and Steve Martin, actually refers to the owner and his two sons.)
One reason for the high price tag is the exceptional superyacht-caliber cabin. The interior was fabricated by the German company Metrica, a 340-year-old firm specializing in yacht and residential interiors, that brought to life designer Patrick Knowles’s vision. It’s rare to have a European company do an interior of a boat being built in the US. But the owner clearly wanted to establish a pedigree for the vessel that went beyond the usual sportfish interior. It shows in this boat.
The sportfish was built to superyacht standards, with details like a dinette covered in blue leather and a VIP suite resembling a business jet cabin.
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Metrica literally transported a high level of fit and finish to the project by constructing the interior in Germany and then transferring it piece by piece to Michael Rybovich & Sons Custom Boat Works in Palm Beach Gardens.
There are many details that simply do not exist on other sportfishing vessels. In the salon, the dinette is upholstered in soft, blue leather with glove compartments that match the owner’s Ferrari, as well as the color scheme found in his home on Key Largo. III Amigos’s galley is also a rarity. The owner had made his money in the food industry, thus this space was sacrosanct. Witness the full-custom, stainless-steel hood over the oven and an outsized Sub-Zero refrigerator the owner chose after the interior plans were complete. That required reframing the interior ceiling so it would fit.
The serious sportfishing cockpit includes a fighting chair.
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Down below, there are more subtle cues, such as the sturdiness of the stateroom doors. They’re three inches thick, twice as thick as the doors found on many sportfishing machines. Another nice touch: A VIP stateroom to port has cambered ceilings designed to mimic a Boeing Business Jet cabin. (Knowles’s roots reside in the private-jet industry.) Finally, the full-beam owner’s suite, positioned amidships, is not just a showpiece but also has the requisite space and stowage for longer offshore trips.
This vessel was, in fact, designed for fishing voyages. The bridge is enclosed (rather than open, like most offshore fishing vessels) for the extra protection from the elements. It also becomes a second, albeit informal, salon for the crew. This boat was meant for long runs from the Keys to the Pacific side of Costa Rica, so the enclosed bridge made good sense.
Head-on, it’s a serious offshore battlewagon.
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With twin 2,000 hp M96L MTUs, III Amigos can top out at 41 knots (wildly fast when considering its size) and cruise comfortably at 34 knots. However, for longer runs the captain can bring the throttle down to nine knots for a range of 2,000 nautical miles—enough to get from Miami to the shores of Colombia without refueling.
This new breed of offshore vessels, alongside boats like the 90-foot Jarrett Bay Jaruco and the 97-foot Weaver 18 Reeler, has blurred the dividing line between fishing boat and megayacht. Of course, the most dramatic example is the 171-foot Special One, which launched this summer. Somewhere in the middle, III Amigos carves out its own space, a classic-looking battlewagon with the heart of a superyacht.