– Chicagoan John Baxter, vice president and director of the Offshore One-Design Division of Doyle Sailmakers, is in Australia for the 720-mile Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, one of the most grueling sailboat races in the world, which began Friday. Baxter is a watch captain and helmsman aboard defending champion Quest, a Nelson/Marek 46-class sloop.
– After 10 days up for bid on eBay, the 112-foot custom motor vessel the Maryland Independence sold for $275,100 Sunday. A flurry of bidding pushed the price up almost $23,000 in the last six minutes. The yacht was built as a patrol boat for the Canadian Navy during World War II. Maryland bought it in 1986 for $636,000 plus the trade-in of a smaller yacht. It was used mainly to take corporate executives cruising on the Chesapeake Bay to attract companies to Maryland. It was appraised at $295,000 to $375,000. The Advantage Group, which marketed the yacht online, will take 10 percent of the sale price as its commission, with the state receiving $247,590. The sale fulfills a campaign promise made by Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who calls it a symbol of luxury that was inappropriate in a budget crisis, and his spokesman Henry Fawell says the governor is pleased.
