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Live on the water

Sales of seacraft are surging. From diving drones to floating mansions, the latest over-the-top water toys are reinventing what it means to soak up the fun.

And you can thank James Bond.

WhiteShark MixPro underwater scooter.

Source: Sublue

It was the sight of Roger Moore skidding a Wet Bike over the waves in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me that piqued yacht owners' interest in keeping more than just a tender, or small ship-to-shore shuttle, on board. Moore's gadget morphed into the Jet Ski, a must-have for every polyester-era playboy. The Jet Ski, in turn, raised cultural expectations for what we should be able to do on—or under, or over—the water.

Now billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and his new 417-foot-long project Y721—a yacht so big it needs its own yacht—plus destinations like the Four Seasons Bora Bora keep spurring new innovations. As bigger superyachts became dominant in the late 1980s, complete with roomier onboard garages, the types of toys and tenders available multiplied.

The BigAir Yacht Blob isn't as deadly as it looks, we promise.

Source: FunAir

But it's not just the world's wealthiest who are diving in since the coronavirus pandemic started.

According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, U.S. powerboat sales reached a 13-year high in 2020, when 310,000 new vessels were sold, a rise of 12% from the previous year. GetMyBoat, a marine rental platform, sent 60,500 renters out on the water in 2019, rising to 178,000 last year; it expects to hit more than 1 million for 2021.

Hanse 348, named Cruising World's best value sailboat two years ago.

Source: Premiere Marine

It makes sense: Nothing says summer like a good, socially distanced splash. Click through for how to do it from seesaw-like "blobs" to underwater scooters to jetpack-like contraptions for barrel-rolling thrills.

At the very least, if you're not splurging on a $5.5 million four-bedroom floating mansion, book that double-decker party barge with a waterslide.

The 2,600-square-foot, four-bedroom Arkup 75 can be moved and moored wherever you want.

Photographer: Craig Denis

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Art Week

Change is in the air.

The auction market, long dominated by work made by White men, is demonstrating some semblance of market diversity—not only in what's offered, but also by how much people are willing to pay.

Over the course of New York's May auction week, several of the $15 million-plus artworks sold after just a few bids, while occasionally dozens of people vied for lower-priced works by artists who aren't household names.

Salman Toor's Best Friends (2019)

Source: Christie's

"In a way, the headline this week is about diversity in so many ways," says Bonnie Brennan, president for the Americas at Christie's. "Not only in the artists themselves, but the [artworks'] medium, style, and price points."

Enthusiasm at Christie's on Tuesday night was particularly intense for work by Jordan Casteel (born in 1989), Nina Chanel Abney (1982), and Rashid Johnson (1977), whose Anxious Red Painting December 18th, which he completed last year, elicited "a volley of phone bidders in our sales room," Brennan says. It sold, with premium, for $1.95 million, topping a high estimate of $300,000.

Clyfford Still's PH-125 (1948-No. 1) (1948) sold for $30.7 million.

Source: Sotheby's

The next night at Sotheby's evinced a similar energy. There was a seven-minute-long bidding war for Robert Colescott's 1975 interpretation of Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware, titled George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook. It ultimately sold to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for $15.3 million, surpassing a high estimate of $12 million.

And a work by Salman Toor, whose solo show at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art earlier this year was a must-see, sold for $867,000, over a high estimate of just $80,000.

"The more electric moments this week have been around newer and more emerging artists," says Christie's Brennan.

Of course, with more than $1.3 billion worth of art sold, the biggest sales still went to established names: Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and Warhol still dominate the very pinnacle of prices.

Here are the top five lots sold.

$103.4 million for Picasso's Femme Assise Près d'une Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) (1932)

Sold at Christie's

Picasso's Femme Assise Près d'une Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) (1932).

Source: Christie's

$93.1 million for Basquiat's In This Case (1983)

Sold at Christie's 

Basquiat's In This Case (1983).

Source: Christie's

$70.4 million for Claude Monet's Le Bassin aux Nymphéas (1917-1919)

Sold at Sotheby's

Monet's Le Bassin aux Nymphéas (1917-1919).

Source: Sotheby's

$50.8 million for Basquiat's Versus Medici (1982)

Sold at Sotheby's

Basquiat's Versus Medici (1982).

Source: Sotheby's

$48.5 million for Monet's Waterloo Bridge, Effet de Brouillard (1899-1903)

Sold at Christie's

Monet's Waterloo Bridge, Effet de Brouillard (1899-1903).

Source: Christie's

 

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You Don't Say

A still from Daniel Arsham's NFT, Eroding and Reforming Bust of Rome (One Year).

Source: Daniel Arsham Studio

"Hey, I've got a crypto idea I'd like to discuss with you." — Tyler Winklevoss on cold-calling superstar artist Daniel Arsham to make an NFT.

Flower by Edie Parker bongs

Source: Edie Parker

"Accessories will probably end up being a VC favorite because it doesn't touch the plant." —Former Walmart Inc. executive Catharine Dockery on the rise in $800 bongs.

Mashburn proves that some watches even look good with swim trunks.

Source: Hodinkee

"Rule No. 1 is that the rules are looser than you think, but there are rules." —Menswear expert Sid Mashburn on how best to style your watch with your outfit.

Actor Will Ferrell founded the Funny or Die brand.

Photographer: George Pimentel/WireImage

"The entertainment industry has only really touched the surface in showcasing diverse funny voices from all over this country." —Philanthropist Henry R. Munoz III on acquiring Funny Or Die.

Flamingo body wax kit from Harry's.

Photographer: Harry's Inc.

"We look at this from an angle of no shame. It's just something that people do." —Model Ashley Graham on her partnership with Harry's.

Ellen DeGeneres.

Photographer: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

"Recently, I had a dream that a bird, beautiful bird with bright red feathers, came to my window and whispered, 'You can still do stuff on Netflix.' " —Ellen DeGeneres on ending her talk show after 19 seasons.

 

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