PLAYBOY

In 1962, Bob Ahlers of Beachwood, New Jersey built a Penguin-class sailboat, hull no. 6276, for his son, Rob. The boy and his family named the boat PLAYBOY, and sailed it at the Beachwood Yacht Club for some time. At a much later date, Tom Payne, who lives near Lake Norman in North Carolina, bought PLAYBOY from the Donated Boats Program at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. PLAYBOY needed some work to get back in shape, and Tom was so involved in saving her he created a 25-minute video about the work involved in her restoration. It’s called The Salvation and Resurrection of PLAYBOY, and you can find it on Vimeo. Tom loves sailing PLAYBOY on Lake Norman and other waters near his home. His daughter, Gina Payne, took these pictures on the day of her launching last spring. Since then, Tom and PLAYBOY were fortunate enough to win an award in the Classic Sail category at this year’s Georgetown Wooden Boat Show.