American owners buy American yachts, right? The owner of 220ft Benetti Calex certainly did for many years, until the size requirements of his boat pushed him across the Atlantic. Before his first Benetti, David Wilson owned a succession of Westport yachts, moving from a 112ft Westport 112 to a 130ft and then bulk a 164ft, which he and his family enjoyed for many years. They kept their boats in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and spent most summers enjoying the warm water and the fishing in the Sea of Cortez. As usually happens, he eventually wanted to go higger and explore a little further.
“We just wanted a 146ft kind of on steroids,” Wilson says. He was very happy with his experience with Westport and would have returned to build a bigger boat with them but, at the time, the shipyard was not able to oblige. Where to go next?
Brokers, boat shows, magazines and friends all contributed ideas, but it was a fellow yachtsman and auto dealer who provided the initial impetus for him to look in Italy at the world's most prolific yacht builder.
“I probably wouldn't hare a Benetti if it wasn't for John Staluppi,” Wilson says. “He and his wife, Jeanette, hosted my wife, Holly, and me an his boat a couple
