Compo’s Mysterious Sailing Yacht: The “Rosehearty”; Owned by Westport Native
The 183’9ft Rosehearty gave pristine views for the crew and guests on-deck during Wednesday evening’s sailing regatta off of Westport's Compo Beach. Westport Local Press photo. The Rosehearty sits in the midst of a local sailing regatta on the Long Island Sound. Westport Local Press photo. The Rosehearty has made waves in Westport this week as many have noticed the sailing yacht anchored just off of Compo Beach.
The 56m/184ft Perini Navi-designed vessel is owned by former Westporter Joey Kaempfer, Chairman of London-based McArthurGlen, and is coming off of its Winter season spent in the Caribbean. The boat and its international crew were stuck in Bermuda for most of April while the islands experienced lockdowns due to COVID-19. The vessel left Bermuda for Newport, Rhode Island early last week - then traveling to Westport on the 17th, according to the online mapping system.
Now flying under the United Kingdom’s flag with its home port of Douglas, Isle of Man, the boat was built in Viareggio, Italy in 2006 and was purchased by Kaempfer from Rupert Murdoch. The boat was supposedly valued at 29.7 million dollars in 2014; the final selling price is unknown.
The boat is currently lead by Captain David Hutchison of Scotland and includes a team of co-captains, bosuns, stewardesses/stewards, chefs, and engineers.
The Rosehearty anchored off of Westport’s Compo Beach Wednesday evening. Westport Local Press photo. According to the vessel’s website, it has traveled the world - both under charters and for racing - including the navigation of icebergs in the Northern Passage, or racing off of Sardinia, Italy. The vessel will leave soon for its Summer charter season in the Mediterranean, where guests can charter the vessel and its eleven person crew for $225,00 per week. The charter includes on-board jet skis, SCUBA equipment, two seperate boats, seven guest suites, and a full fitness center. Maximum sailing speed is 17 knots, with the sails taking up a total of 16,146 square feet when open.
Kaempfer has traveled the globe aboard the Rosehearty, but he remained true to his roots this week - visiting his hometown and taking in a locally-famous Wednesday sailing regatta.