Virtual boats

June Casagrande

Sure, you could go to the 30th Newport In-Water Boat Show, check out

the Horizon 92 Motor Yacht, the Johnson 87 Raised Pilot House or the

McKinna 65. But unless you’re prepared to purchase one of these

top-of-the-luxury cruisers, the day could turn into quite a tease.

After all, you can’t take them all home and if you’re like most

people, you can’t even afford the Daytona 36 Eliminator speedboat,

much less the Ocean Alexander 860 Cockpit Motor Yacht.

But now there’s a way to take in some of the boat show without

carrying your credit card within striking distance of a yacht

salesman. This year, show presenters have parked a Web cam near one

of the boat show docks. From the safety of a home computer,

boat-buyer wannabes can check out some of the action www.goboating

america.com/boatshows/newport2k3/.

“It’s the first year we’ve done this -- gotten a live Web cam up

and running on the Web site,” said Duncan Macintosh, one of the

organizers of the annual show.

But the at-home alternative has hardly taken a bite out of the

show: This year’s is the largest show ever with more than 400 boats

from all over North America descended on Newport Dunes.

“It’s an attractive location and a great way to spend a day,”

Macintosh said.