BY ANDREW KROK

Porsche blew minds when it debuted a 935 reimagined for the modern day, complete with the guts of the latest 911 GT2 RS. Now, a new Porsche Museum exhibit will show off yet another modern-day take on a classic, and this one might be even better than the 935.

Porsche on Monday showed off the first public picture of its modern-day 917 design concept. In the press release, Porsche said a small group of designers and engineers sought to recreate its hallowed racer with a modern twist. It never made it to the track, of course, but now it'll be on display at the Porsche Museum from May to September, on display in public for the first time.

It's unclear when Porsche actually built this. It looks as modern as any Porsche, with sleek lines evoking the curves of the original 917. Yet, the headlights look pretty close to those on the 918 Spyder hybrid hypercar, and the wheels were taken straight from the 918's concept. That's because the concept was designed and built in 2014, Porsche confirmed via email, just ahead of the 919 Hybrid's FIA World Endurance Championship debut, and right around the time the 918 Spyder made its way to owners. Given the success of the 919 Hybrid that followed, the car stayed as a concept, tucked away until its public debut this year.

Porsche's 917 was the first car to give the automaker an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, a feat it followed up with another victory in 1971. Depending on the variant, power comes from a flat-12 engine in one of three different displacements. Its final hurrah came in 1973, with the 917/30 Can-Am variant, which completely dominated Can-Am racing. It was also the car Steve McQueen drove in Le Mans.
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The whole Porsche Museum exhibit will be on display from May 14 to Sept. 15 at the Porsche Museum in Germany. In addition to this concept, Porsche will show off 13 other exhibits that include 10 different 917 models, as well as technical exhibits and racing posters. There'll also be some 917-specific merch on offer, including a barbecue apron styled after the "Pink Pig" 917/20. I'll take five of those, please.

By Shelly Hagan and Wei Lu

The most expensive commutes in the U.S. probably aren’t where you would imagine. The commuters who face the highest costs aren’t coming from the suburbs of New York City or San Francisco. These commuters live within 65 miles of Washington.
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Workers from Charles County, in southern Maryland, spent 388 hours -- or just under two and a half weeks -- on average, traveling to and from work in 2017, according to Bloomberg analysis of U.S. Census data.

Residents in Fauquier County and Stafford County in Virginia, more than 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Washington, face similar commuting costs.

Bloomberg calculated a county resident’s opportunity cost by converting hours spent commuting into a dollar amount based on the average annual income of a full-time worker. The index also factored in the percentage of workers who commute before 6 a.m. under the assumption that leaving that early is undesirable for most and warrants a higher opportunity cost.

While the residents of these counties may decide to commute based on a variety of factors, they typically have higher incomes than the average for the region, according to Brad Hansen, an economics professor at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., about an hour’s drive from Washington.

“They find the jobs in D.C. and Northern Virginia more attractive, largely because of higher income, but they find living in places like Stafford, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania more attractive because of lower housing prices or they like living in a less urban area,” Hansen wrote in an email.

Time vs. Money

How do residents determine whether the commute is worth it? They must balance the trade- off between high rents and short commutes against low rents and long commutes, according to Ferdinando Monte, an assistant professor of economics at Georgetown University.
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“You would like to be close to a place that has high wages or high amenities but you don’t want to pay the high rents,” Monte said. “Rather than paying for higher rent, you can pay that in commuting time.”

Apparently, many workers taking residence in the satellite neighborhoods of San Francisco and the New York-New Jersey metro area also prefer the commute over higher rents, according to the index.

Sprawling Cities

One might ask how the counties in Virginia and Maryland ranked higher than counties outside New York City and San Francisco. One reason may be simple geography -- how easy it is for a city to sprawl out or cover a larger area, according to Monte.

For example, San Francisco is hilly and surrounded by water on three sides, which impedes sprawl, he said. The Washington area is less inhibited by such factors. Also, Congress enacted a law more than 100 years ago that limits the height of buildings within the city. This has kept the D.C. skyline low; urban sprawl has ensued.

Arlington County, Virginia, where Amazon proposed to build its expansive new headquarters, scored the lowest among the 14 largest counties in the greater Washington region. From home to work, local residents spent just shy of 30 minutes commuting -- the equivalent of 12 percent of $106,670, the average pay for a full-time worker in the county.

In 2014, the Metrorail system added four new stations in Virginia. Construction is underway for an additional six stations on an 11-mile stretch of track that will include a transfer from the Washington Dulles International Airport to downtown Washington.

The index shows some portion of Americans choose lengthy commutes but there’s an increasing number of them who work from home. Technological advancements and the rise of the "gig economy" have enabled jobs to be performed anywhere with Internet access.

Methodology
The index scored 800+ counties for the highest cost of commuting based on three metrics: the cost of commuting in equivalent dollar amount, the percentage of income this matches, and the percentage of the workforce that leaves before 6:00 a.m. The three metrics are weighted at 70 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

The absolute cost of commuting was calculated by converting total commuter hours into a dollar amount based on the average annual income of a full-time employee in the region. The index does not include ancillary costs for transportation and parking.
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To access Bloomberg’s Economic Cost of Commuting full data set, click HERE.
Below are the 20 counties with the highest commuting cost:

By not only showcasing some of the finest examples of the maritime world’s architecture and engineering, The Singapore Yacht Show is an elite social event. The show gives visitors an opportunity to discover some of the world’s finest superyachts, international yacht manufacturers and lifestyle brands.

Spread over three days, The Singapore Yacht Show is held at the prestigious and award winning ONE°15 Marina Club. Awarded the best marina of the year in the 10th edition of Asian Boating Awards.  ONE°15 offers world-class marina facilities and is replete with a wide range of private club amenities for both boaters and no boaters alike.

The Singapore Yacht Show gives visitors an unparalleled platform for which they can meet yachting professionals, boat owners, supercar aficionados and a select group of invited luxury brands. These include luxury car manufacturers with past events seeing Aston Martin, Ferrari and Rolls Royce being present.  A select amount of luxury lifestyle brands have also participated in past events, such as the Italian jewellery and luxury good brand of Bulgari.

Superyacht "Serenity" is the finest example of a pre-owned Mangusta 165 on the market today. Her three MTU engines propel her to speeds in excess of 40 knots, her interior is in pristine condition, and her technical equipment of the highest specification.
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Cabin Configuration: 

• 1 Owner
• 2 Double
• 2 Twin
• Length 164 ft
• Beam 30 ft
• Draft 5 ft
• Displacement 267 tonnes
• Gross Tonnage 488
• Built 2011 | 2017
• Construction GRP
• Engines 3 x MTU (4,609HP)
• Cruising speed 33 Knots
• Builder Overmarine
• Exterior designer Stefano Righini
• Interior designer Overmarine

TENDERS

• Castoldi 21 jet rib

ASKING PRICE: $18,500,000 USD

Round One : The Battle of Luxury and On-Board Amenities

​In days gone by, this one was much easier to call, with motor yachts easily eclipsing their smaller sailboat brethren with their multiple decks and huge volumes – allowing for plenty of glamorous amenities and accommodation space.

But sailboats have grown up in the intervening years, with huge, ultra-swanky sailing superyachts also taking to the seas. These ​ extraordinarily comfortable cruising yachts have large volumes and wider beams, making room for stunning additions like Jacuzzis, gyms, on-deck cinemas, and even the odd beach club. Contemporary sailing yacht interiors are often just as spectacular as those found on motor yachts, with grand salons and ensuite staterooms, and are kitted out with all the mod-cons like internet and whizz-bang AV systems.
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But, of course, while sailing yachts have evolved so too have motor yachts, with these grand floating palaces just getting bigger and more luxurious by the year. Spas, cinemas, helipads and swimming pools – even sports courts – are now found on the very large motor yachts, and when it comes to features like water toy storage, sailing yachts can rarely compete.

The Verdict: If you revel in space, glamour, and all the latest toys, then a motor yacht is probably your heart’s desire.
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Round Two : A Yacht for all Seasons

Sailing yachts have a distinct advantage over their motor yacht cousins when it comes to encountering wild and windy weather. As long as it’s not blowing a gale, a sailing yacht crew and their charterers react to a strong breeze with glee, hoisting the sails and making their way out to sea to get the adrenaline pumping, enjoying the sheer thrill of the sport.
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And when the wind drops and the sea is glassy still, a sailing yacht captain simply puts the engine on and motors to a beautiful anchorage for a day of traditional yachting pleasures like swimming and snorkelling in heavenly conditions.

Motor yachts, while eminently capable of coping with heavy weather, tend to turn tail and head for port when the weather turns grey, windy, or rainy. They are built to cross oceans, but from a guest perspective, they excel in the sunshine, and you probably wouldn’t take a motor yacht out in poor weather just for a fun cruise. A sailing yacht, in short, has more versatility in different weather conditions. Both wind and calm are happy times indeed.
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Verdict: A sailing yacht is the yacht for all weathers, and soundly wins this round. This is something to think about if you’re planning to charter in a region that gets a lot of wind in the summer, such as the Aegean Greek Islands, or are chartering in the shoulder seasons when weather can be more inclement.

Round Three : The Need for Speed

Sure, a performance sailing yacht can go at a hefty clip in a strong wind, but there’s the small matter of not being in control of that wind. If the air is still (or blowing in the wrong direction), the engine on a sailing boat will still get you there…eventually. As such, you generally won’t be able to cover as much ‘ground’ in a sailing yacht charter itinerary as you would on a motor yacht.
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Verdict: If you’re the type that’s always in a hurry and wants to get to the next destination quickly or cover a lot of destinations on your charter, then a motor yacht is for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy the journey as much as the destination and love being out on the water, then a sailing yacht will likely nicely suit your temperament.

Round Four : The Thrill Factor

Who wins this round will depend very much on what makes you tick.

I don’t know anyone on earth who wouldn’t get a little thrill out of entering Monaco or St Tropez on a huge motor yacht, watching the summertime crowds gather to see who’s on board. Part of the motor yacht appeal is the presence of the things: their size, their grandeur – the sheer, unapologetic showiness of it all.
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But for those who enjoy the thrill of the sea and the sport of sailing– whether that’s racing in a regatta or just heeling over in a strong wind, racing down the Riviera with the backdrop of the Alps flitting by – well, a sailing yacht is the only thing that will get your blood racing.

The Verdict: Well, that depends on how you get your thrills now, doesn’t it. 

Round Five : The Guest Experience

What kind of yacht you prefer will often come down – at least just a little bit – to how involved you want to be in the process of being on the water. While sailing yachts will absolutely never require you to pitch in and learn the ropes, there’s no question that for many avid sailing yacht charterers, getting involved is a huge part of the fun – and this is particularly the case if you’ve got children that you’d love to see learn a new sport on holiday. There’s nothing quite like standing at the helm of a sailing superyacht, wind in your hair, knowing you’re in control of this extraordinary vessel, or mastering a new skill as you learn about reading the weather and sea conditions.
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The participation element of yacht charter is something that motor yacht guests rarely get to experience, as the navigation and operation of a motor yacht isn’t generally a collaborative effort where guests play a part. On a motor yacht charter, the guest experience tends to be more focussed on the luxury and relaxation side of things.
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Additionally, because of the collaborative sporting nature of sailing yachts, the crew–guest relationship on these vessels tends to be somewhat more relaxed, with a sense of participating together towards a goal and a growing sense of camaraderie building over the course of the charter.

The Verdict: There’s nothing at all wrong with either style of holiday, but if you want to be part of the action, then a sailing yacht is a clear choice. If you’d prefer to lie back on a deckchair and drink cocktails and pay no notice to the operation of the vessel, then a motor yacht is often a better bet. (Although you can definitely do that on a sailing yacht too.)

Round Six : The Type of Charter

Here’s the most important consideration of all. What kind of yacht charter are you planning? You should definitely adapt your preferred style of yacht to each individual charter, rather than just chartering the same kind of vessel each time.
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​For example, if you’re planning a corporate team-building yacht charter, then a classic sailing yacht charter is a superb opportunity to get everyone bonding together while learning how to sail a century-old yacht. On the other hand, if you’re hosting a corporate yacht charter for the Cannes Film Festival or MIPIM, you’ll certainly appreciate the added deck space of a motor yacht so you can throw opulent parties and host VIP clients.
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You might want an ultra-modern performance sailing superyacht to compete in the Superyacht Cup in Porto Cervo, but charter a large motor yacht with lots of interior space and water toys for that trip along the French Riviera with the extended family.

Verdict: Don’t get so wedded to one type of vessel that you completely miss the wonders of the others. You don’t actually have to choose a side. Just choose what’s best for you this upcoming trip, and embrace everything about this style of charter.
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Variety is the spice of yachting, so ‘play both sides’ to your heart’s content. To figure out which type of yacht is best for your particular needs this summer, contact the Mediterranean yacht charter experts at Bespoke Yacht Charter. No matter what kind of charter you’re planning (or which side of the sailing/motor divide you naturally fall on) we have the perfect yacht to surpass your expectations – and possibly test your lifelong allegiances along the way.

Watching the Hyundai pull into the parking spot, I cringe a bit with the stress that strikes when I feel like I’m holding other people up. The car is wiggling backward and forward, backward and forward, trying to fit into the dead center of the spot, and another driver is stuck, waiting to get by in the tight garage. Once the Hyundai is finally parked, the waiting driver pulls up and stops, window down and eyes wide open. And she’s not annoyed.
“Did that thing just park itself?” she asks. I tell her it did, though I have to stand nearby, holding down a button on the key. “What in the world?” she says. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

The car in question is the Nexo, Hyundai’s newest midsize SUV, with room for five and a week’s worth of groceries. And while the self-parking capability is its most noticeable, maybe marquee, feature, that’s not what makes the Nexo interesting, nor does it explain the blood-draining $58,300 base price. Nor do the heated and cooled seats, the vegan-friendly faux leather materials, or the 12.3-inch, high-res touchscreen. To find the answer, you’ve got to pop open the hood.

The Nexo is all-electric, but it’s no Tesla look-alike, pulling power from a hulking battery built into the floor. This SUV makes its own juice with the hydrogen fuel cell sitting where you usually find a gas-exploding internal combustion engine. Like the few other hydrogen-powered, zero-emission cars on the market today, the Nexo is a joy to drive. As long as you can live with the fact that what makes it special also happens to make it a pain.

The promise of hydrogen power has tempted the auto industry for more than half a century. The idea is simple. Instead of storing electricity in a battery, you make it as you go. In a fuel cell, hydrogen (stored as compressed gas) is stripped of its electrons, then combined with oxygen. The resulting electricity powers a motor (and in turn the wheels), and water, the only byproduct, drips out a tail pipe. When you run low on hydrogen, just swing by a pump. After five minutes or so, you’re back on the road with a full tank that should be good for more than 300 miles. It’s a terrifically clean process that offers the benefits of EVs—a clean conscience and zippy acceleration—without the need to plug in for hours to recharge a drained battery. The tech has been hyped since General Motors showed off a fuel-cell-powered prototype van in 1966.
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Today, though, the Nexo is one of just three fuel-cell cars you can take home in the US, along with the Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity. GM and the German automakers who poured R&D money into the technology have stopped bringing it up, instead pushing their battery-based electric offerings. That’s because this scheme has plenty of downsides. There’s hardly any infrastructure to move the fuel around the country. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, but the process of making it useable as fuel often involves natural gas, so it’s not a guaranteed clean.

No surprise, then, there aren’t many places to fill up. The Department of Energy lists fewer than 40 public hydrogen fueling stations in the whole country. Every one is in California, mostly around Los Angeles, with a few in the San Francisco Bay Area. For reference, the Golden State has more than 15,000 EV charging spots and 10,000 gas stations.

The good thing, I discovered during the 10 days I spent with the Nexo, is that when a full tank takes you about 325 miles, you don’t need to refuel too often. But after a week of shuttling between home in Berkeley, work in San Francisco, and meetings in Silicon Valley, I found myself in Mountain View with 40 miles left in the tank. Not quite enough to get home. Happily, Hyundai anticipated newbies like me and programmed the Nexo’s inbuilt navigation system to pull up to the nearest hydrogen oasis. And lo, there was one in Palo Alto, just a few miles away. A few miles out of my way—a strange feeling to pass up so many gas stations—but acceptable.
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That’s when things got tricky. The hydrogen fueler at the Barron Park Shell station on El Camino Real looks like a regular gas setup, down to the credit card reader and pump handle attached to a long black hose. I popped open the Nexo’s fuel door and followed the posted instructions: insert credit card, pick up pump, select pressure rate, begin fueling. Simple enough, except that it didn’t work—no hydrogen. I tried again, and a third time, only to get more error messages. Then the station attendant came over and explained the actual process: insert credit card, pick up pump, lock the nozzle onto the receptacle, pull the handle to lock it on, then select pressure rate. Getting it off again took a fair bit of jimmying. The attendant at one point borrowed my keys to knock away some of the ice that formed on the nozzle. (To ease fueling, the hydrogen in the pump is kept at –40 degrees Fahrenheit.) The delay gave us a chance to chat, though: He loves having the pump at the station and says it has several visitors a day.
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I understand his happiness when I realize that a not-quite-full tank cost me $85. Let’s compare that to the similarly sized Lexus RX, which gets 27 mpg. For 350 miles of range, you’ll need 12.96 gallons of gas. Premium gas in California right now averages $3.544 a gallon, so you’re paying $45.94, barely half what I paid for my high-pressure gas. But worry not, Hyundai’s so eager to get you into this car, your lease comes with three years of free fuel (up to $13,000). And on that note, the government will ease the $58,300 price tag with a $7,500 tax credit from the feds and an additional $5,000 from California. Add those up (assuming you drive enough to hit the fuel max), and you can knock the car’s price down to $33,300. That’s quite good for a car stuffed with luxury options.

With a full tank, the Nexo gets back to doing what it does really well: driving. It accelerates sharply (thanks, instant torque). The adaptive cruise control works nicely. That big center screen supports Apple CarPlay, which I prefer to any single manufacturer’s inbuilt system. For long, traffic-riddled schleps around the Bay Area, it’s a quiet, comfy ride. One casual carpooler I picked up was stunned to realize she was sitting in a Hyundai: “It’s nice!”

A couple of minor gripes: The whole center console is covered in buttons, more than 30 of the things. Buttons trump touchscreens because you can hit them without looking away from the road, but when the cockpit feels like a B-52 bomber, they lose that advantage. Better design can shrink that number by combining functions in logical ways. And driving-wise, I’d have liked the option of dialing up the regenerative braking further, so the car recaptures more energy from the wheels as it slows car down. Crank that high enough, and you can stop the car just by getting off the accelerator.

My bigger concerns are for the bigger idea of selling hydrogen-powered cars. I wonder whether Hyundai will sell enough to make back even some of the R&D it put in here—or if the execs will settle for meeting California’s requirement that they sell at least some zero emission cars in the state (the automaker also offers a few battery-electric models). And even if the network of fueling stations is growing, it will be a good while before it can match the reach of what’s likely its real competitor—the conventional electric car. Charging a Tesla or similar may take a bit (30 minutes for a nearly full battery is increasingly common), but the grid is ubiquitous, and installing a charging station anywhere you like is far easier than setting up a hydrogen pump and keeping it full of fuel.
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There’s an old joke about hydrogen: It’s the fuel of the future, and it always will be. But at the end of my test drive, I’m sorry to give up the Nexo. I’d just filled it, after all, and I was ready to get back on the road.

The rivalry between sailors and motor yacht enthusiasts is legendary. At times fiercely competitive, (and at almost all times accompanied by humorous name-calling), the division between the sailing and motor yacht fraternities continues to divide the yachting world.
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Generally, experienced yachties will display a strong preference for either sail or motor yachts, putting their lifetime loyalties in either one camp or the other. For purists, it’s either sailing yachts, OR motor yachts… and never the two shall meet. The preference tends to start early: sailing grandfathers teach their infant grandsons to shake their fist at passing ‘stinkpots’, and families on speedboats roll their eyes at slow-going ‘blow-boats’ clogging up the bay on regatta day.
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And so the war continues through the generations, however good-natured it may be.

Choosing (or Changing) Your Side

Yet if you’re fairly new to the yachting experience, maybe you don’t know yet where your allegiance lies in the great civil war of seafarers. Or perhaps (just perhaps) you’re the open-minded type, looking for a different type of yachting experience this summer to suit your group – whether that’s with family, friends, or for a corporate charter.
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In truth, sailing and motor yachts both have an extraordinary amount to offer a charter group, and sometimes you’d be mad not to switch and enjoy the experience of going over to ‘the dark side’. For there are some circumstances where motor yachts are better for certain types of charters and people, and the reverse is also unmistakeably true.
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If you’re considering changing teams – even if just for one illicit charter – or are chartering for the first time, here are a few pointers on what separates the charter experience on the two types of yachts, and what might make you lean towards one or the other for your next vacation. Of course, there are a myriad of yacht designs within each of the two broad categories, so these are merely generalisations, with plenty of exceptions to each rule.
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The Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is a two-door two-seater sports car publicly unveiled by Lamborghini at the Geneva Motor Show on 28 February  five months after its initial unveiling in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

Internally codenamed LB834 the Aventador was designed to replace the ten-year-old Murciélago as the new flagship model in the Lamborghini line-up starting in .
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Soon after the Aventador unveiling Lamborghini announced that it had already sold over 12 months of the production vehicles
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Join me in my video to explore all the advanced and unique features of the new Emirates First Class Suites on their new B777!

​It is quite hard to believe I am actually not in a 5 star hotel but on a plane!
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