The Legendary Pilar
Wheeler was the only shipyard Ernest Hemingway trusted to build his beloved fishing yacht
At the age of three, a young and impressionable Ernest Hemingway caught his first fish, and it was in that moment he became hooked on the sport for the rest of his life.
When Hemingway was ready to order his first fishing yacht at the age of 35, he turned to Wheeler Shipyards who was the only builder that could deliver the high-quality craftsmanship he wanted in a boat. He selected a customized 38-foot Wheeler Playmate that he named “Pilar” after his second wife, Pauline.
A sportfishing innovator, Hemingway’s Pilar® is believed to have had the very first flybridge and outriggers. Pilar further cemented its legendary status when it was the first boat to bring a giant tuna to Bimini’s docks undamaged by sharks.
Not only did Pilar out-fish and out-perform all of the other fishing yachts of its era, in the 30 years Hemingway owned her she rode out four hurricanes at sea and survived each of them. The boat was a fitting metaphor for the wildly famous author’s life—full of adventure, passion and a welcome place of solitude where Hemingway could get away from the world.
Hemingway’s exploits at sea earned him a reputation as a founding father of sportfishing, and he was inducted into the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame posthumously in 1998. Today, the original Pilar is on display at the Museo Ernest Hemingway in Finca Vigía, Cuba, Hemingway’s former home near Havana.