Captain Phil Parker-Larkin reels in a new era of sportfishing at the helm of Special One.
From the outset, Special One was envisioned as a sportfisher on a superyacht scale — 171ft of power and prowess. With six towering decks, dual outriggers and a shark fin-like silhouette that leaves no doubt about her purpose, she was built to outpace, outfish and outshine anything on the water. At the command is Captain Phil Parker-Larkin. A fisherman at heart? Not quite. A captain with 28 years of sea miles and stories? Without question.
His path to the helm began in Essex in the UK, where he grew up in the shadow of the Bradwell nuclear power station. The power plant, with its cooling water flowing into the River Blackwater, was an impressive fixture of his daily life and drew in the mechanically minded teenager. At just 16, he left school to join the station’s engineering apprentice program. It wasn’t long, however, before he noticed the droves of windsurfers who would gather near the breakwater to sail back and forth where the reactor’s outflow gently warmed the sea.
“At some point I thought it might be more fun to make a living as a windsurfer than as an engineer in a power plant,” Phil says. “By age 21 I had developed a bit of wanderlust and when I saw an advert for a windsurfing course in Australia, I sold everything and went out there. It turned out I wasn’t that good a windsurfer, not good enough to go pro, anyway. But they also had a Yachtmaster course, so I signed up.”
Six months later, certificates in hand, he took a base engineer job first with Moorings, then a Sunsail base in Greece, keeping the boats running and grabbing deliveries when he could.
At 23, he returned to the UK for a job as an engineer’s mate working on ferries where he could concentrate on building his sea time and moving up the engineer certificate ladder. He says he worked his way up to his current MCA 3,000GT Captain’s license “the old fashioned way: I sailed for it.”
Special One was a star of the 2024 Monaco Yacht Show. For many attendees who might not have encountered a sportfishing yacht in the Mediterranean larger than a 50ft Bertram or Hatteras, the scale was, to say the least, stunning. The yacht is now spending the winter at her builder for warranty items and the new build punch list, as well as tuning all the systems monitoring data points.
“I think an engineering background and serving as a yacht’s engineer is a good path to the captain’s chair, especially as the yachts have become so technical,” Phil says.
His first gig on board was on a private sailing yacht home-ported in the Greek Islands, where he steadily advanced his engineering qualifications. His first superyacht role came as an engineer aboard the 88ft aluminum sloop Opium. From there, he moved up to build engineer on the 156ft motor sailer MITseaAH, a project completed at Pendennis in 2004 that gave him a lasting appreciation for England’s South Coast — he now calls Devon home. A year after delivery, when the captain departed, engineer Phil became Captain Phil. “That boat was an amazing experience,” he says. “We did the milk run, Med to Florida to Caribbean. I loved the passages, being on that big disc of ocean for days on end.”
Now, he’s at the helm of the largest true sportfishing yacht ever built. Commissioned by a passionate angler, Special One was built to bring family and friends together for big-game fishing expeditions. Designed by Vripack and constructed by Royal Huisman, she blends serious fishing capability with superyacht luxury. With twin MAN 20V engines, Special One surges from standstill to over 30 knots in less than a minute, performance that defies her size. “She handles like a speedboat — you get thrown back with the power,” Phil says. “We’ve done 30 knots in everything from flat calm to meter-high waves.”
Phil’s engineering background gives him a unique perspective on Special One’s technical achievements. Built in lightweight Alustar aluminum, the yacht achieves a 12 percent weight saving compared to conventional builds, crucial for her performance and efficiency. Her optimized hull design reduces resistance, while gyrostabilizers ensure a smooth ride even at speed.
“We don’t operate like a normal superyacht; we fish,” Phil says. Her 300-square-foot cockpit is purpose-designed for serious sportfishing, outfitted with oversized baitwells, live wells, and a state-of-the-art fighting chair takes center stage. Above, multiple mezzanine-style decks offer unobstructed views of the action for guests to stay close to the excitement.
Fishing trips can stretch from four to 10 hours, led by professional anglers with local expertise. But sustainability remains a priority. “We don’t catch for sport or tournaments; we catch to eat. If we do catch something they don’t enjoy eating, it goes back — alive.”
While the cockpit delivers the tools for the job, the yacht’s foredeck takes on an entirely different role. Traditionally a working space on sportfishers, it has been transformed into an entertainment hub with a cinema-grade retractable screen, DJ mixing station and 150 custom Focal speakers. “The sound is not just loud, it’s also incredibly high fidelity,” Phil says. “As a party deck, it’s really good.” The crew, he notes, can set up the entire zone in under 30 minutes. “We’d much rather do that than set up a slide.”
Inside, Special One balances the understated luxury with practicality. Vripack’s interior design reflects her dual purpose as a sportfisher and family superyacht. Light finishes contrast with rich walnut joinery, while curved leather headboards and subtle sand-inspired wall coverings ground the spaces in the yacht’s purpose. The main salon is a welcoming space, and the sky lounge houses a bar and 300-bottle wine storage. Even the marble in the bathrooms is honeycomb-backed to save weight.
Captain Phil’s command of Special One began in January 2024 when he arrived at Royal Huisman to meet the yacht just two weeks before her launch. He was in a race to make up for lost time alongside his crew of nine. Fortunately, the five months of sea trials that followed gave him and the crew the chance to master every inch of the yacht and fine-tune the systems ahead of delivery. For Captain Phil, this is his first time running a sportfisher, but his focus remains clear. “I don’t fish, I run the boat,” he says.
The fleet’s vessels are run independently and all report to the management company rather than fleet captain. Phil describes the owner as “the best person I’ve ever worked for. He’s very involved and very kind.” All the captains in the fleet say the same thing.
Simply put, “[the yacht] does what she says on the tin,” Phil says. “She goes over 30 knots, she catches fish, and she is an incredibly comfortable platform for the owner’s family and friends.” In the game of big fish and big ambitions, Special One is the ultimate catch.