The Sphynx Story
A captain. A yacht. A cat.
"The best day at sea isn't the one you planned. It's the one the wind decides."
Captain Laurence · Founder, Sphynx BCN
Captain LaurenceCatalan coast
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Sphynx BCN
The Captain
From Romania, raised in California.
Laurence didn't move to Barcelona for the city. He moved here for the water.
Born in Romania and raised in Los Angeles, Laurence spent his California childhood as far from the Romanian coast as a child can get — and every summer, he'd fly back to it. His grandmother lived a few kilometres from the Black Sea, and the days unfolded the same way: walk to the harbour at sunrise, watch the fishermen mend their nets, learn from the men who'd lived their entire lives reading wind and water.
He learned to read the wind before he learned to read books. Romanian was the language of those summers. English was always there. Spanish came later, in Barcelona.
2013 · Barcelona
He came to Barcelona in his early twenties, planning to sail "for one season." He never bought the return ticket. The Catalan coast — its hidden coves between Sitges and Cadaqués, the way the light hits the cliffs at Tossa de Mar around 6pm in July, the dolphins that surface near Cap de Creus — became the place he stopped looking for somewhere else.
For ten years he captained yachts for other people's companies. He learned every cove by heart. He memorised the wind patterns of the Tramuntana and the Garbí. He earned the trust of guests who came back year after year just to sail with him.
"I knew this coast better than the people I worked for. At some point you stop being someone's captain and start being your own."
2023 · Sphynx BCN
In 2023, Laurence bought a 15-metre Italian sailing yacht — a Comar Comet 52 RS, designed by Studio Vallicelli, built in 2007 — and named her after his cat Isis. He founded Sphynx BCN to host the kind of days he'd always wanted to give people: unhurried, personal, and shaped entirely around who's onboard.
Two years and 1,432+ five-star reviews later, the formula hasn't changed: he still hosts every guest personally. Still makes the homemade sangria that keeps showing up in the reviews. Still takes the boat out himself.
Speaks English, Spanish & RomanianThe Cat
Meet Isis. She hates water.
Most yachts are named after sea gods, mythological creatures, or someone's grandmother. Sphynx is named after a hairless cat who has, to date, set foot on the boat exactly zero times.
Isis is Captain Laurence's Sphynx cat — bald, regal, and entirely uninterested in anything that resembles a wave. When Laurence bought the yacht in 2023, the name was decided before he'd even left the marina. Isis got a yacht. The yacht got a logo with her face on it.
"It seemed wrong to name her after a sea god she'd never meet. Better to name her after the queen who actually runs the household."
So now, every time you board Sphynx, you're stepping onto a 15-metre Italian sailing yacht named after a cat who refuses to acknowledge the existence of the sea. The logo on the bow carries her portrait. The brand carries her name. She remains entirely unimpressed.
Isis
Queen of the householdThe Yacht
Comar Comet 52 RS. Italian-built, hand-picked.
A Studio Vallicelli design built in Italy in 2007. Every line and every interior choice serves the same purpose: a yacht that handles like a thoroughbred and lives like a private home.
Sphynx · Marina Vela · Berth 80A 52-foot performance cruiser — long enough for true open-sea sailing, agile enough to anchor in coves the bigger boats can't reach.
Comfortable capacity for groups, families and small celebrations. Never overcrowded — there's deck space and shade for every guest.
Three private double cabins below deck — sleeps 7 overnight. The owner's cabin in the bow is the largest, with its own bathroom.
Two full bathrooms with hot showers. One forward, one aft. Practical for multi-day charters and large day groups alike.
Why this yacht
"I didn't want a fast boat. I wanted a yacht that would still feel like home after a week at sea — and could still race a thunderstorm to port if it had to."
The Comar Comet 52 RS is one of the few Mediterranean charter yachts that strikes that balance — a Studio Vallicelli racing pedigree under a cruising layout, designed for the kind of long Mediterranean days where guests live aboard, not just visit.
What we believe
Four things we got right.
01 — Hospitality
Captain by morning, host by sunset.
Laurence doesn't drop you off and disappear. He's onboard the whole time, refilling glasses, telling stories, suggesting the cove with the warmest water. Every guest leaves feeling they made a friend — that's the metric we care about.
02 — Personalization
No two days at sea look alike.
Sunset toast for two. A swimming day with the kids. A surprise proposal. A wedding with thirty guests. The route, the menu, the music, the pace — all of it bends to who's onboard. Tell us what you want, we build the day around it.
03 — Local knowledge
Ten years on this exact coast.
There's a difference between a captain who reads charts and one who's read every cove between Sitges and Cap de Creus by heart. Laurence knows where the dolphins surface in July, which beach restaurant is worth anchoring for, and where the wind dies at 5pm in August.
04 — Slow luxury
We don't do mass tourism.
One yacht. One captain. One group at a time. We could double the bookings and halve the experience — instead, we keep it small, personal and unhurried. The result: 1,432+ five-star reviews and guests who come back year after year.
Now you know us.
The next move is yours. Pick an experience, or message Captain Laurence directly — he answers personally.