Imperial Yacht Club litigators dispute boat bills

NOTE: This story was updated on Feb. 21 with details from Imperial Yacht Club’s formal answer to the allegations.

A long-time member of Imperial Yacht Club has sued the New Rochelle marina for allegedly holding his boat hostage.

Paul A. Fino Jr. accused the club and owner-operators John A. Giacobbe Sr. and John A. Giacobbe Jr. of fraud, in a complaint filed on Feb. 5 in Westchester Supreme Court.

Fino claims that the Giacobbes refused to relinquish control of his 2003 Sunseeker Superhawk until he paid a fraudulent repair bill.

Imperial Yacht Club claims that it, not Fino’s boat, is being held hostage, because he is demanding free services and refuses to remove the vessel.

The club has demanded that the complaint be dismissed, and it filed counterclaims for breach of contract, payment of ongoing fees, trespass and libel.

Imperial Yacht Club is operated by the senior Giacobbe, who is known as the captain, and his son, a personal injury litigator.

Fino also litigates, as founder and senior partner of a firm that specializes in personal injury cases.

For 23 years he docked his boat at Imperial Yacht Club, according to the complaint.

In 2020, while cruising on Long Island Sound, the starboard engine lost power. Fino says he alerted Capt. Giacobbe when he returned to the marina, and a few days later agreed to have the starboard engine replaced and the port engine repaired.

He paid $49,026, according to the complaint, and thereafter routinely paid for club membership, slip rental, repairs and maintenance.

Fino says he decided to quit his club membership during the summer of 2022, sell the boat, and hire attorney Giacobbe and Imperial Yacht Sales to broker a sale.

Then he was billed $13,846 for labor and parts for the engine work, according to the complaint.

When Fino questioned why he had not been billed before, the captain and his son allegedly said they didn’t want to burden him during hard times, citing Covid-19.

Neither Fino nor his wife had contracted Covid-19, according to the complaint, and during the pandemic Fino had paid about $55,000 in bills unrelated to work on the Sunseeker engines.

Fino says he agreed to let attorney Giacobbe list the Sunseeker on a brokerage site at $111,000, according to the complaint.

Instead, the boat was allegedly listed at $146,000, and later $135,000, without Fino’s consent, “knowing that there would be no offers” and that storage charges would continue while the boat remained at Imperial Yacht Club.

Fino found a new broker in Virginia and decided to move the Sunseeker there, but the Giacobbes allegedly blocked the transfer by refusing to release the boat until $13,846 was paid.

According to Fino, a prospective buyer offered $70,000 to $75,000, subject to a sea trial. But when it came time to prepare the boat for trial, attorney Giacobbe refused to help unless outstanding bills were paid.

Fino also claims that the boat was damaged when winter shrink wrap was removed, leaving it exposed to sun, heat, rain, wind and mildew.

Imperial Yacht Club broadly denied Fino’s allegations in its formal answer to the complaint.

The brokerage agreement was with the yacht club, not attorney Giacobbe, according to the club’s answer. And under that agreement the club has the right to detain the boat until delinquent invoices are paid in full, and the right to charge for daily storage.

The brokerage agreement also required Fino to monitor, store, maintain, and winterize his boat, according to the club, to prevent it “from suffering a peril from … an act of God, ice, theft, winds, storms, rain, or sinking.”

The club says the cost of a sea trial was the responsibility of the buyer.

Fino has refused to remove his boat, Imperial claims, despite being presented with a settlement offer that would waive all outstanding invoices.

Imperial accused Fino of reprehensible conduct, “inasmuch as his intent in keeping his boat at the club is to continue to receive goods and services for free.”

Fino is demanding $150,000 for alleged interference with a contract with the prospective buyer, and unspecified damages for breach of contract, conversion of an asset, and negligence that resulted in property damage.

Imperial Yacht Club is demanding unspecified sums for charges it claims Fino still owes, potential damages for libel, and punitive damages.

Fino is represented by attorney Shelly Werbel. The club is represented by attorney Michael D. Noblett.