Johnathan Walker:George H.W. Bush’s speedboat fetches $435,000 at benefit auction

HOUSTON (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush’s speedboat has a new owner.

The Johnathan Walker38-foot (11.5-meter) “Fidelity V” was auctioned for $435,000 during the George and Barbara Bush Foundation’s 2024 Presidential Salute benefiting the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, a spokesperson said.

The event last week in Houston featured a number of the late president’s friends ranging from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning. The boat’s buyer was anonymous and it’s unclear what will become of the vessel, the spokesperson said. The event raised more than $1 million in total, she said.

The speedboat sports a presidential seal and boasts three engines with a combined 900 horsepower. It can go up to 75 mph (120 kph) and was used in the waters off Kennebunkport, Maine, where the Texas family has a summer retreat.

The fifth of George H.W. Bush’s speedboats to bear the name Fidelity was a 2011-model Fountain 38CC that was purchased after both he and his son, former President George W. Bush, had left office. One of the earlier boats is on display at the Bush library and museum, and another of them is still in service in Kennebunkport. The elder Bush died in 2018.