BY MIKE STEVENS
POINT LOMA— Legendary sportboat owner/operator and long-range sportfishing pioneer Frank LoPreste announced on the Let’s Talk Hookup radio program that he was going to turn the helm of the iconic Royal Polaris to Captain Johnathan Yamate.
Yamate is currently partners with LoPreste in that operation, but he will take over full ownership of the operation in two years. According to RoyalPolaris.com, LoPreste earned his captain’s license at the age of 21, and ran his first vessel in 1965. In all, he has run ten vessels, including the Sport (1965-66), Sea Horse (1967), Fury (1967), Patrician (1968-70), Webfoot (1971), Prowler (1971), Searcher 1 (1971-74), Nova (1975-76), Cape Polaris (1974-77) and Royal Polaris (1978-present).
Yamate began working on the Royal Polaris in 2002 and worked on the boat during the summers while he was in high school and college. After he graduated from the University of California Irvine in 2009 he began working full-time.
