Life on board

More than a dozen yachts have announced plans to charter this season in Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu and more—and the options for clients are expected to keep growing.

Sporting a preppy pink button-down shirt and khakis, Charlie Dana zips into Newport Shipyard on his signature scooter. His distinguished silver hair blows back revealing a high patrician forehead, a devilish twinkle in his eyes and a bemused smile. He gives a friendly wave to various and sundry and stops to chat with a few individuals vying for his attention.

If I had to pick an office from which to work, the one on board the new Outer Reef Deluxbridge 720, Creative Edge, would be an easy choice. Most of us need an office aboard because even if we aren’t running a day-to-day business, there are personal affairs to keep in order. But on-board offices are too often cobbled together from a shared dressing table in a dark corner.

If there is one word that could describe why we take to the water in boats, perhaps it is “escape.” We use our boats to escape from the rigors of the workaday world; we use them to escape the bounds of familiar surroundings; we use them to escape from the ordinary patterns of our lives. They transport us away from things and to things.

The Monte Fino 85 ecHo explorer is meant to go the distance, but leave smaller footprints.

In just five years, Monte Carlo Yachts has captured the imagination of the marketplace with its range of stylish motoryachts designed by Nuvolari Lenard.

Even at first glance, it is clear that J’Ade represents a great achievement and a step forward for both the CRN shipyard and its long-standing collaborator, Zuccon International Project. Striking exterior lines and refined interiors highlighted with delicate jade-green details conceal many sophisticated engineering elements, such as a lateral, floodable garage containing a Riva Iseo 27.

As Heesen Yachts’ largest and most advanced launch to date, the 65-meter (213-foot) Galactica Star is remarkable in many ways, but her hull design makes her unique among superyachts.

The new 80 is the latest in a very long line, and pretty much everything about it speaks of the shipyard’s expertise in balancing the realities of production-line economics with customers’ expectations of a bespoke finish. So things like the hardtop and hot tub are optional extras, along with the stabilizer system—you can have CMC fins or Seakeepers—and as for the engines, there’s a choice of just two.

Ferretti engineers certainly started right by establishing clear design goals for the 960 from the very beginning. The most basic one was to create a yacht small enough to be classed by CE as a pleasure boat, meaning a crew would not be mandated, yet offer features that would allow it to compete with vessels larger than 100 feet.

Vicem is justifiably famous for its wood expertise, both in its cold-molded hulls and its superb interior joinery and varnish work. Although the hull of the Vulcan 46m is modern composite fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), Vicem wanted her to look and feel like a traditional wooden boat inside.

Stella Maris represents a dramatic evolution of VSY’s two previous launches, Candyscape II and Roma. An updated version of these 62-meter (203-foot) platforms, the 2,114-gross-ton, 72-meter (237-foot) Stella Maris, designed by Espen Øino, offers more than twice the volume, along with some unconventional exterior styling and interior layout solutions.

“Yar: Easy to handle and moves along smoothly.” This witty archaic word to describe a “proper yacht” in “The Philadelphia Story”—the memorable Hollywood film from 1940—is a fitting one-word designation for the 123-foot (37.3-meter) cutter-rigged sloop Pumula from Royal Huisman.

Vertigo (with that capital “V”) is a 220-foot (67.2-meter) ketch that was built right here in Auckland by Alloy Yachts, which had just launched Encore, a smaller, much more traditional 144-footer (43.9-meter) that was docked at the Viaduct Events Centre for her final fit-out and commissioning.

Designers and builders of sailing yachts greater than 100 feet (30.4 meters) are being tasked with creating vessels that not only are beautiful, comfortable and safe, but also achieve a high level of sailing performance. The proliferation of international superyacht regattas has upped the ante for owners who not only like their yachts luxurious, but also like to best their competition on the race course.

In today’s market, it is crucial to stand out from the crowd, and the Pearl 75, from the drawing board of British naval architecht Bill Dixon, is fitted with pod drives—in this case, a pair of ZF 4000-series units coupled to 1,250-horsepower MTU diesels. Along with the computer-controlled maneuverability that this system offers, it also allows the engines to be mounted well aft in the hull to make space for exceptionally roomy accommodations belowdecks.

So how about the 72 GLX? She’s a little bit boxy at first glance. But that aesthetic tradeoff manifests itself in other areas that, for my money, more than makes up for anything lost. Like, for instance, the 6-foot 10-inch headroom that pervades the main deck.

Reading a yacht insurance policy is often like reading a novel in Sanskrit: just about impossible. But understanding your yacht’s insurance policy is critical to protecting yourself from breaching the insurance policy and being denied coverage.

A guide to the September-October edition of Private Yacht Vacations

After obtaining various qualifications in culinary arts, wine appreciation, confectionary and hospitality practices, Rosemann began her career as a commis chef at the Rhodes in the Square restaurant in London, a French-influenced fine-dining establishment led by celebrity chef Gary Rhodes. See what Master Sommelier Virginia Philip pairs with Rosemann's creative menu.

Charter broker LeAnn Morris Pliske discovered in early July that some of her favorite charter yachts were already booked for the Christmas and New Year’s charter weeks in the Caribbean. It was like she had time-warped back to 2005 or 2006, before the global economic crash, when clients had to book six months to a year in advance in order to get a top-notch yacht and crew for a winter-holiday charter in the Caribbean.

Looking for a new yacht to charter? Checkmate, M&M and Imperial Princess have joined the global charter fleet and may be just the thing for your next vacation.