“Not all yacht shows are the same,” comments YPI Senior Yachting Consultant Eric Althaus. “But the Monaco and Cannes Shows are two examples where our clients properly get to see some of the vey best products and services available on the market today all in one place – whether they are buying, selling or building”.

YPI will be holding a stunning display of superyachts at each show whilst offering additional VIP tenders and limousines for clients to ensure their time at the show goes as smooth as possible.

“There’s a lot to see,” says Eric Althaus. “We work hard to make sure our clients get to visit all the yachts they want to see without it being too tiring. After all, yachting is supposed to be fun… and that includes yacht shopping.”

Valquest
Launched late 2009, Valquest is a beautiful 41m Dubois-designed Fast Cruising Sloop from custom yacht builder Bloemsma Van Breemen.

“Valquest is without doubt one of the nicest sailing yachts I have ever been on board,” says her YPI Sales & New Construction Broker, Matt Albert. “She has a very clean deck, a low profile wheelhouse and of course, that head-turning silver metallic hull.”

Valquest includes a number of important features, all incorporated for long range cruising. “She is equipped with a high fuel tank capacity,” explains Matt, “a standing-height engine room, spacious storage and in-deck winches with easy access to all technical installations.”

Superyacht Valquest will be proudly on display at this years Monaco Yacht Show, taking place from the 22nd-25th September.

Lionheart
Superyacht Lionheart is the largest J-Class to be commissioned to date. Launched this summer, Lionheart is 44m and has an astonishing 17m of overhang.

Originally designed for the Ranger Syndicate by Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens in 1936, Lionheart’s design was extensively optimised by Hoek Naval Architects to ensure she can compete at the very highest level.

“Lionheart is quite simply… stunning,” says her YPI broker and Head of the YPI Sailing Division, William Bishop. “Anyone who loves sailing is already well aware of the philosophy, the history, the technology and the passion that has gone into the construction of Lionheart. That’s what makes this yacht the beginning of a whole new era of J-Class yachting.”

Lionheart will also be showcased by YPI at the industry renowned Monaco Yacht Show alongside a YPI project-managed 60m new build from ISA and a wealth of stunning superyachts.

Jasmin
Built by RMK Marine Shipyard in Istanbul in 2003 and with naval architecture by Vripack, Jasmin is an expedition yact with a GRT of 336 and a range of almost 5,000nm.

“Jasmin combines sturdy, ocean-going capability with classic, elegant comfort,” explains Bertrand Vogele, “She has all the great characteristics of a much larger yacht… but without any of the inconveniences.”

Jasmin will be at the Cannes Yacht Show, which will take place from the 8th-13th September. Also at the show will be YPI’s breath-taking Superyacht Go, the 39m Feadship SL39 modular concept.

Mary-Jean II
Built by ISA in 2010 and launched mid-may, Mary-Jean II is a stunning piece of craftsmanship from renowned Italian shipbuilder ISA. Project managed by YPI, this 60m new-build, launched with striking Aristo Blue hull and Oyster White superstructure, utilizes the very latest technology, design and Italian craftsmanship with a contemporary interior design by Mark Berryman.

Superyacht Mary-Jean II is for charter through YPI Charter.

Unlike most yacht shows, the teams from all YPI specialist divisions – Brokerage, Management, Crew and Charter – will be present at both the Cannes Boat Show and the Monaco Yacht Show.

Source: Livetradingnews

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The sought-after riverfront site was to create 800 jobs producing 100m-long luxury yachts for the world’s wealthy before the economic slump holed the dream beneath the waterline.

Business has been so bad US-based Palmer Johnson is shutting its Hythe site with the loss of 110 jobs after building just one boat.

It said that no decision had been made about the planned Woolston facility, despite winning planning permission and aiming to start work last year.

A spokesman said: “That now has to be reviewed. Essentially the marketplace for luxury yachts has contracted significantly during the financial slowdown and it’s a question of at what point there will be an upturn.

“We are in negotiations with SEEDA over when we build the site. In 18 months to two years’ time, if things go well, Palmer Johnson could be on site building yachts. No decision has been taken at this time. It is purely a matter of capacity. At the moment there is too much capacity and not enough demand.”

But city bosses and regional development agency SEEDA, which lured Palmer Johnson to Southampton in the teeth of fierce international competition, are already planning for life after luxury yachts.

The news will delight a number of UK-based marine operators who had hoped to take over the former warship building facility, which has a rare deep water berth, before it was all handed over to Palmer Johnson.

SEEDA admitted to talks with alternative firms, but declined to give further detail.

A spokesman said: “The site at Woolston is of significant national and international importance to the marine industry.

“We remain in discussion with Palmer Johnson, given their stated intention to locate there, and are disappointed for those staff at Hythe who are being made redundant.

“Given the importance and value of the Woolston site, we are also speaking with a number of other investors, as you would expect.”

Royston Smith, leader of Southampton City Council, said: “We can’t just keep waiting for Palmer Johnson, although they are our first choice. We need to start working on a plan B.

“It is a valuable piece of land. It’s a fantastic opportunity and it’s not good to keep it lying there empty. We need to generate some activity on it and some employment.”

Source : Daily Echo

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At the show, attendees have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with over $3 billion worth of boats, yachts, superyachts, electronics, engines and thousands of boating accessories from every major marine manufacturer and boat builder across the globe.

Superyacht Base Australia (SYBA) and the Australian Marine Export Group (AIMEX) are encouraging last minute exhibitors to secure their place and profile their products and services at this key industry show. With just two months to go until the show kicks off, there are only a few places left on the Australian stand. The Australia-based company Aqualuma, a leading manufacturer of ultra-bright, long-lasting and low power-drawing underwater lights, has shown its support by confirming it will be a major a sponsor for the 2010 show.

“Fort Lauderdale is one of the largest and most important shows on the marine industry calendar. This is an ideal opportunity for Australian marine manufacturers and those targeting the superyacht industry to showcase their products to a global audience of key stakeholders. The networking opportunities are second to none and so often, this is where the business gets done,” says SYBA Chairman David McQueen.

“As always, the Australian stand is in a prominent, sought-after position guaranteeing exhibitors excellent exposure and access to quality buyers. With the USA market starting to move, now is the time to be there” says AIMEX CEO MaryAnne Edwards.

SYBA will be using the opportunity to reinforce Australia’s waters as an ideal destination for superyacht cruising and promoting the quality of Australian workmanship for superyacht refit & repair work.

Source: Yachte

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The third quarter of RODRIGUEZ GROUP’s 2009/2010 fiscal year started on April 1st, 2010 and ended on June 30, 2010.

The results of RODRIGUEZ GROUP during such period can be analyzed as follows:

-     Sales of Yachts represent € 15.7 million, a 20.8 % increase compared to the same period in 2008/2009.

-     Services represent € 9.1 million, a 12.7 % increase compared to the same period in 2008/2009.

These figures reflect a bounce in terms of Yachts and Services sales. This is an encouraging signal with respect to market stabilization, and possibly light market take-off.Over the period, the level of sale prices for Yachts has remained lower than the previous years. Due to its stock of available and pre-financed new and pre-owned Yachts, the increase in Yacht sales during the 3rd quarter allows RODRIGUEZ GROUP to follow its cash-generation target. At the same time, the Group continued its efforts to lower its breakeven point and starts to acknowledge the positive impact of the Yachts inventory reduction on ancillary costs (docking rentals, maintenance).

Cumulative 9–month sales for the period started on October 1st, 2009 and ended on June 30, 2010 totaled € 46.7 million, down 33.6 % compared to the same period during the 2008/2009 fiscal year.

The results of the 3rd quarter contribute to reducing the slowdown in cumulative sales over the 9-month period compared to the previous year.

RODRIGUEZ GROUP follows its cost-management policy and intends to emphasis its marketing and sales efforts in order to benefit from the first signs of improvement in the market conditions.

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This decidedly upmarket holiday destination, second-largest island in the Mediterranean, has hardly been off the front pages of the tabloids all summer!

Several celebs at the centre of the hottest scandals and sensational news stories in recent weeks all seem to have just returned from, or be holidaying in sunny Sardinia. And of course, as celebs tend to move in shoals, where one goes the rest follow, trailing along an entire media circus in their wake.

Sardinia’s attractions include ruggedly beautiful mountain scenery, the fabulous beaches of the Costa Smerelda, fashionable clubs, exclusive restaurants, chic boutiques, quaint medieval towns and the obligatory ‘picturesque’ fishing villages, without which no self-respecting holiday island could possibly make do.

So who’s been seen this month enjoying this haven of superyachts and superstars?

Let’s start at the top with Royalty – and who better than the playboy Prince himself, ‘Airmiles Andy’? Prince Andrew was spotted on board a superyacht off the Sardinian coast along with Spanish supermodel Alexandra Escat, which set rumours flying in the UK press, and provided a little silly season employment for publicity expert Max Clifford.

Meanwhile, high street royalty in the form of retail supremo Sir Philip Green hosted a clutch of celebs on board his 200-foot, £20million superyacht Lionheart in the Marina at Porto Cervo (PC) including Leonardo di Caprio and long-time girlfriend, Bar Refaeli. They were joined by Naomi Campbell (recuperating after her the ‘blood diamonds’ courtroom ordeal) and her Russian billionaire boyfriend Vladimir Doronin, at the Billionaires night club in PC.

The party were guests of the club’s owner (and Campbell’s ex), Italian tycoon and former Renault Formula 1 team boss Salvio Briatore, whose own 200-foot superyacht, Force Blue, has been unavailable for charter following regulatory dispute with the Italian authorities. Briatore and his wife, model Elisabetta Gregoraci, are reduced to ‘making do’ with living aboard their 37-foot tender, Force Blue One, where they recently had lunch with Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Tamara and her boyfriend.

And back on dry land, other Sardinia superstars this month have included Janet Jackson, and singer and talent show judge Anastacia who relaxed in a gold bikini on the beach at the Hotel Pitrizza in Porto Cervo. Earlier this summer, Peter Crouch and fiancée Abbey Clancy enjoyed a romantic holiday in Sardinia – but ended up on the front pages shortly afterwards after Crouch’s alleged ‘dangerous liaison’ in Madrid.

If you fancy following in the footsteps of the famous to stunning Sardinia, there are a number of superb charter yachts currently sailing the azure waters around the Sardinian shoreline.

Chris Yates, MD of UK-based luxury yacht charter specialists Dream Marine says: ‘Sardinia is the hottest destination in the Med this year, bar none. Several of our favourite Dream Marine Elite yachts are chartering there, including Amanzi, Disco Inferno III, Blue Passion, Courosivo, Acheron and Tornado 7 – all around the 60-foot mark, which is an ideal size for a party of six to eight people.

We can offer some wonderful deals in September, while the weather is still fantastic and the crowds are starting to thin out a little. You can get to see some of the island traditions too as it’s the festival season in the mountains – and the beaches are almost empty.

It’s my favourite time to go sailing in Sardinia -  when the papparazzi have all gone home!”

Source: Dream Marine

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Ian Lawrie, the managing broker at ART Marine, a yacht-chartering company based in Dubai, is organising the donation of 10 Zodiac boats to the Aman Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Karachi.

The boats will join another 10 Zodiacs donated from the United Kingdom. The foundation will use them in conjunction with Pakistan’s navy to help deliver food and other types of aid and rescue those stranded by the floods, which cover about one-fifth of the country and have displaced as many as four million people.The money for the boats came from an anonymous donor in Dubai, who asked Mr Lawrie to organise the purchase.

“He is a major contributor to the charity in Pakistan and has close links to me and requested that I go out and procure this equipment to be shipped out,” said Mr Lawrie.

Mr Lawrie also donated his own boat, and his company paid for the engine that powers it.

Zodiacs are designed for use in shallow water, and are so light that they can be carried. Despite this they are sturdy, and can carry up to 15 people, or eight people and four on stretchers. A Zodiac with a motor costs roughly US$10,000 (Dh36,729) and can carry approximately 1,000 kilograms of cargo.

Source: The National

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The world’s leading luxury motoryacht builder will feature one of its latest launches, the 39-meter Go. After wowing the crowds in Cannes from 8 to 13 September, Go will then join other larger yachts in the Feadship fleet at the Monaco show.

The third yacht in Feadship’s pioneering SL39 modular concept, Go is every inch a customized superyacht above the waterline. Her archetypal Feadship exterior profile has been designed by De Voogt Naval Architects, while the relatively modern interior comes from FPA Architects. The designers have taken the way modern owners enjoy cruising as
their template, creating a yacht that is characterized by bright spaces, wide relaxation areas
and a variety of places to make the most of an ‘outdoor-in’ lifestyle.

Source: Feadship

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Yet during construction, the length of the ship–named Eclipse and owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich–started to increase. By 2010, the ship was reported to be anywhere from 530 to more than 550 feet.

Forbes and others pegged it at 557 feet–24.5 feet longer than its nearest rival, the ship Dubai, owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashi Al-Maktoum.

Now comes the widely respected Superyacht Index from SuperYacht Times and the yacht broker Camper & Nicholsons International. The Index lists Eclipse at 162.5 meters, or 533.1 feet.
Granted, 533 feet is a respectable size for the world’s largest boat. That is still about the equivalent of one and a half football fields, and 78-feet longer than Larry Ellison’s Rising Sun, which used to hold the title.

And we have yet to have a definitive length on the boat, since Mr. Abramovich keeps these things private.

But at 533 feet, Eclipse would be only about 18 inches longer than the Dubai. And as the folks at Luxist point out: “Since the Dubai ruler basically owns his own shipyard now–the U.A.E.’s Platinum Yachts, where the Dubai was finished–it wouldn’t take much for him to have it refitted with an extra few feet of metal to put Abramovich firmly in his place.”

That assumes of course, that Mr. Abramovich cares about matters like owning the world’s largest yacht. (Mr. Abramovich’s spokesman declined to comment on Eclipse or its length).

How long do you think Eclipse will hold the world record?

Source: WSJ

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He is talking about his passion, a dilapidated tugboat that he had lovingly restored—to the tune of around €17 million ($21.4 million).

The 53-year-old Neapolitan entrepreneur chanced upon the neglected old ship, at the time called the Henry Morgan, several years ago, at the back of an Italian boatyard. Dating back to 1932, and used for commercial haulage during World War II, the 40-meter boat lay rusting and ready to be dismantled for parts.

Fast forward three hours, a few phone calls and the small matter of €1 million, and the Henry Morgan, soon to be renamed the Mascalzone Assai —Quite A Rascal, in English—had taken its place as one of Mr. Onorato’s most prized possessions.

Mr. Onorato is not alone in his passion for revamping rusty ships. Rather than splashing out for an off-the-peg yacht, a growing number of the world’s rich and famous are buying into this unusual craze.

Princess Caroline of Monaco was one of the original trendsetters, with the 36-meter Pacha III, a tugboat built by English shipyard-owner Camper & Nicholson in 1936, which she had restored complete with on-deck hot tub.

Franco Polti, the man behind Italy’s best-selling vacuum cleaner brand, Vaporella, converted a 44-meter tug dating from 1967, the Ariete Primo, into an elegant four-deck cruiser, complete with a mosaic-tiled spa offering chromotherapy and aromatherapy, a gym, a hammam and a whirlpool bath.

And fashion designers Renzo Rosso, owner of the Diesel jeans company, and Alberta Ferretti have also tapped into the trend. Two years ago, Mr. Rosso refitted the Lady May, a 31-meter tugboat dating back to 1929. Ms. Ferretti owns Prometej, a 44-meter ice-breaker from World War II. The hull, superstructure, fore winch and capstan of Prometej are all original, while the gym and steam room are more recent additions.

Re-vamping a tugboat isn’t a cheap hobby. Costs can run as high as €20 million, says Barbara Tambani, president of Floating Life, a Swiss-based yacht-management company. By comparison, an off-the-peg super-yacht of 40 meters could cost less than €5 million, according to research by yachting website Superyachts.com.

The whole process from hull improvement to the finishing flourishes of design and furnishing can take two-and-a-half years and involve around 100 experts, says Veronica Careri, director of CNP-Cantieri Navali di Pesaro, the super-yacht builder that worked on Ms. Ferretti’s tugboat.

First, the boat’s superstructure must be overhauled and restored, which depending on its condition, could cost €7 million, says Ms. Tambani. Spare parts and machines are sourced directly from the original producer or from distributors all over the world. Sometimes the yard will build a bespoke part that can’t be purchased.

« Refitting is a complicated job, divided into two parts, » says Ms. Careri. « During the first stage you are repairing an old boat, a delicate job rewiring existing parts on board. The second stage is more or less equivalent to constructing a new boat. »

She adds that it is usually necessary to rebuild the superstructure of the boat, as the owner will probably want a new large saloon and several extra cabins. The engines are often moved to the bottom of the vessel to create more room for the lower-deck cabins.

The boat is housed in a yard while the designers and architects make their transformation. Requests for high-spec gyms, bars, whirlpool baths and spacious sun decks are common.

The designers face their own hurdles. « The main challenge is to preserve the original spirit of the boat on an aesthetic and structural level, whilst keeping in mind this 80-year-old ship needs to be made seaworthy for another several decades, » Ms. Careri says.

The high cost and lengthy construction process is enough to put off many a would-be yachtee, but others insist the refitted tugs provide an experience that can’t be matched.

Ms. Tambani of Floating Life says: « Very wealthy people want spectacular one-off boats. At the Monaco Boat Show they don’t want to moor up alongside an identical yacht. It’s the equivalent of getting a suit made to measure. »

She adds that the potential for creative interior design within the historical shell is compelling. « It becomes a very personal space and they feel they are contributing a part of history too. »

Mr. Onorato says that when it comes to a project like this, cost is immaterial. « There are objects that should live forever, and the Mascalzone Assai is one of those, » he says. « Money is a mere detail. »

Owners can recover some of their costs through chartering. A standard 40-meter super-yacht might realize charter fees of €100,000 a week in the Mediterranean high season, while Mr. Polti’s Ariete Primo has a charter fee of €130,000 per week, partly because of its high-specification fittings, including its own water-filtration system, which can produce 320 liters of fresh water an hour.

The other factor is devaluation. Piers Brown, director of fractional ownership company Fractional Life, says new super-yachts lose around 15% of their value every year, and annual running costs can be as much as 10% of the initial value.

Although no-one has tried reselling a refitted tugboat yet, Mr. Brown says they will probably sell well on the secondary market because of their scarcity.

Mr. Onorato is hoping to spend time aboard the Mascalzone Assai with friends and family later this year, and will be putting it up for charter in 2011.

However, he hopes it won’t become just another short-lived craze. « I am not the first and will not be the last to breathe new life into a historic ship destined for demolition, » he says. « The important thing is that it never becomes a trend.

« These ships of yesteryear must be respected, » he adds, « just like an elderly lady of a certain age! »

Source: WSJ

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Inspired by  this awesome art, an Italian designer named Fabio Federici conceptualize a Superyacht out of it. In fact he won the Millennium Yacht Design Award for this design.

On a quick glance, you may be thinking it is just simple box but once it expands into a sleek speed machine. Furthermore, it comes along with an ingenious multi-functional deck and “folding wings.” With this innovative design, its price also equates with its awesomeness. It has been predicted to be amounting to more than $7.6 million once it would be made into reality.According to CNN’s article, designer Federici said that the key for this one was to create an unconventional yacht that combined both speed and luxury. He told CNN: I wanted to create a yacht that had an entirely different image from the other boats and wanted an opposite styling to their soft and flowing lines.”

Source

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