LI FE S T Y L E
Pushing The Boats Out James McCarthy finds his sea legs while trawling through the best of the 2012 Monaco Yacht Show.
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et among the grand surroundings of the ultimate playboy’s paradise, it is one of the most important shows in the annual boating calendar, for companies and customers alike. It was about time that Sur La Terre hoisted the main brace and set sail for the Monaco Yacht Show, where, under a blazing September sun, the hulls of more than 100 super yachts sparkled on the cobalt waters of the Côte d’Azur.
Boasting a record attendance of more than 33,000, with participating luxury yachting and related companies on more than 500 stands, MYS 2012 proved beyond doubt that while many global industries are languishing in the mire of austerity, the truly high-end of the luxury segment is still flourishing on the back of emerging markets such as China, India and, of course, the established wealth of the GCC.
Many of the companies SLT met with were keen to stress the importance of the region, with a particular focus on Qatar, citing its rapid development of waterfront lifestyle destinations such as The Pearl and the new Lusail City project. So, treading an average of 10,000 steps per day over the two and half we attended, team SLT weaved its way through the tents and jetties to explore the opulent floating palaces and beautifully-crafted tenders and toys. There were so many spectacular vessels on show, and practically everything we passed had a “wow” factor worthy of these pages, but we couldn’t cover everything in this short article, so what follows is a parseddown filter of highlights from the greatest show on water, which started in a cafe on the apex of the famous Rascasse Corner...
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Silver Arrows Marine’s concept..
seems very much like a branding effort, with merely some minor aesthetic flourishes tying the project in to the German car brand in order to increase its appeal. This, from what we could glean from commentators within the established yachting press that we talked to, is probably to entice more buyers from China, because, as we know from their automotive dealings, the market is very much geared towards the heritage aspect of their luxury brands, which is why the likes of Rolls-Royce, Range Rover and Mercedes are doing so well there.
The concept will have design input from Mercedes-Benz Style .
Silver Arrows Marine is a new venture, which was promoting a partnership with Mercedes-Benz Style, a design arm of the famous motoring manufacturer. The newly formed company was set to unveil a much-anticipated concept for a new 14ft luxury motor yacht, supposedly fusing marine and automotive influences, and due to be launched by SAM in 2013. Unfortunately, though, the end result was pretty underwhelming; the 20-minute presentation was nothing more than a series of buzzwords, joined together by a lot of design rhetoric and a raft of rendered images of what the boat might, possibly, but probably not, actually look like. What was obvious was a dearth of hard facts, which when requested, were delicately danced around like Mitt Romney answering questions about tax policy. There was no mention of who might supply the twin 350hp propulsion system or even what kind of interior touches could be expected. Despite drawing heavily on the Mercedes-Benz name, even giving the venture the same moniker as the company’s iconic Silver Arrow racing cars of the 1950s, the project
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However, from the perspective of those immersed in the very cliquey yachting world, there is more than enough to make this project appealing without the seemingly gimmicky addition of a few Mercedes tri-stars on the hull, with two of the most accomplished yacht designers, Martin Francis and Tommaso Spadolini, essentially the boat-building equivalent of Malcolm Sayer and Sergio Pininfarina, signed up to collaborate on the actual design and engineering of the boat. The consensus from the assembled press corps was that with these two on board, Mercedes input would be minimal, despite all the talk of “interpreting the Mercedes design language” from road to water. Of course, we could be wrong, and until something more tangible is unveiled, we can only speculate, just as we were doing before the press conference when we hoped to see some gullwing doors and some real Mercedes touches in the renderings. While I know I have taken a bit of a negative stance towards the Silver Arrows project, much of that is down to reality not matching the expectation prior to the show and, what seems at first glance to be just another cynical bit of brand marketing, rather than something truly unique. I will withhold further judgement until more details are revealed next year. www.silverarrowsmarine.com
Team SLT’s next stop was Majesty Yachts, which are sold under the auspices of Gulf Craft here in the GCC, where we met with Denis Bochkarev, Sales Manager at Aurora Yachts & Trading, Gulf Craft’s Qatar representative. As we sat aboard the stunning Marina Wonder, a beautifullyappointed Majesty 125, Bochkarev was keen to wax lyrical about business in the Middle East. “Dubai is a bit fed-up. Right now there are not many sales. Before the crisis, it was a great place to be, everyone was buying everything; all different sizes. Now, Dubai is full, you have some sales, but it will either be a really big size or something very small,” he laments. “With Qatar, this is a growing market, where before they only had fishing boats, now they have started buying highend products. Customers are starting to understand that buying a yacht is not like investing, you will never make your money back by selling a boat, but it is an investment in a lifestyle.”
Majesty 125 living room
So what is driving this new interest in owning and running superyachts? According to Bochkarev, it is the country’s rapid construction and a growth in seaside lifestyle destinations. “When the Pearl appeared, there was a lot of interest in boats, because before then, there were only marinas at the Marriott, the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton, but they were full. Even if you wanted to buy a boat you had nowhere to put it. When the Pearl opened, people started moving in there, despite the high berthing prices. Now that they are opening Lusail, it means competition between different marinas; the prices come down and it becomes more viable to buy a yacht.”
“When someone starts yachting, they start with something in the middle. Testing the water, so to speak. As they grow to love yachting and they start to see the lifestyle benefits, on average, two years down the line, we see these customers upgrading to larger boats.
According to Bochkarev, the trend is currently towards 40-foot to 65-foot boats, firmly in the medium size of the superyacht category. “This is normal though,” he explains.
“Recently we sold a 70-footer and a 101- footer, but these tend to be the exception and were just for one customer.” www.majesty-yachts.com
Majesty 125 master bedroom.
The Majesty 125..
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Palmer Johnson’s PJ48..
On the way back to the tents, I got chatting to Giacomo Michelini Tocci, a naval architect for Palmer Johnson, the American boat builder that pioneered the use of aluminium in superyacht construction and is now doing the same with carbon-fibre composites. By using the super-tough material, Tocci explained, it allows the designers to have far more freedom when creating the next generation of sporty and muscular superyachts. The rigidity of the material allows naval architects and designers to forego certain limiting construction elements in order to create a more fluid exterior form without compromising on safety. Also, he added, in many cases it can even make the experience aboard more comfortable. One such example he proffered was illustrated on a concept model on the company’s stand, where a window ran, uninterrupted by pillars and frames, around the entire deck, while another example was the sweeping aft design of Palmer Johnson’s first carbon composite project, the 48-metre J48 SuperSport, which was designed, according to the company, with not a single flat surface.
The PJ48 will boast fluidly-designed living spaces ..
With its innovative “wavepiercer displacement hull,” the PJ48 is three times more stable than a monohull yacht, with a wave-piercing bow that reduces pitch, roll and slamming as the boat cuts through waves instead of riding over the top of them. It is capable of hitting speeds of more than 30 knots, which it can do while consuming 50% less fuel than comparable craft.
and development process is expensive, once the moulds for the composite hull have been made, Tocci told me, the scaleability of the production was practically limitless. Essentially, he explained, Palmer Johnson can make as many as it wants, quickly and efficiently, easily recouping its initial investment.
He noted, that while many of the other designs on show were still at a conceptual stage, there were serious financial and manufacturing advantages to working with the carbon-fibre material. While the initial outlay
The result, from an SLT point of view, is that a fleet of stunningly lithe and agile-looking superyachts, that are not only tough, but very fast and look like they belong in the next James Bond flick, could be stalking the waters of the GCC in next few years. www.palmerjohnson.com
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Pj48’s sundeck .
When we got to the Moonen Shipyards stand, we met with Dorien Bilterijst, communication manager for the company and daughter of the Managing Director, Emile Bilterijst. She told us that the company was promoting its latest creation and had berthed the impressive “94 Alu,” Nilo, in the quay. Nilo is the first model in Moonen’s new “Fast Yacht” series. Designed by René van der Velden, and offering a sportier look compared to Moonen’s other van der Velden creation, the hugely successful predecessor to the “94 Alu,” the Moonen “84 Alu.” The “94 Alu” has a more aerodynamic feel to its exterior and offers expanded forward accommodation, a larger swim platform and a considerably longer engine room to house the Caterpillar ACERT High-Performance engines that power the super sleek mega yacht noiselessly up to a potential top speed of more than 25 knots. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to climb aboard to see it, but the interior styling of Nilo has been created by long-time collaborator, Art-Line. As previously mentioned, Nilo is the first of a new breed of Moonen boat, with an even bigger sister the company’s “99 Alu” - already on order and under development. www.moonen.com
Moonen’s 84 Alu, Nilo .. .
It was back out into the sunshine to check out the critically-acclaimed Canados 120’ Enhanced, Far Away. One of my favourite boats berthed in Port Hercules, it sits in the water like a gunmetal-coloured arrowhead. The stunning yacht was fresh from its unveiling at the previous week’s Cannes Boat Show where it picked up not one, but two, prestigious awards. The 36-metre vessel is the perfect blend of comfort, style and top-notch performance, sporting an interior created by Francesco Paszkowski Design, one of yachting’s elite design brands.
Nilo interior .
Inside, the fixtures and fittings are a masterwork of luxurious minimalism, boasting surfaces opulently upholstered in satin, marble, leather and glass. Up to eight guests can enjoy a stay on Far Away with several state-of-the-art guest cabins located on the lower deck, each of them fitted with a fully-equipped private ensuite. The simply exquisite master bedroom is the height of sea-faring elegance and luxury, with not only Canados 120’ Enhanced, Far Away..
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a cosy fi replace for the colder nights on the ocean, but a marble-covered bathroom you could swing a fully-grown tiger in. However, at first glance, it’s the Canados-designed exterior that takes the breath away, with its striking, aerodynamic lines and its glittering silver hull. The shape seamlessly incorporates the swimming platform and aft beach club, while the main deck includes an additional four retractable terraces, some of which are accessible via stunningly engineered gullwing doors, that bring the indoor spaces out into the sunshine and seamlessly merge the bold exterior with the stylish interior. Wrapping up the whole spectacular package is a lavishly appointed flybridge, which is both spacious and wide and provides dining spaces, sunbathing and lounge areas that even the most exacting billionaire oligarch would struggle to find fault with. www.canados.com
Far Away ’s elegant interior .
McLellan Jacobs’ Kyak 1 .
The ubiquitous Seabob .
Away from the big boats, Sur La Terre took some time to check out what was creating a buzz in the Toys & Tenders segment. We had a chat with our friends from J Craft, which was getting a lot of traffic past its stand. The company was showing two fantastic examples of its gorgeous Torpedo (SLT21), one of which did a 16-hour, non-stop, full-tilt run from Ibiza to be at the show, proving that the Torpedo’s beauty is not just skin deep. www.j-craftboats.com
Trundling around among the submersibles, Seabobs and carbon-fibre kayaks was an old For Your Eyes Only favourite, the YikeBike. Sur La Terre featured this clever little conveyance way back in 2011 and, according to the company rep in Monaco, it is proving very popular among the boating set, either for getting from one end of their mega yachts to the other, or for pootling around the port when they don’t want to unload the car from the garage. It was great to finally see one in the flesh, but not as great as seeing SLT’s UAE Sales Manager, Roger Cousin, trying to ride one along a shaky jetty without falling into the lapping waves of Monaco harbour, a video of which is available to watch on our facebook page. www.yikebike.com
Nestled between the Darse Sud and Darse Nord marquees was Jamie McLellan, from McLellan Jacobs, proudly showing off his company’s first product, the Kayak 1. Built in carbon fibre by the same boat builders who construct New Zealand’s America’s Cup vessels, the incredibly lightweight, but strong single-person kayak is truly a must have for the modern mega yacht owner. Featuring teak timber detailing from one of New Zealand’s top furniture makers, as well as gold-plated brass fittings, the basic gloss carbon finished kayak costs around US$15,250. The price only goes up from there as varying bespoke fi xtures can be added at the customer’s request. McLellan told us about one customer that wanted his family crest inlayed in gold into some of the timber work and, while the company offers a number of colours, finishes and materials, the look and feel of this beautiful boat is limited only by the imagination of the customer. www.mclellanjacobs.com Also making quite a splash was the Seabob, a 10-gear, 7hp electric “scooter” that will pull you over, through and under the water at speeds up to 12mph and to a depth of 40-metres. These things were quite literally everywhere. While the German company had its own stand, nearly every yacht and tender on the quay had at least one of these sitting next to the jet-skis and inflatables. Using E-Jet technology and drawing power from 14 Cayago batteries, the Seabob charges in just under two hours and gives you up to 75 minutes of operation at full tilt. With several models in the range, the most powerful is the Cayago F7 which will have you streaking through the brine for just $19,200. There is also a comprehensive list of accessories and add-ons available for both use with Seabob, as well for storage and charging. www.seabob.com
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The YikeBike