Sardinia tax
Italian island amends its tax to weekly, with a cap.
A6 Loved it
Photo pages from our party.
A24-25
Vol. 5, No. 2
www.the-triton.com
Megayacht captains, crew have opportunity to have solutions, not just complaints, heard
Rear Adm. James Watson, former commanding officer of the Marine Safety Office in South Florida, is now director of prevention policy for the U.S. Coast Guard and is based in Washington, D.C. He may be the industry’s best chance of drawing attention and recognition to PHOTO/DONNIE BRZUSKA/USCG professional megayacht crew. scoured the Caribbean’s least populated bays. And it was Adm. Watson who waived the ANOA rule on yacht-sized foreign vessels coming
into South Florida at a time when the National Vessel Movement Center
See SUMMIT, page A22
Survey: Crew pleased with summer travels By Kelly Cramer No matter what country it’s in, the shipyard is on the least-favorite list of destinations for captains and crews. That’s not really surprising, nor is the lack of a consensus on a favorite spot to visit, especially considering how many of the May survey respondents mentioned that they had been around the world more than once. As captains and crew across the
globe gear up for a busy summer season, it seemed like a good time to ask where everyone is going, whether folks are happy about the place they will be spending the season or where they would rather go. More of those captains and crew aboard private megayachts are happy with their summer run with 71 percent of the 56 people answering in the affirmative. “In my opinion yachts should go
Australia considers accepting megayacht sea time. A8 May 2008
Yacht crew are not ‘small’ operators
Last month’s Southeastern Small Vessel Security Summit in Orlando was much like the national summit in Washington, D.C. last summer, only shorter. The difference in Orlando was that instead of opening comments from U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Editor’s Notebook Thad Allen, Lucy Chabot Reed we heard from Rear Adm. James Watson, director of prevention policy for marine safety, security and stewardship. And that’s a good thing. No disrespect to Adm. Allen, but Adm. Watson is our guy. Adm. Watson spent four years as Captain of the Port in South Florida and was head of the Marine Safety Office here during the first part of this decade. He knows what a big white boat is and has actually talked to more than a few megayacht captains and crew. He understands the vagaries of applying the ISPS Code to megayachts that have recently
Aussie rules
more often off the beaten track,” one mate said. “Fortunately private yachts do. If you are on a charter vessel in the Med, you very likely see always the same places (St. Tropez, Cannes, Monaco, Cala di Volpe) all summer long. It’s a pity as the Med has much more than that to offer.” Of the 32 vessels that take charters, 58 percent said they were pleased
See SURVEY, page A16
Megayachts do feel pinch of economy in recession As the mainstream American press primes its readers for a recession, a few journalists have picked up on the delicious fact that the rich keep getting richer. In the six months since Showboats International magazine published its 2008 Order Book – the one From the Bridge that showed there Lucy Chabot Reed were 916 new megayachts on order, an 18 percent jump from 2007 – news sources such as The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and Time magazine sarcastically claim “what recession?” when it comes to the world of megayachts. So we decided to ask the people who work closest with megayacht owners – captains and brokers – if they thought the megayacht sector really is recession proof. In two separate roundtable discussions last month, each group basically said the same thing: Not really. While the wealthiest of megayacht owners can still buy a yacht if and when they want one, they are having a harder time selling their smaller boats because potential buyers are having trouble selling their smaller boats (and so on). Also, these businessmen and women are biding their time for a deal, which they predict will come about the time of the American presidential elections this fall. We begin with the captains’ thoughts. (For the brokers’ thoughts, see the story on page A26.) “We’re trying to sell a 94-footer,” one captain said. “The guys who would buy it need to sell their 80s and 70s. I’ve had several stand on my back deck and say ‘I’d buy it in a minute if I could sell mine.’” As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage
See BRIDGE, page A20