Mirabella V is the tallest single-masted sailing yacht in the world. Her mast is 292 feet tall, about the height of a 30-story building. When I stood on her deck and looked up, the mast seemed to climb right into the clouds. Incredibly impressive.

When the crew need to get up the mast to work on the sails and rigging, they climb into the crow’s nest, which is basically a metal basket that slides hydraulically about halfway up the mast, to a height of about 150 feet. I was lucky enough to get a ride in Mirabella V’s crow’s nest during this month’s Genoa charter show–and yes, I brought my video camera with me.

Want to see the view change as the crow’s nest goes from just above water level to halfway up the tallest single mast in the world? Click play:

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Here’s a photo of something that I absolutely love to see onboard charter yachts: a multipurpose area.

You’re looking at the aft (back) end of the sundeck onboard Firouzeh, a 2007 ISA motoryacht that I toured during the Genoa charter show this month. This space, as shown in this photo, is a teppanyaki bar where food can be cooked right at the table. These bars are among the hottest features aboard motoryachts nowadays, beginning to show up on builds from Europe to New Zealand.

What I like about this teppanyaki bar is that it’s convertible. The whole table drops down (and turns off), allowing for a cushion to be inserted. The entire space thus becomes a giant sunpad.

Convertible features like this one, in my opinion, can make good charter yachts great. There’s only so much space on any given boat, and the more you can do with that space, the more interesting the boat will be during a vacation of a week or longer. Whether it’s a teppanyaki bar that turns into a sunpad or a helipad that serves double duty as a dance floor, convertible features are a great thing to look for when choosing your charter yacht.