Date toured: May 2008

Tuscan Sun is a 147-foot Izar motoryacht that has earned a good reputation in the charter industry since launching in 2006. She went into the shipyard for a seven-month warranty work period in 2007, and by the time the work ended and I got onboard in May 2008, her whole crew had left to work aboard another yacht. The crew I met had been onboard just three weeks, and had arrived as a complete team, having worked together previously onboard the 160-foot Codecasa motoryacht Invada and the 145-foot Christensen motoryacht Primadonna. That includes the captain, first mate, bosun, chef, engineer, chief stewardess, and second stewardess.
“We’ve been together between two and seven years, all of us,” bosun Jaco Stofberg told me. “We even go on holidays together.”
That’s a new one to me, and it bodes well for Tuscan Sun’s charter operation being able to start up again with just as much success as the yacht enjoyed during previous seasons.
Stofberg told me the yacht has spent most of its time in the South of France and will be heading to the Caribbean for the first time this winter. “That’s our playground,” he added. “We know the area well.” Also a good sign for successful charters.
Tuscan Sun herself looked terrific during my tour. She has a main-deck master cabin with five guest cabins below. Four have queen-size beds and one has twin-size beds. One of the queen cabins is considered the VIP because it has a bigger bathroom than the others, but the cabin itself is about the same size.
Also noteworthy is that there’s a small gymnasium off the sky lounge with a treadmill, and exercise bicycle, and weights. The sundeck is reserved exclusively for guest use, with no outdoor helm controls.
The yacht is part of the International Yacht Collection fleet and takes 12 guests with nine crew at a lowest weekly base rate of about $230,000. Any reputable charter broker can tell you more.—Kim Kavin