First Impression: Mrs. Seven

Date toured: May 2008

The 99-foot sailing yacht Mrs. Seven launched in July 2008 as hull number seven (hence the name) in builder Southern Wind’s 100 Mini series. She was the first of the 100 Minis to have a raised saloon, which means that her on-deck spaces are almost completely flush, or flat. She also was originally built as the personal yacht of the shipyard’s owner, which means every nut and bolt was meticulously scrutinized.
    Her current owner took possession just one month after the launch, in August 2008, and he used the boat privately before putting her into charter in March 2009. The captain, Gerald Read, and two of the crew members came from the 151-foot sailing yacht Lulworth, a classic yacht from the 1920s that was painstakingly rebuilt and put onto the charter market.
    Mrs. Seven is a very different boat than Lulworth and offers performance sailing at speeds as high as 30 knots. “Anything 10 knots or over, and we’re faster than the wind,” Read told me as we sat in Mrs. Seven’s cockpit. “We’re not a sailboat that motors around. We love to sail.”
    She’s also a sailboat with a clean, contemporary interior that I felt offered a level of sophistication beyond many other sailing yachts available for charter in this size range. One detail that contributed to my opinion is the flooring, which is composed of hand-laid teak squares that look almost like oversized, wooden tiles. They give Mrs. Seven an elegant ambience while at the same time maintaining a classic nautical feel.
    Accommodations include four cabins: a master all the way forward with a queen-size bed, a VIP adjacent to the master with a double-size bed, and two twin-bed cabins in another section of the yacht, separated from the master and VIP by the main saloon and indoor dining room. The twin-bed cabins are plenty big for adults, but the fact that they are in their own area makes them an interesting option as a “kid zone” for family charters.
    “We take up to eight guests, and we’re actually not crowded with eight guests. You feel like you can move,” Read says. “We’re a well thought out, well laid out boat. It’s a good mix of luxury and performance sailing.”
    I didn’t get a chance to meet chef Alessandro Pardini, but Read told me he is an Italian who cooks international and Asian cuisines. The sample menu I saw confirmed that description, listing dishes such as tower of tuna tartar, spaghetti with red mullet lime zest, and king prawn burgers.
    Any reputable charter broker can tell you more about the crew and charter options aboard Mrs. Seven. The yacht is part of the Ocean Independence fleet with a lowest weekly base rate of €43,000 in the Mediterranean this summer. Plans are to charter in the Caribbean during the winter 2009-10 season.—Kim Kavin