CharterWave eNews

Inside the Spring Charter Shows
April and May are among the most significant months for the global charter business, with no fewer than five industry-only charter yacht shows taking place in the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.
    Here at CharterWave, we offer unparalleled coverage of these back-to-back, worldwide events—some of which saw our editor as the only U.S.-based journalist in attendance. If you missed our initial reports on the Daily Editor’s Blog, keep reading here in eNews for synopses.
    Also note that among the 10 new First Impression reviews listed at the bottom of this month’s eNews are feature articles about some of the most widely discussed yachts at the recent charter yacht shows. And, in case you missed it in May, check out our 10 Best Lessons Learned at the Italy and Turkey Charter Shows. The list includes details about exciting new charter yachts that our editor toured on the docks.

Editor’s Report from the Genoa, Italy, Charter Show
The docks in Italy were bursting with exciting new charter yachts during the first week of May, but broker traffic was light, with many U.S.-based brokers skipping the show altogether because of the travel expense at a time of economic recession.
    This show tends to focus on the largest and most expensive yachts available for summer charters in the Western Mediterranean, which remains the world’s premier cruising ground, but where business is still slow for the larger yachts coming off the lackluster winter season in the Caribbean.
    “Virtually every retail broker and charter company manager I spoke with told me that business is off substantially, with some saying it is off by as much as 40 percent over last year,” CharterWave editor Kim Kavin says. “Many brokers say their phones did not ring at all during the first few months of 2009, and that potential charter clients are just now starting to call—but primarily to price shop instead of to book. The economic freeze may be starting to thaw at these top charter levels, and some brokers definitely are starting to see business pick up again, but many charter clients are apparently still testing the waters to see what kinds of rates they can get instead of going ahead and committing to summer charter vacations.”
    Several charter managers from large, international management companies said the charter yachts currently being booked are those offering discounted rates as high as 30 percent, or multiple bonus days onboard for clients who pay a yacht’s regularly advertised weekly rate.
    Some charter fleet managers also said that yacht owners are becoming frustrated because, even as they are lowering their rates to encourage charter bookings, potential clients continue to demand deeper cuts and better bargains.
    “Charter remains a buyer’s market, but we may be reaching a point where some charter yacht owners feel they are bending as much as they feel compelled to bend,” Kavin says. “Some owners are in a financial position to hold firm at their regular rates, charter bookings or not, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. Other owners continue to say, ‘Bring reasonable offers,’ but as the summer arrives and the bookings remain slow, potential clients see themselves in a stronger negotiating position and are bringing offers that many owners feel are simply unreasonable.”
    Current charter pricing aside, there was no argument about the exceptional quality of yachts at this year’s Genoa show. Some of the standouts included this month’s CharterWave Motoryacht of the Month, the 163-foot Codecasa Grace E, which recently added an enclosed, air-conditioned gymnasium on her sundeck. Other motoryachts that got a lot of praise included the brand-new, 137-foot Benetti Natori, the brand-new, 118-foot Benetti Sail Division Grand Cru III, and the brand-new, 141-foot Trinity Big City—whose Capt. Barry Bramhill discusses that yacht’s construction in the current CharterWave Captain of the Month interview.
    In the sailing yacht category, all tongues were wagging about the 170-foot Alloy Mondango, which is the current CharterWave Sailing Yacht of the Month. Mondango boasts some exceptionally thoughtful features for charter guests’ comfort, such as the built-in drink trays that we featured recently on the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog.

Editor’s Report from the Marmaris, Turkey, Charter Show
This charter yacht show, as always, is primarily a showcase for gulets—traditional Turkish motorsailers that have been among the world’s best charter values for the past few years. The gulets on display this year showed, once again, that while some boats in the local fleet remain low on the quality scale, others are attaining new levels of construction excellence that justify their higher prices on the Turkish coast.
    “I was last here at least 10 years ago, and I have been very impressed with the quality of the gulets this year,” said longtime broker Rikki Davis of Rikki Davis Worldwide Yacht Charters at Churchill Yacht Partners. “It’s a world of difference—and the Turkish people have remained the same. They’re still nice.”
    Bookings in Turkey are reportedly strong for the prime month of August, but there is a great deal of availability for the months of June, July, and September—which is highly unusual at this time of year. Most gulet owners and managers said they are willing to accept reasonable requests and negotiate discounts on their published rates. “Bring all offers” was the mantra on the docks.
    Gulets that left CharterWave Editor Kim Kavin particularly impressed included the 141-foot Mare Nostrum, whose €45,000 weekly base rate for 12 guests includes food, domestic wine and beer, unlimited WiFi, local VAT taxes, and fuel for the yacht’s main engines and generators (which keep the air conditioning going 24 hours a day). Also impressive were the 98-foot Schatz, which recently completed what the owner described as a €330,000 refit; the 98–foot Clarissa, whose condition remains as pristine as it was when Kavin cruised aboard back in 2007 (the same captain and chef are still onboard providing excellent service); the 141-foot Hic Salta, which recently completed what the owner described as a €150,000 refit; and the 124-foot Carpe Diem III, whose just-finished refit included all new interior varnish, upgraded electronics, and the installation of satellite television.
    “It’s great to see gulets of such high quality available for charter nowadays in Turkey,” Kavin says. “But I also saw a good number of gulets that, unfortunately, live up to the old knock on gulets being shabby boats—and that reinforce my opinion, more than ever, that if you book a charter in Turkey you should only work with a reputable broker who has been there personally to inspect the yachts and interview the crews. What appears to be a good deal on paper in Turkey does not always translate into a good charter yacht vacation.”
    Among the brokers who made the trip to Turkey this year are CharterWave sponsors Missy Johnston of Northrop & Johnson Worldwide Yacht Charters and Beverly Parsons of Interpac Yachts.
    Other English-speaking brokers whom Kavin saw working hard at the show included Florida-based Davis, Jeni Tidmarsh of New Zealand-based Sail Connections, and this month’s CharterWave Broker of the Month: Penelope Kellie of Britain-based Penelope Kellie World Wide Yacht Charter & Tours.

Broker Report from the Poros, Greece, Charter Show
Gertrud Annevelink of Charter Experience, a CharterWave sponsor, flew from her office in New Zealand to attend this year’s charter yacht show in Poros, Greece. She found unusual summer charter availability, with many yachts not even fully booked for August.
    “I spent one day asking all the crew on the boats I went aboard what their bookings were, and none of them had bookings for the first week of August,” she said in an exclusive interview for CharterWave. “I thought that was quite staggering. That’s the super-prime high season, and it’s always the first week to be booked up, and all of these boats still had availability.”
    Many owners of Greek charter yachts, much like owners with boats in the Western Mediterranean and Turkey, are accepting reasonable offers and indicating willingness to negotiate pricing, Annevelink says. Some of the deals being offered are so sweet, she added, that they are not likely to last much longer into the season.
    Among the yachts that made the biggest impression on Annevelink at the Poros show was the brand-new, 108-foot Maiora motoryacht Ramira—which comes complete with high-tech, anti-terrorism security features. To learn more about that boat, and more about what Annevelink learned on the docks, see our full Broker Report interview on the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog.

Broker Report from the Virgin Islands Charter Shows
St. Thomas-based broker Kathleen Mullen of Regency Yacht Vacations, a CharterWave sponsor, attended the spring charter yacht show on that U.S. island as well as the one on Tortola, in the neighboring British Virgin Islands. She found that business, as in other locations, remains slow, and that larger yachts in both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands—those at least 100 feet long with weekly base rates starting at $30,000—are offering discounts and accepting reasonable offers to secure charter bookings.
    At the same time, she says, most smaller charter yachts in the Virgin Islands—which have for years been considered among the world’s best charter values with all-inclusive rates—are sticking to their advertised prices.
    “Smaller boats quite honestly don’t have as much room to negotiate,” Mullen said in an exclusive interview for CharterWave. “They have to cover their overhead and running expenses and pay for food. They have long been considered a good value at their current price points, and they do a fabulous job. There’s only so far that they can take the idea of discounting rates. It’s just their reality.”
    Interestingly, Mullen said that more large motoryachts than usual appear to be staying in the Virgin Islands this summer, as opposed to paying the expenses required to move to other charter grounds including the Mediterranean and New England. With global summer charter markets remaining weak, some owners may have simply decided to stay put for financial reasons. That potentially means more options for large-yacht summer charters in the Virgin Islands than in years past.
    To learn which yachts Mullen saw as standouts at the Virgin Islands shows, and to read more of her thoughts about ideas for chartering there this summer, see our full Broker Report interview on the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog.

We’re Scouting for You in Newport, Rhode Island
There’s one more industry-only charter yacht show coming this summer, at the end of this month in Newport, Rhode Island. As always, CharterWave Editor Kim Kavin will be on the docks, filing exclusive reports to the Daily Editor’s Blog and CharterWave Twitter feed. Stay tuned.

Welcome New Sponsor: Interpac Yachts
We are thrilled to welcome Interpac Yachts this month as the premium sponsor of our popular Digital Newsstand section.
    Interpac Yachts is the agency run by Beverly Parsons, who has been chartering since 1969. Based in California, she offers worldwide charter expertise and is particularly knowledgeable about booking boats in the Pacific Northwest and Mexico. Parsons also is arguably the most knowledgeable U.S.-based broker when it comes to booking charters in Turkey—where she has been inspecting boats and interviewing crew for the past 27 years.
    “One of the reasons I’m so thrilled to have Beverly Parsons as our newest sponsor is that she represents the highest professional standards that any charter broker can attain,” says CharterWave Editor Kim Kavin. “Not only is she a member of the professional groups CYBA International and the American Yacht Charter Association, but she helped to found them and has served in top positions in each. She also is one of the few brokers I know who are fully licensed and bonded, which should mean exceptional peace of mind for anyone doing business through her company, even in the currently challenging economic times.”
    Parsons says that 85 percent of charter bookings at Interpac Yachts come from repeat clients and referrals, an excellent sign of a well-run agency. You can learn more about Parsons and her background by reading this editorial interview we did with her a little more than a year ago, or by going directly to the Interpac Yachts website.

New Websites for Nicholson Yachts, Sunseeker Charters, Yankee Nautica
CharterWave sponsor Nicholson Yachts has launched this new website, complete with a “how to charter” section along with sample itineraries in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, New England, Bahamas, Indian Ocean, and South Pacific.
    The new site also includes something we haven’t seen anywhere else: an entire section devoted to photos taken by previous charter clients. If you want to see what actual charter guests have experienced (as opposed to brochure models who are paid to look happy), then this is a great new resource.
    Also this month, Sunseeker Charters launched this new website. It includes enhanced yacht specifications along with destination pages that list the various Sunseeker yachts currently available in specific locations.
    Last but not least, Yankee Nautica launched this new website in May. It includes detailed destination information about chartering in Alaska, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, New England, and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

Three Brokers Say: What is the Best Way to Get a Great Charter Rate?
With many charter yacht owners responding to the global recession by telling brokers to “bring all reasonable offers” on behalf of charter clients, we asked three leading agents about their strategies for getting the best rates on charters worldwide.
    Rebecca Riley of Paradise Yacht Charters, Trina Howes of CharterWorld.com, and Sandy Carney of Sanderson Yachting LLC offer their helpful advice and answers in this month’s edition of Three Brokers Say.

Best of the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog
New Yacht Boasts Chromotherapy. If your fourth chakra is out of balance, then this should interest you. It's the master cabin shower aboard the brand-new, 98-foot Benetti Sail Division-built motoryacht Mrs. White, which I toured earlier this month at the industry-only charter show in Italy. Stewardess Dijana Keser explained to me that the square rainshower head in the ceiling is outfitted to provide chromotherapy--a method of alternative medicine that is said to help balance physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional energy wherever they are out of balance in the body … Read more …

Best of the CharterWave Sponsored Blogs
From the Northrop & Johnson Worldwide Yacht Charters sponsored blog: Charter Turkey and Shop the Bazaars! It is the allure of the colorful wares, I am sure, that draws one to the Bazaar in Turkey, although, if I were truthful, it is really the shopping fun that a visit to a Turkish Bazaar offers.  The Bazaar is part of any reasonably sized Turkish town, with the mother lode, of course in Istanbul.  And a Bazaar visit is just not all about shopping; the actual act of purchasing is an experience in its own right … Read more …

Motoryacht of the Month: Grace E
The 163-foot Codecasa motoryacht Grace E, previously known as Andale, just completed a refit that included the addition of a fully enclosed, air-conditioned gymnasium on her sundeck. The recent seven-month project followed another refit last year that included the installation of a new audiovisual system complete with Kaleidescape, iPod docks, and WiFi access for guests.
    Our editor got onboard for this exclusive First Impression review and was impressed with how beautiful the 2004 build looked following all the recent improvements.

Sailing Yacht of the Month: Mondango
The 170-foot sailing yacht Mondango launched from New Zealand’s Alloy shipyard less than a year ago and is making a lasting impression in the Mediterranean during her first summer season of charter. Among other elegant and luxurious features, she offers what are perhaps the most sophisticated toilets ever installed on a sailing yacht (we’re talking remote controls, built-in blow dryers, and more).
    Check out this exclusive First Impression review from the extended tour that our editor took in Italy. And, in case you missed it, see this post to the Editor’s Daily Blog about one of Mondango’s nifty sundeck features.

Captain of the Month: Barry Bramhill
The newly launched, 141-foot Trinity motoryacht Big City took two and a half years to build, and Capt. Barry Bramhill was there for every day of the action. “Everybody talks about how they would do things,” he says. “Well, this was my chance.”
    Our exclusive interview with Bramhill includes details about how the yacht was designed from the start not only to provide top-notch charter features, but also to make crew feel comfortable so that the industry’s best stewardesses, deckhands, and chefs would want to work onboard.

Chef of the Month: Hamish Watson
Our editor was treated to a spectacular, seven-course tasting dinner prepared by chef Hamish Watson and his team aboard the 183-foot Benetti motoryacht Galaxy. The gourmet presentations and five-star service made it really hard to believe that Watson started out his professional years not as a cook, but as a shepherd.
    Learn more about his interesting rise to the top of the charter yacht industry in this exclusive interview, which our editor thankfully nabbed well in advance of the dessert course at midnight.

Broker of the Month: Penelope Kellie
Our editor met British broker Penelope Kellie at the recent charter yacht show in Turkey, where her years of diligence in inspecting yachts has made her as well known as some local captains. She also specializes in Latin American vacations, interesting India itineraries, and cruising in the Galapagos Islands--which she has been promoting since 1988.
    We scored this exclusive interview with Kellie, who discusses how she got started and why some of her repeat clients call her the “funny places lady.” If you're interested in an exotic charter destination, Kellie has a lot of knowledge to offer.

Fleet and Management Company News
37 South says the 25th anniversary Blue Marlin World Cup is scheduled to take place in Fiji on July 4. The 112-foot Alloy motoryacht VvS1 is available for charter during the event, and then will move to Tahiti to offer charters later in July, August, and September…

Athens Yachts has wide summer availability for the following charter yachts in Greece: the 130-foot Broward motoryacht A&I, the 109-foot Maiora motoryacht Ramira, the 78-foot Alphamarine A&I, the 115-foot CRN motoryacht Ragazza, the 80-foot Mangusta motoryacht Chrysanthe S, the 80-foot Ferretti motoryacht Kentavros II, and the 104-foot sailing yacht Hermina. Accommodations range from six to 10 guests, depending on the yacht…

BCR Yachts says the 82-foot Swan sailing yacht Crackerjack is available in Croatia this summer at a lowest weekly base rate of €35,000 for eight to 10 guests… The 78-foot Baltic sailing yacht Rusalka has changed its name to Lupa of London. It’s available in the Mediterranean this summer at a lowest weekly base rate of €26,500 for six guests… The 78-foot Baltic sailing yacht Midnight Sun of London is offering nine days for the price of seven. The publicized weekly base rate is €19,000 for six guests… The 64-foot Oyster sailing yacht Blue Destiny is cruising in Central America this summer. Charter bookings are available for six guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €18,000…

Blue Latitude Yachting has joined charter fleets with Merex Yachting. See our CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog post for details… The 58-foot sailing catamaran Ocean’s Seven has lowered its weekly, all-inclusive rate from $24,500 to $21,500 for eight guests with two crew in the Bahamas. Special rates are also available for charter parties of two, four, and six guests…

BoatBookings.com says there are some “tremendous values” available right now for charter. They include a 50-percent discount on a September charter in Greece’s Ionian Sea, a 30-percent discount on a July charter in Sardinia, a 50-percent discount on bookings in Mauritius, a 15-percent discount in Croatia, and as many as 21 days for the price of 14 in Thailand. The company also tells us that the 120-foot custom motoryacht Touch has lowered its weekly base rate by $20,000 to $55,000 for the rest of 2009, and that the 112-foot Westport motoryacht Symphony II is offering two weeks at the single-week rate of $49,500 for Caribbean charters until July 24…

Burgess Yachts welcomes the 186-foot Brooke Yachts motoryacht Bad Girl to the fleet. She takes 12 guests with 15 crew at a lowest weekly base rate of $275,000 and is available in the Mediterranean…

Camper & Nicholsons International welcomes two yachts to the fleet. The 142-foot Palmer Johnson Incentive is available this summer in New England, while the 109-foot gulet Shanti is available in Turkey… The 112-foot Nautor Swan sailing yacht Mystery is available this summer in Tahiti, and will be chartering this winter in Costa Rica, Panama, and the Caribbean… Five yachts in addition to Incentive are available for charter this summer in New England: the 112-foot Resilience, 153-foot Chantal Ma Vie, 150-foot Carpe Diem, 118-foot Savannah, and 115-foot MITseaAH… Available in the Bahamas this summer are the 132-foot Monte Carlo, 111-foot Cherish, and 91-foot Viaggio… Two yachts are staying in the Caribbean this summer: the 112-foot Symphony II and the 96-foot Serenity Now…

Cape4Yachting has four motoryachts with availability this summer in Greece. They are the 135-foot Codecasa Ouranos Too, the 100-foot Falcon Ouranos, the 80-foot Posillipo Karyatis, and the 60-foot Posillipo Siesta. Weekly base rates range from €20,050 to €115,500 for six to 12 guests…

CEO Expeditions has dropped its charter rates entirely for summer bookings in the San Juan Islands and is charging “expenses only” on its motoryachts. Typically, the base rates for the 100-foot Katania and 120-foot Kayana are as high as $105,000 per week. The all-inclusive promotion means that 12 guests can charter Kayana for $27,650 per week, and that six guests can charter Katania for $20,650 per week. Prices include a full crew, premium wines, gourmet meals, kayaks, hot tub usage, fishing, crabbing, shrimping, and a 30-foot Whaler among other tenders for guest use…

CharterPortBVI-managed Swish, a 47-foot sailing catamaran, has a new owner. Capt. Euros Williams and chef Emily Williams are remaining onboard and offering charters in the British Virgin Islands. The weekly, inclusive rates range from $12,950 for two guests to $15,950 for seven guests, and a $1,000 discount is available for charters that end by August 30…

Churchill Yacht Partners welcomes the 63-foot classic Burger motoryacht Victorian Rose to the fleet. She has been “lovingly restored from the bare metal up” and is available this summer in New England. She takes four to six guests with three crew at a lowest weekly base rate of $13,000… The 116-foot Holland Jachtbouw sailing yacht Whisper still has availability for charters this summer in New England. Her calendar is open August 4-9 and the entire month of September. She takes six guests with five crew at a lowest weekly base rate of $80,000… The 90-foot Stephens motoryacht Trilogy is available this summer in the Great Lakes. She takes eight guests with four crew at a lowest weekly base rate of $29,500, and the owner is “open to reasonable offers”… The 121-foot Crescent motoryacht Olga is available in the Virgin Islands until September, when she travels to Panama’s San Blas Islands. Her weekly base rate is $70,000 for eight guests with six crew, and guests can additionally charter the brand-new 61-foot Garlington sportfishing yacht Ambush for an inclusive daily rate of $4,000…

CSO Yachts says the 65-foot motoryacht Calypso is available for charters in Venice and Croatia without delivery fees. She takes eight guests with three crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €18,000… Also available is the 118-foot Siar Moschini motoryacht Sunliner X, based in Antibes, France, at a lowest weekly base rate of €42,000 for eight guests with six crew…

Dahm International tells us the 98-foot Benetti motoryacht Nanou has availability in July, August, and September in the Eastern Mediterranean. She takes eight guests with six crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €60,000…

Fraser Yachts Worldwide says the owners of yachts in its fleet are discounting charter rates by as much as 20 percent, and that U.S. clients represent more than half of the company’s current charter bookings for summer charters in the Mediterranean… The 165-foot Oceanfast motoryacht Mystique is offering a 15-percent price reduction, making the lowest weekly base rate $120,000 in the Bahamas… The 145-foot custom motoryacht Ariete Primo is offering a 30-percent discount off its lowest weekly base rate of €110,000 for June and September charters in the Western Mediterranean… The 120-foot Crescent motoryacht Impetuous is offering a 15-percent discount off its lowest weekly base rate of $65,000 for New England charters this summer…

Hargrave Yacht Charters reminds us that its 100-foot motoryachts Seafarer and King Baby are each offering $4,000 discounts on typical charter expenses. Seafarer is available in Florida and the Bahamas, while King Baby is based in Sag Harbor on New York’s Long Island. King Baby also is offering free dockage for charters in Sag Harbor… Also available this summer in New England are the 114-foot motoryacht Sea Legend, taking 10 guests with four crew, and the 97-foot motoryacht Gigi, taking eight guests with four crew…

Infinity Yacht Charters says the 114-foot classic motoryacht (built in 1943) Pacific Yellowfin is available this summer in British Columbia and Canada. She takes eight to 12 guests with six crew at weekly base rates that range from $37,500 to $47,300 depending on dates and number of guests. The yacht is also available for charters during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, scheduled for January and February in Vancouver, British Columbia. See our Daily Editor's Blog post for more on that… The 111-foot Deep Sea Marine motoryacht Crystal is available this summer in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. She takes 12 guests at an inclusive weekly rate of $95,000 that includes a naturalist. You can take 25 percent off if you charter the yacht for all or part of July 20 to August 26 during the Inside Passage cruise from Alaska to British Columbia. That makes the weekly, inclusive rate $71,250…

International Yacht Collection welcomes the 220-foot motoryacht Allure to the fleet. The 2007 Shadow Marine build carries a smart car and has a 6,500-gallon freshwater pool onboard. The weekly base rate is $245,000, and the boat is in the Mediterranean this summer… Also new to the fleet are the newly built, 75-foot Lazzara motoryacht Lizzi and the 119-foot Palmer Johnson motoryacht Natalia.  Both are based in the Western Mediterranean with lowest weekly base rates of €22,00 for Lizzi and €95,000 for Natalia…

Nautor’s Swan U.K. has a dozen sailing yachts available for charter this summer. Destinations include the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, the U.S. East Coast, the Baltic Sea, and the Scottish Sea. Weekly base rates range from £4,940 to €28,000 for six to eight guests…

Newport Yacht Management tells us the owner of the 100-foot Holland Jachtbouw sailing yacht Sapphire is offering one free week of Caribbean charter this winter to the first person who books two weeks of charter this summer in New England…

Nicholson Yachts says the 70-foot Norlin/Swedish Yachts Nira still has availability this summer in the Eastern Mediterranean islands and along the Turkish coast. She takes six guests with two crew at weekly base rates of €16,000 for two guests, €17,000 for four guests, and €18,000 for six guests… The 72-foot Goetz/Alden sailing yacht Fearless has a new chef. Kim Hogan, who previously worked with Capt. Jonathon Davis on the sailing yacht Blue Moon, is now in the galley. The pair recently announced their engagement… The 90-foot Doggersbank motoryacht Tivoli has reduced its weekly base rate to $29,500 for New England charters this summer. Tivoli takes six guests … The 62-foot sailing yacht Safari is available in the Western Mediterranean at a lowest weekly base rate of €15,000 for six guests… The 82-foot sailing yacht Fortuna, which typically charters with a weekly base rate around €16,000, is offering a price break to €14,000 for bookings in June, July, and September in the Western Mediterranean… The 55-foot Jenneau sailing yacht Magpie II is extending its eight-days-for-the-price-of-seven offer for all charters that take place before August 31 in the Grenadines. The inclusive rates are $6,900 for two guests or $8,400 for four…

Northrop & Johnson says the 161-foot Trinity motoryacht Destination Fox Harb’r Too is available for charter bookings in the Caribbean this Thanksgiving. The weekly base rate for as many as 12 guests with 10 crew is $230,000… The 145-foot Christensen motoryacht Aghassi has been sold to a new owner. No word yet on whether she will remain available for charter… The 122-foot Flagship motoryacht Shogun is offering nine nights for the price of seven with no delivery fees for summer charters in Alaska. The weekly base rate is $69,000 for eight guests with five crew… The 120-foot Broward motoryacht Sovereign is moving from the Turks and Caicos Islands to Nassau, Bahamas, where she will be available for charter until July, when she moves up to New England. The weekly base rate is $70,000 for 12 guests, and the owner is “willing to accept reasonable offers”… The 116-foot Intermarine motoryacht Kipany is available for charter this summer in New England. She takes eight guests with five crew at a lowest weekly base rate of $45,000…

Primo Yacht Charter has two motoryachts based in Sardinia for charters this summer: the 88-foot Leopard Gremat and the 88-foot Pershing Alven 24. Gremat takes seven guests with four crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €30,000, while Alven 24 takes eight guests with four crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €50,000… The 148-foot Feadship motoryacht Secret Life, whose lowest weekly base rate is €90,000 for 12 guests with 10 crew, is offering a base rate of €65,000 for all charters in June…

Sailaway Yacht Charter Consultants is donating 5 percent of base rates on all Mediterranean charters booked to take place before October 31 to the ocean conservation group Oceana. See this post on the CharterWave Daily Editor’s blog for details…

Seascape Yacht Charters tells us the 88-foot Azimut motoryacht Rena N is currently available in Greece. The lowest weekly base rate is €44,000 for eight guests with four crew… The 108-foot Cantieri di Pisa motoryacht Pollux is available in Greece at a lowest weekly base rate of €65,800 for eight to 10 guests with six crew…

Sunseeker Charters welcomes two new Predator Sport motoryachts to its Western Mediterranean fleet. The 92-foot Re1 is available at a lowest weekly base rate of €65,000, while the 84-foot UM6 is available at a lowest weekly base rate of £40,000…

Voyage Charters has reduced the cost of scuba on its yachts to $35 per dive, per diver. Clients can dive directly from their charter yachts, or cruise by tender with the company’s dive master to other nearby locations…

Yachting Partners International welcomes two yachts to the fleet. The newly launched, 87-foot Sunseeker motoryacht Phantom takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €39,500 while the 90-foot Pershing motoryacht Peter K takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €38,500. Both yachts are based in the Western Mediterranean...

YCO tells us the 82-foot Sunseeker Predator motoryacht Champneys, which is owned by the company that operates Champneys Health Resorts in the United Kingdom, will be offering spa discounts ashore to the yacht’s summer charter clients. The yacht takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €35,000… New to the fleet are the 144-foot Heesen motoryacht Jems, which takes 10 guests and is in the Mediterranean; the 85-foot Leopard motoryacht Bluebird of Happiness, taking nine guests in the Eastern Mediterranean; the 88-foot Leopard motoryacht Bembik, taking nine guests in the Eastern Mediterranean; and the 80-foot Swan sailing yacht Selene, taking six guests this winter in the Caribbean. Selene was refit this year and went on to win the Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten.

New First Impression Reviews Posted This Month on CharterWave:
Big City, 141-foot motoryacht
Galaxy, 183-foot motoryacht (full update of December 2005 review)
Grace E, 163-foot motoryacht
Grand Cru III, 118-foot motoryacht
Lelanta, 80-foot sailing yacht
Mondango, 170-foot sailing yacht
Papa Joe, 110-foot motorsailing gulet
Saga Boy Too, 57-foot sailing catamaran
Sorana, 67-foot motor yacht
Yes, Dear, 58-foot sailing catamaran

New Crew Interviews Posted This Month on CharterWave:
Capt. Barry Bramhill, 141-foot motoryacht Big City
Chef Hamish Watson, 183-foot motoryacht Galaxy

New Broker Interview Posted This Month on CharterWave:
Penelope Kellie, Penelope Kellie World Wide Yacht Charter & Tours

Weekly “10 Best” Lists Posted on CharterWave This Month:
10 Best Summer Charter Destination Alternatives
10 Best Lessons Learned at the May 2009 Italy and Turkey Charter Shows
10 Best Charter Yachts for TV Junkies
10 Best Charter Yachts for Parties and Events