CharterWave eNews

Exclusive CharterWave Yacht Features Now Number 300 for Your Review

As of August 1, CharterWave has officially posted 300 charter yacht reviews—in just shy of three years since our October 2006 launch.
    The majority of reviews are in the First Impressions sections, with 161 First Impression motoryacht reviews and 113 First Impression sailing yacht reviews. There also are 26 destination features now on the site.
    “All of these articles about charter yachts are exclusive to CharterWave,” says editor Kim Kavin. “When you consider that most marine magazines publish maybe a dozen articles about charter each year, you realize that CharterWave beats them all hands-down for charter industry coverage, even if you combine them and put CharterWave up against them all at once.”
    Next month, CharterWave will reach another milestone when it publishes its 100th interview with a charter industry insider. As of this month, there are 99 broker interviews and crew interviews available for readers.

Ocean Independence, Fraser Yachts Say Slow Med Season Continues
As we first reported on the Daily Editor’s Blog, yacht management companies Ocean Independence and Fraser Yachts Worldwide both issued newsletters in the past few weeks stating that charter business during the summer Mediterranean season remains slow.
    Most of the current availability, according to Fraser, is aboard charter yachts from 100 to 165 feet long, which the company describes as having "plenty of available weeks." Ocean Independence did not offer a size-range breakdown, but did say that it expects charter revenue to be down as much as 35 percent for 2009 compared with 2008—based in large part on the continuing weakness of the summer Mediterranean market.
    CharterWave continues to receive at least two or three notices of newly announced deals and discounts for Mediterranean charter yachts. We post them immediately to the CharterWave Twitter feed and expand on the best offers in the Daily Editor’s Blog. Stay tuned to see how many offers continue to arrive in August.

Conde Nast Traveler Gives Ed Hamilton 8th Consecutive Nod
Ed Hamilton & Co., which sponsors the CharterWave Daily Editor’s blog, has earned props in the August edition of Conde Nast Traveler--for the eighth year in a row--as the recommended agent for booking a Caribbean yacht charter.
    As Ed notes on his company's website, "While editor Wendy Perrin openly admits there are advantages to using the Internet when booking a simple flight, she feels arranging an unusual vacation where local knowledge can make all the difference is quite another story. We can think of no vacation that requires local knowledge more than a crewed yacht charter."
    We at CharterWave agree wholeheartedly. If you don't know Ed's history as a bareboat company operator and charter yacht captain, you can read all of the details here. Suffice to say he is a broker whose lifelong career has been about compiling local knowledge, and that he has instilled the importance of doing so in his staff.
    Congratulations, Ed. We're thrilled for you, and thrilled to have a broker of your caliber as one of our sponsors here on CharterWave.

California Broker Vanishes: A Cautionary Tale
"It is with great sadness that we must announce effective immediately Dana Island Yachts has ceased all yacht charter and brokerage operations while we undergo restructuring."
    In posting this note on its website, the Orange County, California-based company Dana Island Yachts appears to have gone out of business--perhaps with hundreds of thousands of client dollars missing. The Orange County Register posted this article last month stating that company owner Capt. Ed Fitzgerald is nowhere to be found, and is wanted by the local sheriff's department. Possible fraud is being investigated.
    Dana Island Yachts previously had advertised itself as, among other things, a reputable agency for booking charters aboard crewed power and sailing yachts. All of the self-styled marketing sounded on the up-and-up if you had stumbled upon various promotional entries via the World Wide Web.
    Of course, the story is much different now that clients who booked charters may not actually get to take them, and may not receive refunds on their deposits (if the news allegations are to be believed). The tale serves as yet another reminder of how important it is to book your charters through a broker who actually is reputable, so that if something goes wrong, you at least have the best odds of getting your money back.
    A quick refresher about the best ways to determine whether a charter broker is likely to be reputable:

    •    He has earned full membership status in one or more key professional organizations. The four leading groups for charter agents worldwide are MYBA, FYBA, CYBA International, and AYCA. Each posts a membership roster on its website, so that you can verify the names of companies as well as individual brokers.
    •    He is listed on the CharterWave reputable brokers list. Only brokers who are members of key professional groups qualify for this list, which is also vetted after major annual boat shows (where reputable brokers inspect charter yachts and interview crew).
    •    He has recently attended a premier industry-only charter yacht show. Brokers must pre-register for these shows, and a vetting process is involved. Some examples include the Genoa show each May and the Antigua show each December. Attending brokers are listed on the show websites so that you can verify names.

    Since there are no international licensing guidelines for charter brokers, none of these methods is fool-proof--but all are extra steps that you can take to protect your charter vacation investment. Another extra step you might want to take is reading the Broker Interviews that we post here on CharterWave. We only interview brokers whom we know from our own attendance at industry-only charter shows, and the scope of the interviews is intended to help you compare one broker's expertise against the next.
    In the case of Dana Island Yachts, if you had done some research before booking, you would not have found a single reference to Capt. Ed Fitzgerald or his company in any of the aforementioned locations--a red warning flag that was waving all along, for anyone who cared to look.

International Yacht Collection Launches Blog, Twitter Feed
International Yacht Collection is making some interesting online forays. The company has just launched a new Charter Fleet Blog on WordPress, and charter broker Katie Wray has begun posting regularly to a charter-focused feed on Twitter.
    According to a press release, the new blog is being written by IYC's charter teams in the United States and Europe. It promises to include posts about holiday deals and special offers, the latest news about yachts and crews, examples of sample itineraries, and more.
    So far, the majority of posts have come from Wray and fleet manager Terry Hines, with a few additional posts from crew aboard IYC fleet motoryachts such as the 124-foot Perle Bleue and the 130-foot Charisma. Eventually, the blog’s aim will be to include posts about every yacht in the IYC charter fleet.
    Meanwhile, over on Wray's Twitter feed, there have been posts about yachts in the IYC charter fleet as well as others that are offering discounts this summer. The Twitter feed is less than three months old, but already Wray is offering high-quality information on it regularly.

YachtWorld.com Launches Charter Portal
YachtWorld.com, which launched in 1995 and now claims to contain the largest photo database of new and used power and sailboats for sale and charter on the World Wide Web, launched a new charter-related site in July.
    YachtWorldCharters.com is designed to let readers search for crewed yachts as well as bareboats in destinations around the world. CharterWave’s editor, Kim Kavin, has been a columnist for the company’s sister website Boats.com for several years, and some of her articles and blog posts are now being syndicated on the new charter website. They appear alongside articles by YachtWorld.com Editorial Director John Burnham, who previously was editor of Cruising World magazine.

New Destination Feature: Queen of Andaman in Thailand
The 134-foot Queen of Andaman is being marketed as the most luxurious, locally based sailing yacht in Thailand—and we couldn’t agree more based on the several days our editor spent cruising in and around Phuket.
    Check out our newly posted destination article, which includes information about Queen of Andaman’s construction and crew along with exclusive photographs from the region.

New Marketing Vidcast: Motoryacht Latitude
You might recall this feature article that we posted about the 170-foot expedition motoryacht Latitude after our editor cruised aboard in Panama. Now comes this new, five-minute vidcast as part of the promotional materials on the yacht's new website:

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New Marketing Vidcast: Sailing Catamaran Catatonic
In mid-July, the 44-foot sailing catamaran Catatonic created a new promotional video. It includes a look at the boat, an introduction to the crew, and some great information about itineraries in the Virgin Islands, where Catatonic is based:

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Three Brokers Say: How can a yacht’s management company affect the charter client’s vacation?
Charter yachts move from fleet to fleet all the time. How can that affect the quality of vacation that you enjoy?
    We put this month’s question to brokers Kathleen Mullen of Regency Yacht Vacations and Ami G. Ira of C U Yacht Charters, both of whom manage charter yachts in addition to taking retail bookings, and to Ann-Wallis White, who regularly books crewed yachts for her clients with management company Nicholson Yachts. Their insightful answers are provided in this month's edition of Three Brokers Say.

Best of the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog
First Look: Newly Refit Lady Thuraya… This is the view from the brand-new teak deck of the 102-foot sailing yacht Lady Thuraya, a 1982 build that just completed an extensive refit and is en route to Turkey for her first charter.

    I scored this shot (and all the photographs in this blog post) from the yacht's owner, who also owns the 228-foot motoryacht Sherakhan … Read more …

Best of the CharterWave Sponsored Blogs
From the Northrop & Johnson Worldwide Yacht Charters sponsored blog: St. Tropez’s Secret Yachtsman’s Hideaway… It's a good year to visit St. Tropez. This Provencal mecca of the privileged has attracted the elite and those who want to rub their shoulders for years, often creating a harbor front too crowded to enjoy. With the economic climate affecting all pockets of society, St. Tropez is a bit quieter this year. The small sea-front village is still peopled by visitors speaking dozens of languages, but it's more pleasurable to stroll along the narrow alley lanes and harbor front, still filled to capacity with gleaming yachts tied to the quay … Read more …

Motoryacht of the Month: La Dea
The 116-foot Azimut La Dea may have been built in 2004, but she’s not the same motoryacht today that she was back then. Her current owner, who bought her in spring 2007, has since made some significant investments with charter in mind.
    We got onboard for this exclusive First Impression review during the recent industry-only charter yacht show in Genoa, Italy. We were able to get a private tour of La Dea from the captain, who not only talked with us about the recent upgrades, but also about why La Dea carries more crew than many other charter yachts in her size range.

Sailing Yacht of the Month: Nashira II
The 121-foot sailing yacht Nashira II has indoor spaces so airy and full of natural light, they made our editor feel as though she were inside a garden apartment as opposed to a boat. And a nice garden apartment at that, thanks to refit work that was completed in 2007 and 2008 aboard the 1999 build.
    Here is our exclusive First Impression review, which includes several photographs of the boat that you won’t see anywhere else.

Captain of the Month: Sevinç Daşkiran
Capt. Sevinç Daşkiran has been sailing the coastal waters in Turkey his entire life—well, at least since local charter boats first let him take the wheel at age 11. He has now worked his way up to the 128-foot gulet Carpe Diem III, which recently underwent a fairly substantial refit that included all safety equipment being imported from the United Kingdom.
    Our editor snagged this exclusive interview with Daşkiran after a delightful lunch of traditional Turkish cuisine onboard Carpe Diem III.

Chef of the Month: Ollie Luscombe
As chef aboard the 164-foot Amels motoryacht TJ Esperanza, Ollie Luscombe must produce the quality of food that guests demand when paying a €210,000 weekly base rate for 11 guests. It’s a tall order, and one that Luscombe is eminently qualified to meet based on the luncheon that our editor attended onboard.
    She scored this exclusive interview with Luscombe after the lunch ended to applause by all who attended, and was invited into the galley to create this exclusive CharterWave vidcast:

Broker of the Month: Ann E. McHorney
Ann E. McHorney has done pretty much everything the charter industry can offer as a career: helped to provision yachts from shore, served as charter chef and crew, owned a charter vessel, been a retail charter broker, been a charter yacht manager, owned her own charter company, and worked for a large Fort Lauderdale charter firm.
    She’s given up on some of those jobs, but is happily still booking charters for retail clients from her home base on Sint Maarten. That’s where we got hold of her for this exclusive interview—which includes a surprising revelation about her previous aspirations as a jewelry artist.

Fleet and Management Company News
37 South tells us the 100-foot motoryacht Huntress will be based out of Cairns, Australia, beginning this month through the end of October. Itineraries are available along Australia’s east coast…

4UYachting has been established in Istanbul, Turkey, by Ozgur Cengiz, the former brokerage and charter director at Ada Yacht…

Absolute Yachting says the 112-foot gulet Troia is offering an inclusive rate of €44,800 for 12 guests for charters in Greece this month. Some additional charges, such as VAT, apply…

Athens Yachts welcomes the 89-foot Leopard Arno motoryacht Sea Lion II to the fleet. She takes eight guests with three or four crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €49,000—which currently includes two hours of cruising per day. As Sea Lion II can move as fast as 40 knots, that could mean covering distances of as much as 60 miles without additional fuel charges…

BCR Yachts says the owner of the 147-foot motoryacht Fathom is “open to realistic offers” for charters after August 20 with a base of Porto Cervo, Italy. The lowest regular weekly base rate is €110,000 for up to eight guests… Also “open to offers” is the 72-foot Warwick sailing yacht Concerto, which has availability in August and September. The lowest regular weekly base rate is €19,000, and inclusive Caribbean terms are being offered even though the yacht is currently in Greece…

Bradford Marine has six yachts still available for charters this summer in Florida and the Bahamas: 118-foot Denison motoryacht Wanderlust, 105-foot Broward motoryacht Island Time, 70-foot Hatteras motoryacht All My Girls, 68-foot Sunseeker motoryacht Straight to Voicemail, 65-foot Hatteras sportfishing yacht Premium, and 60-foot powercatamaran Slumber Venture. Weekly base rates range from $15,000 for six guests to $35,000 for nine guests…

Burgess Yachts says the 295-foot Corsair motoryacht Nero, currently available for charter, is now also for sale. The asking price is €75 million… New to the charter fleet is the 141-foot Baglietto motoryacht Le Yana (previously known as Macalulu), taking 10 guests with eight crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €126,000 in the Mediterranean…

Camper & Nicholsons International says the 102-foot sailing yacht Lady Thuraya—which has the same owner as the 228-foot motoryacht Sherakhan—has now completed an extensive refit and is en route to Turkey to perform a few charters before the end of the summer season. See this post from the CharterWave Daily Editor’s Blog for exclusive photographs… The 196-foot Benetti motoryacht Xanadu, recently named best charter yacht of the year in Robb Report magazine, is now listed for sale… New to the fleet are the 90-foot Moonen motoryacht Commercial Break, taking six guests, and the 82-foot Nautor Swan sailing yacht Inukshuk, taking eight guests…

CharterPortBVI fleet yacht Akaska, a 76-foot sailing catamaran, has a new deckhand and stewardess. One is a PADI-certified scuba instructor, allowing Akasha to now offer six complimentary dives during a weeklong charter. The other is a “qualified beauty therapist,” allowing Akasha to offer two complimentary, 40-minute massages during each charter. The yacht also has a Nintendo Wii with 40 games and new tender exclusively for guest use, plus two Sunfish sailboats on order... The 50-foot sailing catamaran Swish is offering $1,000 off its regular rates for Virgin Islands charters this month, with available dates right through the 31st…

Churchill Yacht Partners tells us the 88-foot motoryacht Lady Victoria is available this month in the Bahamas, then will be available in September and October in Charleston, South Carolina. After November, the yacht will be in the Bahamas… The 154-foot Perini Navi sailing yacht Andromeda La Dea is offering 10 days for the price of eight in the Western Mediterranean for any charter beginning Aug. 11-15 between Cannes, France, and Portofino, Italy… The 109-foot Broward motoryacht Kaleen is currently base in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and still has availability for summer charters in New England… The 121-foot Crescent motoryacht Olga will be in the Virgin Islands and Leeward Islands this month, then will spend September through November in Guadeloupe before returning to the Northern Caribbean for the winter holidays… The 116-foot Holland Jachtbouw sailing yacht Whisper is available for a charter August 3-9 and all of September in New England. The weekly base rate is $80,000 for six guests with five crew…

Fraser Yachts Worldwide welcomes three yachts to its fleet: 133-foot ISA motoryacht Alfa XII with a lowest weekly base rate €130,000 in the Eastern Mediterranean, 114-foot Benetti motoryacht Sea Century with a lowest weekly base rate of €70,000 in the Western Mediterranean, and 108-foot Kingship motoryacht China also with a lowest weekly base rate of €70,000 in the Western Mediterranean… The 150-foot Oceanfast motoryacht Moecca is offering four-night charters inclusive of fuel at a rate of €79,000 in Southeast Asia… The 124-foot motoryacht Indigo Star has reduced its lowest weekly base rate by 15 percent to €68,000 in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean… The 111-foot Inace motoryacht Sudami is offering a two-week base rate of $80,000 for charters this summer in Florida and the Bahamas. Bookings must be completed by Aug. 31, but travel dates can be until June 2010…

Ed Hamilton & Co. says anyone who takes an iPhone on charter can download Caribbean charts from Navionics to show the yacht’s route as clearly as the GPS at the helm. Carts cover from Bermuda to Venezuela for $9.99. Read more about the iPhone downloads…

Infinity Yacht Charters tells us the 114-foot motoryacht Pacific Yellowfin is offering three specials for Pacific Northwest charters: 20 percent off six nights or less until Sept. 6, 25 percent off one week or more until Sept. 6, and 20 percent off all charters Sept. 7-21. Prices reflect eight guests, but the yacht can accommodate 12…

International Yacht Collection welcomes the 123-foot Oceanco motoryacht Caprice to the fleet. She takes eight guests in Florida and the Bahamas at a weekly base rate of $45,000… The 155-foot Christensen motoryacht One More Toy welcomes a new captain, Mark Deikmann, a Connecticut native with 20 years of industry experience… The 135-foot Christensen motoryacht Atlantica has ordered a new, 37-foot Intrepid center console to replace the 5-year-old model of the same size that the yacht currently tows. The new Intrepid will be more powerful, with triple 300-horsepower engines. It should arrive in time for the upcoming winter charter season in the Caribbean… Also new to the fleet are the 80-foot Royal Denship motoryacht Where the Dreams Have No End, taking six guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €25,000 in the Western Mediterranean, and the 155-foot Sterling motoryacht Triumphant Lady, taking 10 guests at a lowest weekly base rate of $150,000 in Florida and the Bahamas…

Interpac Yachts says the 88-foot motorsailer Sea Angel, which has a weekly base rate of $24,000 for six guests, is offering fuel and provisions as part of the charter fee this summer in the Pacific Northwest…

Neptune Group Yachting says the 102-foot Palmer Johnson motoryacht Banyan is offering a discounted weekly base rate of $33,000 through Sept. 30, after which the rate will rise to $36,000… The 100-foot Broward motoryacht Turnin’ Left is available for charters in Panama at a weekly base rate of $29,500 for nine guests, or at an all-inclusive eight-hour rate of $8,100 (additional fees apply if you care to cross the Panama Canal)… New to the fleet is the 83-foot Marlow motoryacht Alexandra Bear, taking seven guests in the Bahamas at a lowest weekly base rate of $27,500… The 76-foot Hatteras motoryacht Temptation is offering eight days for the seven-day weekly base rate of $19,500. She takes six guests and is available in Florida and the Bahamas…

Nicholson Yachts tells us the 104-foot Trehard sailing yacht Kalikobass II is now offering nine days for the price of seven for charters in Croatia. Available dates are Sept. 1-19. The weekly base rate is €48,000 for eight guests… The 109-foot gulet Quasart has dropped its weekly base rate by $5,000 for anyone seeking to charter during the New York Yacht Club Cruise the first week of August… The 70-foot sailing yacht Mira is offering a weekly base rate of €16,500 for four to six guests in Turkey this summer… The 72-foot sailing yacht Pacific Wave will remain in the Caribbean through July 31, 2010, then will become available for charters in the Grenadines… The 86-foot Nordhavn motoryacht CaryAli, which is new to the fleet, has released this smart safety video for current and future charter guests:

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Ocean Independence proudly announces that the 99-foot sailing yacht Mrs. Seven has won a judges’ commendation in the Superyacht Awards for best sailing yacht in 30- to 44-meter size range… New to the fleet this month is the 162-foot motoryacht RS Eden, a classic yacht originally launched in 1930 that has just been extensively rebuilt. See our newly posted First Impression review for details…Also new to the fleet are the 127-foot Oceanline Mamba, the 111-foot sailing yacht Nephele, and the 82-foot Sunseeker Predator motoryacht Teneo II, all of which are available for Western Mediterranean yacht charters…

Ocean Partners International tells us the 78-foot gulet Dragonfly II and the 111-foot motoryacht Ma Biche still have availability this summer on the Turkish coast and among the adjacent Greek Dodecanese Islands. Dragonfly II takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €18,000, while Ma Biche takes up to 10 guests at a lowest weekly base rate of €20,000…

Primo Yacht says the 68-foot Azimut motoryacht Princess Sissi is offering a weekly base rate of €20,000 for charters in September, down from the regularly advertised rate of €24,500 for eight guests with two crew… New to the fleet is the 257-foot classic motoryacht Delphine, originally built for automobile magnate Horace Dodge and recently restored to steamship-era classic beauty. She takes up to 26 guests and is based in Monaco with a lowest weekly base rate of €245,000…

Sunreef Yachts Charter says the 62-foot sailing catamaran Catsy is offering a 30-percent discount beginning August 26, making the new weekly base rate €17,000… The 62-foot sailing catamaran Zahora is offering 15 percent of its regular rates in Greece and Turkey… The 62-foot sailing catamaran Tahaa-II is offering 15 percent off its regular rates in Corsica and Sardinia…

Sunseeker Charters says the newly launched Sunseeker Predator 84 motoryacht UM6 is available in the South of France at a lowest weekly base rate of £40,000 for as many as eight guests…

The Sacks Group Yachting Professionals is poised to welcome the 92-foot Cheoy Lee motoryacht My Fair Lady to its charter fleet. The yacht was recently sold to a new owner, who will fund an extensive refit before the yacht becomes available to charter guests…

V.I. Sailing has introduced this nifty online calendar of charter yacht deals and discounts, allowing you to search by calendar date instead of by yacht name or price.

New First Impression Reviews Posted on CharterWave This Month
Carpe Diem III, 128-foot sailing gulet
Catatonic, 44-foot sailing catamaran
Fate, 49-foot sailing yacht
Hera C, 85-foot motoryacht
La Dea, 116-foot motoryacht
Nashira II, 121-foot sailing yacht
RS Eden, 162-foot motoryacht
TJ Esperanza, 164-foot motoryacht
Wild Thing II, 58-foot sailing catamaran

New Charter Destination Feature Posted on CharterWave This Month
Queen of Andaman, 134-foot sailing yacht, in Thailand

New Crew Interviews Posted on CharterWave This Month
Sevinç Daşkiran, captain, sailing yacht Carpe Diem III
Ollie Luscombe, chef, motoryacht TJ Esperanza

New Broker Interview Posted on CharterWave This Month
Ann E. McHorney, owner of and retail charter broker for Select Yachts, and retail charter broker for The Sacks Group Yachting Professionals

New “10 Best” Lists Posted on CharterWave This Month
10 Best Yachts for First-Time Charter Budgets
10 Best Charter Yacht Sundecks
10 Best Charter Yachts for Easy Water Access
10 Best Deals Still Available for Summer Charters