First Impression: Commitment

Date toured: May 2007

Commitment is a word that I sometimes hear yacht captains use when describing owners who invest in their yachts instead of letting them get run down. Owning a yacht of any size is, indeed, a commitment, and if an owner fails to live up to the boat’s demands, a desperate situation can quickly unfold.
     This was the case onboard the 125-foot motoryacht Commitment, which Capt. Jean-Marc Bitouzet joined in late 2003 following a disastrous few years of mismanagement by its previous owner.
     “She was tired,” Capt. Bitouzet told me as we stood on the aft deck in Genoa, Italy. “She was available for charter for four years, but never had a single booking. She was in a disgusted state.
     “There were 80 points of bubbling paint and corrosion on the hull,” he continues. “She needed all new varnish, sanded down to the bare wood, plus her teak decking repaired. All the gold onboard had to be replated, and all the carpeting replaced. We had to rebuild both engines and both generators, as well as install new air-conditioning compressors.”
     That work started four years ago—and the transformation is lovely. Commitment is now back to being the charming, comfortable boat she likely was when she was originally launched as Alpha V in 1992.
     A crew of eight are onboard to tend to 10 guests. I think the ideal charter party onboard this yacht is three couples with four or five children among them, as  there are three nicely sized cabins with double-, queen- and king-size beds, plus two smaller cabins with twin-size beds.
     Four of the five cabins are on the bottom deck, with the master cabin taking up the better part of the entire bridge deck (one level above the main deck). The master has its own sauna, an unusual feature, as well as private access to an outdoor deck area.
     Commitment’s weekly base rate is 79,500 euros, or about $13,500 per person with 25-percent expenses included. She’s part of the fleet at Ocean Independence, and you can contact any reputable charter broker for booking information.—Kim Kavin