First Impression: Fearless

Date toured: December 2006

I got a chance to sneak onboard this 72-foot sailing yacht during the Antigua charter yacht show, even though the boat wasn’t officially in the show itself. My inside connection was Missy Johnston, a charter broker with whom I have worked for nearly a decade and whose suggestions about charter yachts I trust without question.
     As it turns out, Missy is branching out into the world of yacht management, where she will be responsible not just for booking charter vacations but also for managing day-to-day operations onboard a few boats. Fearless, this 72-footer that was unofficially hanging around Antigua during the boat show, is going to be Missy’s first yacht management client.
     And so it is that I am offering you CharterWave readers my first impression of a boat that was not yet available for charter and that didn’t yet have a crew during the time of my tour. My confidence in Missy’s abilities is just that high, and I believe that Fearless will offer a good vacation experience the minute that it becomes available for charter in early 2007 through Missy’s company, Northrop & Johnson Yacht Charters.
     Fearless is a 1991 build that had a private owner until April 2006, when the current owner bought the yacht and decided to upgrade it for use in the charter market. “He wants it to be the top quality in this size range,” as Missy explained it. “She has a very, very nice layout for charter.”
     That’s true. The master has a queen-size berth, and the forward two cabins have double beds beneath twin-size Pullman berths. Each cabin has its own private head with a separate shower compartment, as well as individual controls for air conditioning. Crew quarters are separate from the guest areas.
     As of my tour in late 2006, the owner had upgraded the air conditioning system  (adding those individual controls in each cabin), the mattresses, the bed sheets (to 1,200 thread count), the everyday-use china (now Royal Doulton), and the entertainment technology. There was a flat-panel television in the main saloon, plus an iPod dock if you want to listen to your own tunes throughout the boat. The owner had also invested in a truckload of waffle bathrobes, which will be embroidered keepsakes for every charter guest.
     There’s also continuous access to the Internet, via a WiFi booster where available or a Fleet 33 system where WiFi is out of range (Fleet 33 is slow, and you get charged by the byte, but you will be guaranteed access even in remote areas).
     Fearless is being priced to get attention, at $18,000 a week for two guests, $19,000 a week for four guests, and $20,000 a week for six guests in the Caribbean—including food and fuel. When she cruises from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean in the summer of 2007, the yacht’s rate is expected to be 20,000 euros plus all expenses.
      “She’s a high-quality product in her size range, and we’re not charging extra for it,” was the sales pitch Missy gave me.
     Based on what I saw, and with confidence that Missy will put a good crew onboard in the near future, Fearless should offer truth in advertising.
     Contact any reputable charter broker for updated information about this yacht.—Kim Kavin