“Yachting was my
hobby and then itbecame my business.
And I still love it”plentyofspaceforsoakingupthesun
beforeslidingintothewater.Forthose
whopreferfreshwater,thereisapoolset
aftonthe bridgedeck.Adedicated
gymalsoenjoysprideofplace–and
outstandingviews–onthisdeck.Guests
couldworkupasweatbeforeslipping
intothepoolmomentslater.
Whenitcomestoconstruction,Greeks
arebetterknownfortheirshipbuilding
thantheiryachtbuilding.Thecountry
doesnothaveaprovenreputationfor
qualityinthisrealm,somethingDragnis
isawareofandisseekingtochange.Most
GoldenYachtssuppliershailfromafar,
hesays.TheinteriorsarebuiltinItaly,
theelevatorisbyaGermancompany,
electronicsarefromAmerica.Buthelikes
toemployGreekworkersinthebuild,up
to 400 whenrunningatfullcapacity.
“Iwanttosupportmyowncountryand
people,”Dragnissays.Theyardrunstwo
shiftssotheycanbuildyachtsquickly.
Thereisalsoarefitandrepairdivision.
This combinationof global yacht-
buildingexpertiseandquick-moving
Greeklaborallowstheyardtokeepcosts
down.“Ourpriceiscompetitive,but
wearenotlow-budget,”headds.
“Ifyou’renotinarush,youcansellit
welltotherightpeople,”Dragnissays.
“WehadthreeseriousbuyersforO’Ptasia
beforeshewaslaunched,butwealready
hadcharterbookingslinedup.Plus,Ilike
tousethenewboatmyselfforatleasta
year–oruntilthenextoneislaunched.”
Thefirstcharterclientswhowereableto
enjoyO’Ptasiajustaftershewasdelivered
inJune 2018 havealreadyreportedback
theirdelight,commentingonthebeach
clubandstyling.Butthebestfeedback,
Dragnissays,concernedthecomfortlevel.
“Somecustomerssaidthatwhenthey
wereonboard,itwassoquiettheydidn’t
evenrealizeshewasmovingatall.”BClockwisefromtop:the
mastersuite,whichstretches
thefullwidthoftheupper
decksuperstructure;the
masterbathroom;thegrand
centralstaircaseshowing
thereflectionfromthepurple
lightinstallationinthemain
elevator;atwinguestcabinboatinternational.com• 052019100