OWNERS’CLUB
withacoupleofcrew.Anofferhemadeona39.6-
metreyachthesawattheFortLauderdaleBoat
Showdidn’tworkout,butthentheChristensen
becameavailableandtheywereinterested.
Heappreciatesthattheyachtisveryspecial.
OneofthemostexpensiveyachtsChristensen
hasbuilt(asPrimadonnain 2002 andlater
Aghassi),shehasacustominteriorbythelate
Italian-AmericandesignerPaolaSmith,an
ex-modelandsingerwhoforgedabrilliantcareer
asanaward-winningdesigner.Itneededsome
work,andafterHalandJoanboughtILoveThis
Boatmorethantwoyearsago,theyinvestedtime
andeffortinrestoringthemechanics,upgrading
allelectronicsandrefreshingtheinterior,which
includeslovelyhand-carvedfurniturehandlesmadeofcrystal.Griffithonlydiscoveredthat
afterhesoughttoreplaceabrokenone.
Theyhadinmindtooffertheyachtforcharter
whentheyarenotusingit.“Weputonallthetoys,
allthestuffthatpeoplewant,”hesays.And
charter,hesays,“isthepriority”.
Theyare,ofcourse,enjoyingtheyacht
themselvesandadjustingtoadifferentwayof
boating.“Wehaveaveryfinecrewandlikegetting
ontheboatandnotworryingaboutthings,”says
Griffith,whoroutinelylostninekilograms
duringasummerofrunninghispreviousboats.
“It’sreallyhardwork,andthecrewdeservesalot
ofcredit.Wejusthadfourcouplesontheboatin
theBVIs.Wespentaweekonboard,andthey
thoughttheywereinheaven.” BILoveThisBoat
waslaunched,as
Primadonna,by
Christensenin2002.
Herspectacularinterior
wasdesignedbythe
formermodeland
singerPaolaSmith“Wehaveavery fine
crew andlike getting
ontheboatand not
worryingabout things”9208 2019 boatinternational.com