APRIL 2017 WWW.BOATINTERNATIONAL.COM APRIL 2017Charterers want to play
with the toys of a
prospective yacht and jet
skis are a given.
Below right: toy box on
151ft Tutto Le Marrané,
available for charter
with Y.CO1
Well-equipped gyms are
increasingly common.
The one above is on 194ft
Lürssen Oasis, available
for charter with Y.CO.
Above right: Tom Cruise
has stayed on charter
favorite Talitha2
There is plenty of deck
space on 164ft Feadship
Hanikon, top, available
for charter with Y.CO.
Right: Fun water toys
on board 240ft Siren,
available through
Burgess3
Entertain your mind as well as
your body with chess on
Dream, the 197ft available for
charter with Northrop &
Johnson. Below right: the
outdoor cinema on Oasis4
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES; REX FEATURES/SHUTTERSTOCK; THIERRY AMELLER; QUIN BISSETCHARTER
SPECIALmarket so there isn’t really an ‘ideal size’.”
That said, Tamsin Priestley, director of
charters at Y.CO, suggests the ideal guest
to crew ratio is one to one.
Overall, the consensus is that
contemporary style is more popular than
traditional, although there are always
exceptions. According to Priestley,
Oasis, an 11-year-old 195 foot Lürssen
decorated in what Y.CO describes as
“a traditional beach house style”, but one
with a Steinway in its salon, is one of the
four most popular boats on its books.HOW SHOULD THE CABINS BE CONFIGURED?
“When planning the layout of a yacht
intended for charter, there’s an
argument for full democracy, by which
I mean trying to get rid of the distinction
between the owner’s cabin and the
rest of the guest cabins,” says Dickie
Bannenberg, of Bannenberg & Rowell.
If a group of friends is chartering the
boat together there’s always going to be
a problem over who gets the biggest
cabin. “I don’t know that anyone has yet
taken this to its logical conclusion and
built a boat with six identical cabins, but
it’s worth thinking about.” Bannenberg
says. He continues: “We used to manage
Talitha and for many years she had a big
Hollywood following. All sorts of people
were invited to stay on her – Steven
Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Francis Ford
Coppola – and the question of who
was going to get the owner’s cabin was
always cropping up: the VIP guest or the
principal charterer? So at the very least
it is worth considering a VIP suite to
rival the owner’s.”DINING: IN OR OUT?
Guests will almost always opt to eat
outside, but in case of bad weather you
do need an indoor dining area, advises
Browne. “It’s important to ensure that
the outdoor dining space seats the
maximum number of guests and still
allows sufficient access by the crew
to ensure the right level of service,”
she says. “It sounds obvious but isn’t
always factored in.”HEALTH AND FITNESS
“Over the past decade the biggest change
we’ve seen has been the move towards
healthy living,” says Priestley. A spa pool,
though still desirable, no longer cuts it.
“Larger yachts now need dedicated spas
with saunas, hammams and gyms,” she
says, the latter preferably with a sea view.
Not to mention pools with resistance
jets to swim against, and crew who are
trained fitness coaches,
yoga instructors, massage
therapists, even
nutritionists.
This should be borne in
mind even if retrofitting
a yacht. On Dream,
Bannenberg & Rowell
converted the ship’s office
into a gym. “It wasn’t the
world’s biggest space,”
says Rowell, “but there
was space for a treadmill
and some free weights.”TOYS, TOYS, TOYS
“The inventory of water toys is always
a big selling point and yachts are
becoming very competitive in this
respect,” says Cecil-Wright. In addition
to tenders and RIBs, you’ll need water-
skis, jet skis, WaveRunners, SeaBobs
and scuba equipment, as well as towable
and non-motorized toys such as
wakeboards, stand-up paddleboards,
kayaks and kiteboards.
“When we were working on Dream,”
says Rowell, “the owner thought that aninflatable slide into the water would
make it appealing. And he was right.”
The yacht was fitted with a FreeStyle
Cruiser. “And it’s chartering [from
€370,000 a week] like crazy.”ONBOARD ENTERTAINMENT
“Connection to the latest movies-on-
demand server system is important,”
says Bannenberg. As is a “cinema-sized”
screen and the requisite technology
with which to watch the films. Hence
the 103 inch television in one yacht’s sky
lounge, with a super-bright screen that
means it can be watched in daylight.
In addition, deck cinemas are
increasingly popular, as is a state-of-
the-art audio system that can stream
music throughout the boat, controlled,
as with the heating and AC, by an iPad in
each cabin. Shipyards tend to have their
own preferred suppliers because
of the complications of trying to
co-ordinate the services and most
therefore offer a comprehensive base
package of entertainment that the
owner can add to.TECHNOLOGY
A charter client will expect Wi-Fi with
speeds sufficient to download music and
stream media content, and possibly to
enable business conferencing. And they
will also expect 3G connectivity when
within sight of the coast and 4G in more
popular destinations. The cost of
operating VSAT and other satellite
systems can run into tens of thousands
of dollars per month. But, as Browne
points out: “The costs of satellite bills are
coming down.” And in any case theytend to be the responsibility of the
charterer so can be taken from the APA
[advance provisioning allowance].SHOULD THERE BE AN ELEVATOR?
An elevator on board is not essential but
is definitely a plus. As Cecil-Wright says:
“It does make life easier for the guests
and it helps the crew operate efficiently.”HOW MUCH WEAR AND TEAR
SHOULD YOU EXPECT?
Unless the leather upholstery you have
selected is water resistant, you should
probably reckon on replacing carpets
and soft furnishings at least twice as
often as you would on a yacht that
you use only for yourself, counsels
Browne. Because, as Cecil-Wright
warns, “wear and tear is inevitable
during a busy season.” If the yacht
is used for special events or corporate
entertaining at static charters, he
continues, insist the charterer pays for
protective carpeting.WHICH BRINGS US TO SECURITY
Obviously, you will need a safe,
especially if you intend to leave personal
effects on board when the yacht is
chartered. Increasingly, the brand of
choice seems to be the long established,
family-run German specialist Döttling,
which numbers among its clients Winch
Design and the Lürssen and Sunseeker
yards, and will supply just about any sort
of secure compartment you can think
of, from a lockable table-top humidor
to a panic room.SO IS CHARTERING WORTH THE HASSLE?
Yes indeed. The consensus is that
a popular charter yacht can certainly
expect to cover its running costs. And
Cecil-Wright is confident that “demand
for the largest, newest yachts will exceed
supply again in 2017.” Although don’t
think of it as a money-spinner, he warns.
Any profit tends to be a bonus.960123456789ART
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