Boat International – June 2017

ON BOARD

Illustration – David Hopkins

I

t’s unseasonably warm in the South of

France and I’ve just come back from the

most amazing Easter weekend on board my

Sunseeker 155. It is magnificent motor yacht

weather – flat calm and warm enough to hang

out on the sundeck.

The highlight was lunch

at Le Club 55 in Saint-Tropez,

which was absolutely heaving

due to the weather. We went

there on a Saturday and I’ve

never known it to be so hard

to get a table this early in the

season. I even had to make a

call to the owner Patrice, who

took care of me.

I always order the same thing – the massive

basket of crudités. It has artichokes, huge

tomatoes and all these vegetables that are just

so fresh. The combination of this, the sea air

and a few magnums of their local rosé make

it such a special place. Nothing finer.

I got back to my apartment in Monaco and

woke up the next morning with a new boat on

the horizon – Motor Yacht A, the star of the last

issue of Boat International. It’s a stunning boat

and always reminds me of a submarine, with

its inverted bow.

I’m looking forward to seeing Sailing

Yacht A around these parts. The engineering

that goes into making a boat that big sail is

mind-blowing. I see the masts on these huge

sailing yachts and can’t get my head around

how they can carry that much sail and not

come to grief. I would want to make sure the

capstans are seriously high quality before I

went charging round with all that cloth up.

Carbon has made all this possible – the

weight savings allowed by this material has

changed the game. But sailing is trailing

motor racing. I remember my designer Gary

Anderson building what must have been

one of the first all-carbon racing cars for my

Lunch at Le Club 55, a close-up view of Motor Yacht A

and tickets booked to see his friend Sir Ben Ainslie in the

America’s Cup... life is good for Eddie Jordan

Lippy from the Liffey

Formula Three team back in the early 1980s

and everyone thought he was mad.

It’s great to see a J Class yacht in this issue.

They are the sexiest boats on the water and it’s

encouraging to see new ones

being built. I’d love to race on

one. The nostalgia of them

is just intoxicating.

Yacht racing has come a

long way since these boats were

competing for the America’s

Cup. The foiling cats they’re

racing in a few days’ time are

like the Formula One cars

of sailing and require a very

different skill set to race than these old boats.

I’m so excited for the event. I’ll be there and

am praying Ben Ainslie and his Land Rover

BAR team can get over the line. Eight to

10 years ago no one would

have believed

that the UK could have such a well-funded

and qualified team lining up. They have the

most unbelievable opportunity. In fact, I saw

Georgie Ainslie’s open letter to Ben in the last

issue and thought I’d have a go too:

Ben,

Leaving aside our friendship, I think I speak

for the whole of Boat International and its

readers when I say we are so proud of what you

guys are doing out in Bermuda.

We know how tough this is going to be but

we’re confident – especially after watching you

turn it around at the last Cup in 2013. We will be

there with you every step of the way.

You are a remarkable sportsman and an

inspiration to anyone who ever gets on a boat.

Now go out there and win it!

Love, your pal Eddie. B

Eddie Jordan’s fee for this column has

been donated to charity.

10 years ago no one

would have believed

the UK could have

such a well-qualified

team. They have the

most unbelievable

opportunity

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