CATEGORIES
Wong Tet Choong - Singapore's Most Famous Sailor
TC Wong made global headlines last year when the rapid spread of Covid left him stranded at sea in his Leopard 50 for months until he was eventually allowed into Fiji, where he has remained since. Now, the adventurous 60-year-old is waiting for borders to open so he can continue his journey around the South Pacific on his beloved Ximula III.
Premieres & Newcomers
Yacht Style provides an overview of this year’s exciting new models, with most on display at this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival and/or Monaco Yacht Show, some having shown earlier in the year and a couple making their debuts in other autumn shows around Europe.
Déjà Vu In Denmark
Halfway into SailGP’s second season, a familiar pattern begins to emerge. Australia, runaway winners of the first series, again top the table, despite having to sit out one of the four events held so far with gear failure.
Galeon Spreads Its Wings
With Hong Kong welcoming its first Galeon 640 Fly and 325 GTO this year and Asia’s latest 500 Fly arriving in Singapore, Yacht Style looks at the builder’s 20-year relationship with Tony Castro that has resulted in some of the world’s most innovative production motor yachts.
How To Build A ‘Scent Wardrobe'!
Johanna Monange founded Maison 21G in Singapore to offer customised scents for all clients and all occasions. The personal approach is proving popular, with growing understanding of how to build a ‘scent wardrobe’ and more boutiques opening around the city.
Private Premiere
Yacht Style attended the Lagoon 55 preview at Groupe Beneteau’s CNB shipyard in Bordeaux, where the brand’s third-biggest sailing cat cruised along the Garonne river before showing off her feature-packed outdoor zones and colourful, detailed interior.
Bali's Bright Star
Heading Bali’s second generation of catamarans, the new 4.8 is its second-biggest model, offering all the brand’s signature features and up to six cabins with en-suite bathrooms, a rarity on a sub-50ft sailing cat. Meanwhile, dealer Asiamarine has ordered a specially customised unit for Asia.
Gulf In Class
As Chairman of Gulf Craft, which he co-founded in 1982, Mohammed Alshaali has steadily developed the UAE shipyard into one of the world’s leading superyacht builders, now producing a huge range of boats from 31ft up to the new flagship Majesty 175.
Your Private Island
With two units already in Asia, Ferretti Yachts’ new 500 features Filippo Salvetti’s familiar clean exterior lines but is the brand’s first model to feature interiors by IdeaeItalia, which offers high-end elegance in two distinct moods.
SMOOTH OPERATORS
Thailand’s Lee Marine is Riviera’s longest-serving international dealer, and offers larger steel yachts by Cantiere delle Marche and superyachts through Northrop & Johnson Asia, but confidentiality prevents the dealer from announcing several exciting projects.
Catman
Since launching Bali Catamarans in 2014, Catana Group CEO Olivier Poncin has shaken up the world of cruising catamarans, building a brand that’s challenging the long-established leaders.
Big Picture
Julia Stewart, Director of Imperial, explains how the Monaco-headquartered company has risen to manage some of the globe’s most spectacular superyachts and work so closely with the world’s leading builders.
Inland Innovators
Located over 100km inland of coastal cities like Genoa and yacht-building hubs like La Spezia and Viareggio, the Absolute facility is a self-contained hub of in-house innovation, automation, craftsmanship and friendly, family-style management.
Damen Yachting's Unique Seaxplorer La Datcha Heads For Kamchatka
Heli skiing and volcano visits on the Russian Far East’s Kamchatka Peninsula are among activities offered to charter guests aboard Damen Yachting’s recently-launched luxury SeaXplorer 77m La Datcha, described as “a unique project never seen before in the yachting industry”.
Nextwave Flying Sunseeker Flag
NextWave was already one of Hong Kong’s largest yachting companies, but its recent appointment as the city’s Sunseeker dealer has raised the profile of a dealer now developing a ‘Seek More’ showroom in Repulse Bay and bringing a special Manhattan 68 to the city.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs Emirates Team New Zealand
The America’s Cup, contested in foiling 75-foot monohulls, will be won by the “boat” that spends least time touching the water, and sails best in nearly no wind. Hardly traditional yachting values. Strategic starts and boat speeds of these 50+ knot craft are still crucial, however, and the spectacular action can be watched live on TV or online.
E-Mobility's Winning Formula
Nico Rosberg moved into the yachting spotlight last year as the ambassador for Sunreef Yachts’ Eco range of solar-powered catamarans. Meanwhile, the 2016 F1 champion turned sustainability entrepreneur also owns a team in the new Extreme E off-road series for electric SUVs, in which the use of hydrogen offers a window into the fuel’s potential use for yachts.
X70 Features An Extra-Wide Saloon, Extra-Long Cockpit And Fun-Filled Swim Platform
Who needs side decks? The widebody X70 is a pioneering design from Prestige with a major focus on outdoor living. Yacht Style puts it to the test.
Rolls-Royce Has Unveiled The New Ghost And Even Roomier Host Extended
Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle critiqued Descartes’ notion that the mind is distinct from the body. The new Rolls-Royce Ghost and Ghost Extended are proof that in enlightened automotive manufacturing, the body and soul of the machine is sublimely intertwined.
Lester Lam Explains The Importance Of “A Strategy For A Digital World”
Chairman of Camper & Nicholsons Asia and sitting on C&N International’s Board of Directors, Lester Lam explains how the ‘original yachting company’ pre-empted the challenges and restrictions of Covid by investing extensively in “a strategy for a digital world”.
Prince Of Premieres
Representing Princess in Southeast Asia since 1994, Boat Lagoon Yachting is also a distributor of Jeanneau and Sacs, and a Burgess representative. Vrit Yongsakul, Group Managing Director, explains why the dealership invests so much in bringing new models to Asia and how it’s able to offer clients a 360-degree service.
New Level Of Luxury
Asia’s first MCY 70 Skylounge has turned heads since its arrival in Hong Kong, where the model customised for the region shows why an enclosed flybridge provides year-round appeal.
High Stakes For America's Cup Win
More America’s Cup intrigues and skulduggery are likely as January-February’s Prada Cup for challengers looms in Auckland, New Zealand, followed by an early March contest for the auld mug itself.
Skylounge Range Expands
The new MCY 76 Skylounge has an enclosed flybridge containing the sole helm station, with the main and upper decks available in a variety of layouts.
Galeon's Mini Transformer
Making its Asia debut in Hong Kong in November, the new Galeon 400 Fly is the yard’s smallest model offering its iconic folding balconies, opening a new chapter for outdoor living on a 41-footer.
Buying Into Paradise
The Moorings and Sunsail offer the opportunity to own a boat based in one of the charter companies’ exotic locations around the globe and use yachts at any of them for up to 12 weeks a year, either for fixed income or a reduced purchase price.
Market Boost For Luxury
A new corporate structure provides big opportunities for the luxury industry in Singapore and the region.
Asia's Brave New World
This year’s Asia Boating Dialogue created a new online platform for communication and cooperation between boating associations and other national and regional representatives, with concerns ranging from the classification of yachts to the cruising connections between countries.
Beneteau's Flagship Motorboat
The iconic French brand is developing the Grand Trawler 62, which will have a range of 900nm and launch a new line that expands upon the Swift Trawler collection.
MASTERS AT WORK
Now based in the UAE, the 106m Amadea is a masterpiece by designers Espen Øino and Francois Zuretti, builder Lürssen and owner’s representative Imperial, which describes her as “the most detailed superyacht ever built”.