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Our Book Is Here! Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors

October 26, 2018 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Our Book Is Here! Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors
spectacular superyachts inspired design
PHOTO: Guillaume Plisson

We’re excited! For the past several months, Superyacht Storytellers has been hard at work designing our first book. Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors is the result, and if we do say so ourselves, the results are spectacular.

The book is the culmination of 25 years of observation. From the moment I entered the yachting industry in 1993 to the current day, one thing has remained the same. Every yacht I’ve seen, of every size and style, has had a story to tell. So, we pulled together nearly two dozen yachts that are among the best storytellers around for Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors. Through more than 100 photos, we share the fantastic tales behind their design: what the owners wanted, and how the world’s top designers made it all happen.

Some of the stories are simply astounding. Take Kismet (left), for example. One of the most exclusive yachts in the world, and among the world’s 100 largest superyachts, she belongs to an extraordinary owner who wanted to provide extraordinary experiences for friends, business associates, and charter guests. This two-deck-high atrium really puts it all into perspective. The piano bar (a piano and a bar combined) fills the atrium with music, luring those on the second level to come to those Art Deco-inspired railings to get a better listen, and look.

Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors allows you to see Kismet, along with 20 additional impressive yachts, as if you were standing in their rooms yourselves. You’ll see and learn:

  • how the chandelier cascading through the main stairway onboard Aquila (281 feet/85.6 meters) is comprised of more than 850 pieces of hand-blown glass
  • how a regulation-size padel court—more than 66 feet/20 meters long—is the heart and soul aboard Aviva (323 feet/98.4 meters)
  • how a mere $34,000 in the 1950s led to the creation of Christina O (325 feet/99.13 meters), perhaps the most famous yachts in the world, featuring a fireplace framed in semi-precious lapis lazuli.

You can become one of a select few to own a copy of Spectacular Superyachts: Inspired Interiors. It has a limited-edition print run of 100. Check out the dedicated page on our website to order yours.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: photos, storytelling, yacht owners

Finding Utopia

July 25, 2018 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Finding Utopia

I used to come here and see these huge megayachts and say, ‘Someday, I’ll have one.’ The point is, you become what you think about all of the time. Here we are; it’s a reality.

JR Ridinger shares this while sitting in the saloon of Utopia IV, the new yacht he and his wife Loren took delivery of a few weeks ago. More to the point, he shares it with a touch of amazement in his voice. He’s certainly not bragging, it’s more like a “pinch me” confession.

As of this writing, hundreds of people have heard and seen the confession. JR makes it in a video he posted to YouTube. In fact, since March, he’s shared about two dozen videos about the creation of and life aboard Utopia IV. His comments echo those of so many owners we’ve spoken with about their own experiences in buying, owning, and cruising aboard their yachts. That being: Yachting represents an idyllic way to experience the world. It’s a near-perfect existence.

In other words, it’s utopia. What better name for a yacht than that.

Check out the Utopia IV playlist on YouTube for more of this family’s adventures, and especially their outlook on cruising aboard Utopia IV. As their daughter Amber says in one video:

Utopia to me means the feeling you get when you’ve worked really, really hard and your dreams have come to fruition. That has to be the most incredible feeling, and being able to celebrate that, to enjoy it with family and the people that you love most, is the most incredible feeling ever. It’s utopia.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: storytelling, travel, yacht owners

The Conductor and the Orchestra

July 5, 2017 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

The Conductor and the Orchestra

“We’ve all pulled together to produce something which I think is a credit to us all. It’s kind of like the client is the grand conductor, and we’re all members of the orchestra. And we’ve…created a beautiful piece of music.”

That statement, by the renowned designer Tim Heywood, comes about four minutes into this five-minute video. It’s worth the wait.

The music analogy is certainly appropriate for this superyacht, Here Comes the Sun. (One of the owners is a big Beatles fan.) But it’s even more appropriate considering the way Heywood talks about the yacht. Or rather, the way he doesn’t talk about the yacht.

Heywood does mention the yacht’s operations, the robust construction, and even how he penned the lines. But, he makes an equal point of speaking about the owner, and how important it was for Here Comes the Sun to meet that owner’s personal needs. “Personal” is key. Heywood doesn’t talk about precious pillows, or lovely linens, or other materials. He hardly talks about the yacht as a product—the problem with so many yacht builders and designers! Heywood beautifully, and subtly, tells the overall story behind Here Comes the Sun. He understands that yachts are an experience.

Just as you don’t simply hear music, you don’t simply step aboard a yacht.

“I hope the client gets as much enjoyment out of the project, of owning the boat, as we have in building it,” Heywood concludes. We couldn’t agree with him more.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: superyacht design, yacht designers, yacht owners

Remembering Vic Edelbrock

June 12, 2017 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Remembering Vic Edelbrock

Vic Edelbrock, Jr. was every journalists’ dream. He was polite, giving of his time, and willingly answered question after question. Actually, he was more than willing. He seemed to genuinely enjoy answering questions as much as the journalist on the other end of the phone line enjoyed hearing the answers.

I count myself lucky to have been on that other end not once, but twice. Even though the last interview was more than a decade ago, I remember the conversation as clear as day. In fact, a story he told me then remains, hands down, my favorite of all time.

Edelbrock was recounting the happenings of his 66th birthday. The day started out normally enough. He and his wife Nancy were spending time on Catalina Island, California, a place they loved visiting. They’d been active boaters for a while, most recently cruising aboard an 89-footer that Edelbrock had taken delivery of three years prior. He even designed the interior of that yacht mostly himself, to the point of having the galley pick up the distinctive checkerboard flooring of his retail stores, along with the equally distinctive red color of his company. However, the seemingly normal day took quite a distinctive turn—a happy one—when Nancy handed him a large rolled-up sheet of paper. Wrapped up in a big red, white, and blue bow, it was his birthday present. Edelbrock unrolled it to find a rendering of yacht that looked just like VictorE, the 89-footer.

“Oh, that’s nice, I’ll frame it and hang it,” he said.

“No, Vic, take a closer look,” Nancy prodded.

So he did. It wasn’t VictorE after all. It was a 110-footer whose lines were purposely similar. Turns out that Nancy and their captain had been secretly working with Edwin Monk & Son, which designed VictorE, to design a larger yacht as a birthday surprise.

And what a surprise! Edelbrock was delighted, even thrilled. His mind started racing with the possibilities. Then, a thought struck him: “How are we going to pay for this?” he asked Nancy.

“I don’t know, that’s your problem,” she quipped.

Suffice it to say, the problem was resolved. Quickly. And gleefully. Victorious was delivered in 2006, remaining a treasured part of their lives for years to come.

I’ve interviewed a lot of owners in my yachting career. I’ve tremendously enjoyed the range of conversations we’ve had. But Edelbrock was different. Special. It’s hard to describe in words, but he had a way of making you feel so comfortable, as if you’d been neighbors for years. You weren’t interviewing him as much as you were chatting together. It was as if you were sitting right next to him, too, instead of literally on the other side of the nation, connected through some miracle of circuits and copper wires.

Vic Edelbrock, Jr. died a few days ago, following complications from a cold. His family reports he passed peacefully, surrounded by them. He was 80 years old.

A decade ago, the majority of my readers knew, even revered, Edelbrock as the aftermarket automotive parts giant he was. I knew him as a gentleman, and a genuine man.

Vic Edelbrock, Jr. was one in a million. In so many ways.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: yacht owners

What’s in a Name? Plenty, for Remember When

May 9, 2017 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

What’s in a Name? Plenty, for Remember When

Oftentimes, the way a yacht gets her name is a story in and of itself. I particularly like the creative way some owners combine initials of family members. The owners of JeMaSa named the yacht for their children, for example. Then there’s the former Vajoliroja, named for the mom (“Va” for “Vanessa”), the dad (“jo” for “Johnny”), and their two kids (“liro,” for Lily Rose, and “ja” for “Jack”). But, one of my all-time favorite stories is how the 162-foot Remember When got her name. While it doesn’t mention any single person, it does recall all those who the owner has shared times with on the water.

Months before delivery in 2010, that owner, John Rosatti, was stumped. He was having a devil of a time coming up with a name for the new yacht. Well, all wasn’t lost. He knew he wanted something that reflected the idea of the easygoing cruising experience. That’s why his three previous yachts used “Easy” in their nameboards. In fact, two were Take It Easy, and the third was Nice N Easy. But this time around, “Easy” just wasn’t cutting it, whether in combination with other words or on its own.

Inspiration struck, when he least expected it. (Funny how that happens.) Rosatti was sitting on the aft deck of Nice N Easy one day with a group of friends, talking about their travels together. “Remember when we did…” commented one friend, to which everyone smiled and nodded and began contributing memories. “Remember when we…” chimed in another. Then another. And then another.

And suddenly, Rosatti knew.

Tripping down memory lane, he virtually stumbled upon the name for his new yacht.

On a related side note, “Remember When” happens also to be the title of a song by one of Rosatti’s favorite performers, Alan Jackson. In addressing the ups and downs of their life together, Jackson sings to his wife, “Remember when 30 seemed old? Now lookin’ back it’s just a stepping stone to where we are, where we’ve been. Said we’d do it all again. Remember when.”

If you see Remember When get underway, keep your ears open: Her horns play a few bars of the song.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: yacht owners

Do It Now

March 28, 2017 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Do It Now

“Live life to the limit, every moment of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”

These words might as well be the mantra of Jo Ellard. That’s her pictured at top right. Jo is a woman who knows what she wants and when she wants it. She’s also a yacht owner who knows how to get the most out of cruising. About 40 years ago, she and her husband bought their first boat, a 33-foot Chris-Craft. She was so excited that she enrolled in boat-handling classes—and took the helm every time (yes, every time) they went out on the water. Fast forward a few years, and Jo wanted to stop doing all the driving and start relaxing. So, they purchased a 64-footer. For the next two decades, Jo and her husband cruised all over the Gulf Coast. (“She’s still out there, and lookin’ great!” Jo says, with a Texas drawl.)

Just before her husband died seven years ago, Jo says he told her, “We need to get you another boat.” Despite looking at 15 different brokerage boats from five different builders, Jo couldn’t find what she wanted. Why was it so hard to find an open flying bridge, three staterooms, and a few other creature comforts all on the same boat?

It wasn’t, when someone told her about a Horizon 76 located in Key Largo, Florida. “I knew in five minutes on the boat that it was right!” Jo asserts. “I’m not a big changer; I know what I want and how I want it.”

Jo owned that yacht for six years. When she says, “We had so much fun!” you know it’s an understatement. The only reason she doesn’t own the yacht now is because she sold it, to take delivery of a new-build Horizon 98. The name? Do It Now, of course—the same name as the 76, and the words she lives by.

Those words, along with the rest of the quote at top, are on a plaque mounted in the galley aboard Do It Now. They’re from the late Pope John Paul VI, who wrote that we’d be far more motivated to live life to the fullest if we knew from the start that we won’t live forever.

Whatever your stage, whatever your age, do what Jo does: Do It Now.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: yacht owners

Levi’s Big Bold Journey

February 24, 2017 By Superyacht Storytellers staff Leave a Comment

Levi’s Big Bold Journey

Meet Levi. Levi is among the most well-traveled dogs you’ll ever meet. He’s been to Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, French Moorea, and more. All aboard a superyacht, no less. Basically, name a South Pacific country, and he’s set foot (well, paws) on it.

About three years ago, Superyacht Storytellers’ Diane M. Byrne learned about the extraordinary adventures of Levi and his owners, the Mayer family. It started when husband and wife Tony and Delisa Mayer bought an expedition yacht in 2012. Following a 15-month refit, they christened the yacht The Big Blue. Then, they and their three children (plus Levi) embarked on a cruise around the world.  

Diane retold their adventures for MegayachtNews.com and Yachting magazine. Readers were impressed with how The Big Blue had an onboard classroom, how Tony flew the onboard helicopter, and how everyone went diving in shark cages among great whites. For Diane, though, Levi was equally captivating, and charming. Just look at him: It’s as if he knew just to pose for the camera.

The Mayers wouldn’t have dreamed of taking this journey without Levi. They hired a veterinarian who specialized not just in proper vaccinations and paperwork for globetrotting furry friends, but also in their nutritional needs. This, in turn, led to further stories about the famous Superyacht Vet.

Sometimes, it’s the stories within the stories that deserve to be told, too.

Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: yacht owners

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