Superyacht industry meets in Monaco

by Johan Pizzardini on 13 Sep 2011 This is one of the most glamorous and high net worth events in the Principality of Monaco, the greatest superyachts, some of the best luxury brands. The result is the Monaco Yacht Show an internationally famous and glitteringly gorgeous event on the Cote d’Azur that bursts with the flavourings of wealth, health and happiness.

More than 100 superyachts, with more than 40 making their worldwide debut, will line the docks of Monte Carlo from September 21-24. Their very presence inside Port Hercules draws in Royalty and millionaire yacht owners alike.

Ulysse Nardin award winning watchmakers to the world’s elite are the official sponsors for the show. The Swiss based watchmaker will use the occasion to unveil their new MYS limited series of exceptional timepiece that each illustrate perfection in the application of new technology, such as photolithography and the use of the best and latest-developed materials.

Boutsen Aviation, the Monaco-based private aircraft company is to sponsor the Show’s Darse Sud Lounge and Press Centre, an area that offers show participants a comfortable spot in which to relax and read international superyacht and lifestyle magazines.

The renowned French catering house Lenôtre offers refined and varied menus in the shows very own restaurant. Located next to the Champagne Bar, where Lanson recommend a selection of fine prestigious champagnes, the Baccarat Crystal Lounge offers the participants a cosy room for their appointments or to relax awhile between visits to the yachts.

Umbria Nautical Cluster, an Italian group of independent companies, sponsors the Show’s Business Centre and offers show participants all essential work resources and facilities. VIPs visitors benefit from a courtesy car service provided by BMW which allows them road transport within Monaco, to and from the Show, while a fleet of yacht tenders supplied by EAMS and Pantaenius are used to reach the main quays of the Show by water.

In the air, the helicopters of Heli Air Monaco reach the Principality in less than seven minutes from Nice-Côte d'Azur airport. While Quintessentially, the leading luxury lifestyle concierge, associates to the MYS to provide the participants with its service.

The company operates 24/7/365; whether you need a last minute table at Monaco’s most sought after restaurant, dedicated hospitality at the Yacht Show or VIP tickets to that star-studded celebrity bash on the other side of town, they access the inaccessible on your behalf.

It is however the superyachts from 25 to 90 metres that are the true stars of the show. This year the line up includes Imagine a spectacular 64 metre built in Holland and amongst the tenders on show; the Mugler Spire a tiny 9.5 metre superboat capable of over 90 knots.

Among the yachts for sale there is Big Fish one of the most dramatically designed discovery yachts that has, since her launch last year already explored the globe and visited Antarctica. Packed to the gunwales so that she resembles a floating art gallery the new 39 metre Snowbird is a stunning example of how different owners use their superyachts.

If it is the majesty of large sailing yachts that has what it takes to get your blood running try the award winning 50 metre Zefira by Fitzroy Yachts NZ, the most magnificent of fast cruising yachts that is the largest Dubois design to date without a flybridge. She won Sailing Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards earlier this year.

Exhibitor displays are equally important to the show visitor. The event, year on year, affords the industry the most spectacular of show cases with, on this occasion, more than 500 industry leaders exhibiting luxury products, services and facilities and providing the essential opportunities for industry professionals to network.

Adrenaline junkies will love Shooting Star a superfast 38 metre superyacht from the drawing boards of one of yachting design’s own superstar; Espen Oieno who like the builders of the boat, hails from Denmark. Imagine a high volume yacht with a graceful, soft-riding hull, gull-wing mast arch, sleek sheerline and wide windows was delivered in March making this is the first of the semi production Limited Edition 212 series ever to be seen at a yacht show.

Another new yacht and once again one that has chosen Monaco at which to make her world debut is Galileo, the latest exciting design from Vitruvius Yachts to built at the Picchiotti Perini yard in Italy and launched this year. Designed for remote Arctic and Antarctic exploration she truly a blue-water, global explorer yacht and with her good looks will turn heads wherever she goes.

The Monaco Yacht Show would be a success as a boat show in any yachting calendar but what makes it special are the events every day: prize givings, gala dinners and cocktail parties. These take the occasion into a class of its own without equal.

As in previous years Show organisers have pledged a continuing support for the Monaco Association against the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a locally based charity with the organisers again donating 50% of all entrance ticket sales. Last year the Association received a donation of €51,500.

This year, MYS again plays host to the Only Watch charity auction event that benefits the same charity.

Swiss watch manufacturers and their partners continue to support what is the fourth edition of the bi-annual auction, which will take place at 4pm on September 22nd at Hotel Hermitage.

The Show also continues its previously pledged support for Wood Forever a programme backed by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and one dedicated to fighting world deforestation. This year a donation of €40,000 will be made by the Show organisers. The money will be used to better educate those involved in the yachting that only wood certified as originating from sustainably-managed forests should be used in construction, if deforestation is to be halted.

In association with Monaco Yacht Show, the RINA classification society will present the Green Plus Yacht Award 2011 to those yachts whose construction meets with compliance of the strictest environmental regulations. While the MYS/ Nymphenburg Porzellan Prix du Design award is bestowed upon the yacht that the Monaco Yacht Show considers to be the most innovative in design.

More at www.monacoyachtshow.com