This show is a delight as always. Extremely well organized, thanks to the committee headed by Sara Sebastian; thanks, as always, Sara. This show is definitely da bomb for us medium and smaller booking agents because of the substantial mega-yacht presence. It allows us to view and talk to the crews of yachts that we would normally have to go to the Genoa show for and THAT’S expensive. Not to say that Antigua is exactly cheap, but that’s another story.
Much is always written about the winners of the culinary competition so I won’t add to this other than to congratulate the winners, I know they worked really, really hard. The complete list can be so I won’t add to that excellent coverage. What I will provide however, at the risk of being shot down by my colleagues, is a personal list of my favorite yachts. Need to add a caveat that I did not see ALL the yachts but I managed to cover about 2/3 of the participating yachts. I have my own classification system and these reflect my personal taste. No offense intended.
Best overall in the “price is not an issue” department: SHERAKHAN and LEANDER. What can you really say about these two yachts? In spite of their size and elegance they remain essentially family yachts. Both reflect the character and taste of their respective owners. No holds barred, no excuses given.
Yacht I’d love to go to Alaska on: POLAR STAR. Great crew and comfortable, seaworthy and stable in adverse conditions.
Luxury, style and elegance in the Med or the Caribbean: HUNTRESS
Mega Sailing single-hull extravaganza: PANTHALASSA: Great crew, unbelievable technology, waaay -out design.
Affordable single-hull sailing yacht: VICTORIA D, affable crew, superb chef, fast boat.
Affordable large sailing catamaran: MUSE, and LADY ALLIAURA, superb crews, award winning cuisine.
Medium Motoryacht for the Caribbean and New England: TIVOLI, comfortable, affordable and a great captain, family oriented.
So much for that very personal experience. On a lighter note, we stayed at the Catamaran Hotel which was OK but a little out of the way for mainstream yacht hopping but reasonably priced if you don’t take the taxi fares into consideration. The restaurant next door, “The Captain’s Quarters” is now under new ownership and works well with excellent food and service.
Antigua continues to be a must for serious charter brokerage houses. It provides the opportunity to see the super mega yachts of the world and meet their crews, at a reasonable cost. Count us in for next year, Sara.
