We made our annual pilgrimage to the Tortola charter yacht show last week. Highlight of our trip however was the pre-show fam trip we were invited on by Voyage Yacht Charters – spent 2 days on a lovely Voyage 58′ catamaran with a new crew. Ate waaay too much and enjoyed it waaay too much…!! Thoroughly spoiled us for the show however. – although we did have some great breakfasts and lunches on some of the charter yachts. Thanks Susan, Laurence and Ann for your hospitality.
We probably saw about 50 – 60 boats and were exhausted at the end of the show PLUS it was raining most of the time with Hurricane Tomas lurking in the background with ensuing mudslides and coffee coloured water.
Some of our favorites at the show were the big 8 and 10 pax catamarans SECRET OASIS and TOUCAN PLAY. Plus two monohulls, CAP II (risen from the dead), and a brand new Beneteau BLUE PASSION operated by the owners a young French couple who are really, really passionate about what they are doing. The mid-sized cats TONINA , ADEIA and AMARYLLIS were also superb. Best-in-show award was won by SECRET OASIS a big 58′ Voyage catamaran with an amazing young South African crew.
Not too many brokers at the show this year since the yacht chartering business is certainly not recession proof and there are still lingering effects. Good luck to all for a better 2011 season. Certainly most of the BVI yachts are booked solid for the holiday season which is a good sign.
At Village Cay