Superyacht Blog Gives Americas Cup News

Valencia Based Specialists Give up to date Cup Information

A new and interesting blog has turned up on the Internet and is of special interest to those seeking to stay in touch with what is going on in Valencia with regard to the sailing superyachts that will compete there for the Americas Cup.

Valencia Yacht Management has set up the Blog that will each day leading up to the cup offer one tip for Cup Visitors.

The current focus is to give information on the cup and the city of Valencia from a visitors point of view with the aim of informing people about them as a company and Valencia as a destination for superyachts. The idea being to convince people that the area is a good place to come and get yacht work completed quite apart from it being a nice region to visit.

Sunseeker Yacht Management

Former Superyacht delivery Captain now turned entrepreneur Ben Young caught hold of us as we made a brief foray out to see the boats afloat. Ben created Sunseeker Yacht Management especially for Sunseekers owners this time last year and already has an impressive list of yachts under full management.

This year, he was using the show to launch two new services the first of which was a new crew finding service

Aimed at both owners and crew alike, the new Sunseeker Crew website makes crew selection and recruitment a seamless process.

For crew seeking jobs, information is provided regarding CV tips, current vacancies and job descriptions, and includes an option for potential candidates to register on the database so that when new suitable vacancies arise they can be notified.

For owners, the website assists with the recruitment process and, due to advanced candidate profiling, it ensures that when hiring personnel, candidates are not only suitably experienced and qualified but, even more importantly, fit in well with the owner and their family.

Ben says he can also provide hand-over and familiarisation training to new captains as well as continuing operational support whilst the vessel is cruising, undergoing maintenance or in emergency situations.

He also outlined an innovative online service that he calls ‘Virtual Yacht Management’ (VYM) He describes it as a system that ensures the smooth-running and control of all operational administration for a Sunseeker superyacht, while relieving yacht owners, managers and captains of the potential administrative burden associated with yacht operation. As well as improving management and efficiency, the system is expected to also generate financial savings in the day-to-day running of the vessel.

Believed to be one of the first of its kind, the new VYM system is a secure management system which offers instantaneous online access to up-to-date documents and information relating to the operation and administration of a Sunseeker yacht on topics including financial administration, chartering, crew, certification, inventories, safety records and procedures, and work lists.

All information posted and accessed on VYM is encrypted and is only accessible by authorised users. It can be accessed at any time of day – from anywhere in the world.

We will be looking at this new management tool in greater depth and will feature it in a future article for publication in one of the magazines we write for.

Ben is not just the founder and Managing Director of Sunseeker Superyacht Management – he is a Class IV, 3000 tonne certificated captain – told us: “We are committed to the continual development and enhancement of our core services and are leading the industry with these new systems, which have been designed to offer significant benefits to our customers.”

Tullett Prebon London Boat Show 2010

Robert Braithwaite at the Sunseeker Launch © Frances Howorth

News and Views of the LBS from the Superyacht Point of View

While superyachts are not the focus of the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show, we went along to see what the show had to offer the large yacht enthusiast.

Despite the adverse weather conditions affecting the country, exhibitors put on a brave face on Friday, the first of ten days of London’s biggest nautical event. The halls of ExCeL were hardly bustling but with almost 1,000 boats and products from over 500 exhibitors including 80 product launches there is certainly plenty to see. Sunseeker, Princess and Oyster were among the exhibitors with offerings of interest to super yacht lovers.

Continuing their investment in new craft, Princess Yachts International revealed their new Princess 72 Motor Yacht with a low-key launch. She is the entry level into their superyacht range. The company showcased models of their other new superyachts that will be built in Plymouth, on the site inside the Royal Dockyard formerly occupied by Devonport Yachts.

We toured this boat and will be writing a full report on her for publication in Ocean a magazine published in Australia.

Sunseeker launched their new Portofino 48 with the resounding aid of the Royal Marine Band. This baby motorboat has all the hallmarks of Sunseeker: flowing interior lines, lively performance and clever features throughout. The company also introduced the much larger one off 108 Predator Sports Flybrige, a special edition of the popular line which is being phased out by the company

CEO of Sunseeker International, Robert Braithwaite CBE, said: ‘An incredible amount of work went into getting these boats ready to meet our high standards for the show. I think everybody will agree it’s all been worthwhile.” He was in fine form and generously found time to give us an exclusive interview for a profile we are writing all about him.