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“We had a naval architect from Feadship here yesterday, and I was so pleased because he said he was amazed by the very idea of it.”—Capt. David Rutherford, about Touch’s creative bow setup |
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One of the big stories in the charter industry last year was the multimillion-dollar refit of the 143-foot Starship. The popular motor yacht once had an interior décor that matched her name, with lots of bold color, futuristic shapes, and Jetsons-esque appeal. After her refit she boasted a classically elegant ambience, courtesy of well-known interior designer Claudette Bonville. |
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You could step aboard the yacht and feel almost as if you were inside a brand-new Trinity, Burger, or Christensen. |
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The thinking went that Starship would generate even more charter business with her new looks, since the prevailing wisdom among brokers is that a neutral décor is much easier to sell than a highly personalized one. Charter guests, after all, want to feel like they are aboard “their” boat during a weeklong vacation, not aboard a boat that feels like it belongs to someone else because it is full of idiosyncratic murals, fixtures, and furnishings. It’s the same philosophy that drives owners to tone down their tastes when considering resale value over the long haul. Beige is the color of choice, with an owner’s bolder preferences limited to easily removed paintings. |
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| All of which is why the custom-built 120-footer Touch created such a buzz at the recent industry-only St. Maarten Charter Yacht Exhibition. Arriving in the wake of the much-regaled Starship effort, Touch was the exact opposite in philosophy and finishing, a yacht intentionally infused with the owner’s every whim and fancy, so much so that simply stepping aboard her left many brokers wondering when all the other yachts out there started to look so much alike. |
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Those who regained their senses quickly enough to ask about possible charter booking dates were again stunned speechless, this time by the news that well before Christmas, Touch was already sold out for the entire winter Caribbean season—and for a few key Mediterranean weeks in the summer of 2006, as well. |
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It would appear the prevailing wisdom regarding interior décor is questionable, to say the least: Touch proves that a yacht can personify its owner’s unique tastes and still get plenty of charter business. |
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“He’s so proud of the boat,” Capt. David Rutherford says as he explains the owner’s ten-year quest to build her. The French-Canadian businessman, who owns Louisburg Construction of Montreal, had always owned smaller boats but wanted a mega yacht built from scratch. So he leased some land outside of Montreal, put up a shed, and hired a team. “It was a backyard job,” Rutherford quips, “like you’d build a Go-Kart.” |
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The arrangements the owner conceived are unusual in that the master suite is on the boat deck, where a sky lounge normally would be aft of the pilothouse—giving the principal charter guest his own private deck, a rare feature on a 120-footer. The other three guest staterooms are where they usually are aboard yachts this size, on the bottom deck, but there are no twin berths or awkward Pullmans. |
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Instead, each guest cabin has a queen-size bed topped with the same-quality $10,000 British spring mattress that graces the master’s king-size frame. The owner does have children, who would be comfortable in twin berths, but he uses the yacht mostly to entertain business associates, and he wanted them to be comfortable. “He wants to share with everybody he can,” as Rutherford put it. |
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Even the top deck’s features are unique, including plush, built-in, swivel chairs—not stool—surrounding the bar. Where most other yachts would have a top-deck Jacuzzi, Touch has forward-facing observation chairs for watching the world go by (the Jacuzzi is on the aft deck, overlooking a colorful, marble-topped dining table instead of a traditional, glossy teak design). |
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While the boat’s layout is one example of the owner’s creativity, its décor takes his personal preferences even farther, setting Touch apart in more ways than most people will notice during an entire week’s charter. “Every time I come aboard this boat,” says longtime broker DJ Parker,“I see something I haven’t seen before.” |
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| For instance, the dogs on the watertight doors in the dining room didn’t match the rest of the décor, so the owner had the metal handles covered in gold leaf. Where a carpeted runner would flow down the center of most guest staircases, Touch instead has backlit glass that gives off a warm glow. The foyer in the center of the guest cabins is marble, as it would be on other yachts, but instead of geometric designs this piece is organic and includes mosaic shapes. |
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Most other yachts would have an expensive piece of art hanging overhead in this area, but Touch has a backlit, floor-to-ceiling metal sculpture meant to look like seaweed. Even the finials in the doorways leading to the guest staterooms are different: Instead of being carved wood that match the rest of the area’s veneer, they are fist-sized crystal blue sculptures sitting atop gold posts. |
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These kinds of details are virtually everywhere aboard Touch. The fixtures that adorn the master bathtub are golden swan heads, a far cry from the spouts found aboard other boats. The sinks are gold with hand-painted floral designs, as you might see in an 18th-century castle. The knobs on the dresser drawers (remember when dressers aboard boats had knobs?) are tiny crystal sculptures unto themselves, set into golden mounts atop hand-painted wooden panels. |
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Even the practical details aboard Touch are different, such as the yacht’s windlass. It, along with the rest of the ground tackle, is encased in a hydraulically lifting sunpad on the bow so that it is invisible when the yacht is underway. “A lot of boats use the bow as an escape area for crew,” Rutherford explains, “but [the owner] wanted it to be another guest area. We had an architect from Feadship here yesterday, and I was so pleased because he said he was amazed by the idea of it.” |
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All of Touch’s unique details, especially her ornate interior, may have been expected to put charter guests off (remember the Starship refit philosophy?) but that has not been the case. In fact, some guests have already signed on for repeat charters at a base rate of $60,000 in the Caribbean and $75,000 in the Mediterranean, including use of a towed 38-foot tender. Rutherford says most clients are couples, many of whom decide to split the bill because all of the guest staterooms are so comfortable. |
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| Part of Touch’s success is no doubt thanks to the boat’s hard-working crew, and part must be attributed to the strong marketing campaign that The management company mounted for the new build. Still, the yacht itself represents something not often touted in high-end luxury yachts: the unique vision of an owner being tempered not by the conservative tastes of would-be clients or the future resale market, but by the limits of his imagination itself. |
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He’s apparently got a 160-footer in mind for his next creation. Whatever will he think of next? |
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Kim Kavin, editor of www.CharterWave.com
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