In June 2015 it was announced that yet another superyacht with a name inspired by a James Bond movie would be built, the 66-meter Spectre. Commissioned by American businessman, John Staluppi, the superyacht is set to become his 7th yacht.
Active in the automobile industry since the 1950s, Staluppi is best known for building the fastest yacht on Earth, the 40-meter The World is Not Enough along with the rest of his Bond fleet that keeps growing in length.
Moving up from an 18-meter Viking boat, Staluppi commissioned the 36-meter For Your Eyes Only from Denison as his first yacht. The semi-displacement yacht was eventually launched in 1985 and became the first motor yacht to have a combination of MTU engines with water-jets in the US, which allowed it to reach a top speed of 30 knots.
In the late eighties, For Your Eyes Only hit a sandbar which led to her taking in water from a crack in the engine room. The yacht was eventually salvaged, refitted and renamed with some speculating that the following alleged legal actions, combined with the sinking of two other Denisons within a short amount of time, led to the bankruptcy of the US shipyard.
In 1988, Octopussy was launched as Staluppi's second yacht in a successful attempt to build the fastest yacht in the world. A defining moment for Heesen Yachts, Octopussy had to reach 50 knots in order for Staluppi to take ownership of the boat, which it ultimately did, reaching a top speed of 53 knots. Staluppi eventually sold the 44-meter yacht after having used her for close to a year in and a half, which allowed him to start working on his next project, Moonraker.
A fast cruising trideck, Octopussy now features an interior by Art Line. Fully refitted by her current owners in 2015, the 44-meter now has a sundeck with a Jacuzzi and raised sun pads. On the upper deck, she features a sky lounge and her sporty bridge along with two dinning tables to her aft.
Down on her main deck is the yacht's main lounge with a myriad of seating areas, tall windows, a bar area and a TV screen that slides out amidst ship. Towards the yacht's aft is a dinning table for 12 guests that can be either opened up in good weather or closed down with glass panels. Forward of the deck is the main cabin with four additional guest cabins on the lower deck. The yacht's current owner's are selling it at $4,995,000.
By the time Octopussy was sold, HH the Aga Khan, was building a yacht to overtake the crown of the world's fastest yacht. Staluppi therefore set out to build an even faster one and the 36-meter Moonraker was eventually delivered in 1992 by Norship with a design done by Dutch-based Mulder.
In 1998, Staluppi set up his own business in yachting, Millenium Superyachts that was to handle his project in the superyacht industry. In 2004, the newly created label delivered The World Is Not Enough, a 40-meter yacht with 20,600hp that could reach a top speed of 70 knots but couldn't steer past 66 knots according to the owner.
In October 2007, Staluppi acquired a project in-build from Henry Luken, co-owner of Christensen Shipyards. In 2008, the 49.6-meter Casino Royale which can cruise at a more regular speed of 12 knots, was delivered to her new owner. Built out of composite, the full displacement yacht came in at just under 500GT. It was later listed for sale in December 2008 and sold in April 2009 to Californian businessman, David McDonald.
Built with a more traditional, American audience in mind, Casino Royale features a straightforward layout with a full-beam master cabin forward of the main deck, 2 guest, 2 twin and one VIP cabin on the lower deck. With two tenders and three jet skis carried onboard, Casino Royale features a lounge on the main deck and a sky lounge as well.
In July 2009, Staluppi acquired Midlandia, a 52-meter Benetti with an asking price of €19,950,000, which he renamed to Quantum of Solace and extensively refitted. In August 2009, he listed the boat for sale again at an asking price of $24,995,000 and eventually sold it, two years later, in July 2011.
Designed with Italian roots at its heart, Quantum of Solace has a layout more typical of yachts found in the Mediterranean. Its main tender is brought into a tender garage aft of the lower deck, with a foldable platform for swimming. This clears out the sundeck for lounging, sunbathing, casual dinning and leaves enough space up there for a Jacuzzi.
In a configuration that has proven popular for charters, Quantum of Solace's main deck features a main salon and dinning room with an outdoor lounging area towards the aft. Up on the second deck is a large sky lounge with a playing table, bar area, lounging area and large outdoor dinning table.
In November 2011, Diamonds are Forever was launched for Staluppi who had acquired the yacht whilst in-built, 18 months prior to its delivery. Throughout the construction project, Staluppi made several substantial improvements including the addition of an extra top deck.
Originally intended to be chartered out by its owners, Diamonds are Forever was listed for sale in August 2012, asking $63 million. In October 2012, her asking price was reduced to $59.5 million and she was eventually sold in December 2013.
With a number of features mirroring the Quantum of Solace, such as the large bar area in the sky lounge, Diamonds are Forever became a refined version of Staluppi's previous builds. The main attribute that set the yacht apart from other Benetti's of her size is the addition of a fifth deck to act as a sunbathing area, creating a second master cabin on the upper deck and pushing the bridge up to the third deck.
Born in Brooklyn in 1947, Staluppi started as a mechanic at 16 years old with a life long passion for cars during the golden era of automobiles. His first business became a Sunoco station, which he established thanks to a loan that his father took on.
After establishing a chain of gas stations, Staluppi risked bringing on an unknown car manufacturer at the time to the American market, which is now known as Honda. After 10 years, Staluppi established 20 dealerships of Honda cars in the United States. After Honda, Staluppi established a network of dealerships of Hyundai cars.
An avid collector of cars, Staluppi had established a museum around cars from all eras and an extensive personal collection. In 2012, these cars were put up for auction by RM Sotheby's in Palm Beach and generated over $11,5 million in sales revenue.
"John Staluppi is larger than life and well known in the collector-car hobby. His collection reflects a very precise collecting philosophy, focused on securing only the very best." said Donnie Gould of RM Auctions at the time of the auction.
Commissioned in July 2015, Spectre will become Staluppi's seventh superyacht named after a James Bond film and will also be designed by Mulder.
The Amels 188 has an all new exterior design by Tim Heywood and interiors by Reymond Langton. The wide 10.6-metre beam (35 ft) adds to the high volume (970 Gross Tonnage) interiors with high ceiling heights. Volpini 2 features an Owners Suite with folding balcony (12 square metres / 130 sq ft), six suites including a VIP suite on Bridge Deck, a Sun Deck Sky Lounge accessed by central staircase and elevator, plus a Beach Club and wellness area with internal stairs to the Main Saloon.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V4KgLsuIAu0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
August 17, 2018
Your own Princess yacht, the wide blue horizon, yet without the traditional complexities of owning a yacht. YachtQuarters is a new way to live the Mediterranean dream at a fraction of the usual cost. Now we’re offering interested parties the chance to understand this new concept during the Southampton Boat Show 2018.YachtQuarters was launched back in January 2018. It is a unique shared acquisition program where every aspect of the yacht’s operation, maintenance and management is looked after by experienced permanent crew and the professional management team at Princess Motor Yacht Sales, the world’s largest Princess distributor and a leading European maritime service provider for over 50 years. The programme features a stunning new Princess 75 Motor Yacht, Maltese-flagged and based at Port Adriano in Palma de Mallorca, just 30 minutes’ drive from the airport. She boasts eight berths in four luxurious en-suite cabins, and separate quarters for two or three crew members.The YachtQuarters yacht manager will ensure that each owner enjoys a total of eight trouble-free weeks onboard during the year: two in summer, four in spring and autumn, and two off-season. This ensures that owners get maximum value from their investment.Outgoings such as servicing, maintenance, repairs, storage etc. are predictable based on costs from the previous year and shared equally between all owners. Individual owners will be responsible only for their consumables such as food, drinks and fuel.The crew can replace the owners’ personal effects and ensure food and drinks preferences are onboard prior to arrival to ensure that the owners feel at home as soon as they step aboard their yacht. YachtQuarters’ budgets include permanent crew for the Princess 75 and her toys (jet tender, water skis, banana boats, Seabobs, snorkling gear etc.), complete management and operation, as well as reserves for unexpected expenses. In comparison to charter, the total cost per week with YachtQuarters is approximately 65% of a corresponding charter. The yacht will always be kept in superb condition through the meticulous management of the crew and Princess Motor Yacht Sales’ aftercare service, safeguarding the investment. This will ensure the yacht is in perfect condition on arrival, ready for a memorable experience in the perfect cruising area of the western Mediterranean. Investment in YachtQuarters creates a four-partner ownership structure that lasts for four years, after which the boat is sold and the structure dissolved. If, after a minimum of two years, an owner wishes to opt out, they can sell their share as a liquid asset.At this year’s Southampton Boat Show, potential owners will have a wonderful opportunity to engage directly with the YachtQuarters team and take a moment to tour the beautiful Princess 75 which will be on display. Whilst at the show, visitors can speak directly our programme manager, and understand from his long-standing experience, just what is different about this concept and how it works.
August 17, 2018
Australian custom Superyacht builder Echo Yachts have proudly revealed their 84m superyacht newbuild project White Rabbit during an exclusive VIP event at their shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.White Rabbit is 100% custom designed and built according to its experienced Owners exacting requirements and is the culmination of 4 years of detailed design and construction efforts by the team involved. At nearly 3000 gross tonnes, 84m in length and 19.6m beam, White Rabbit is largest superyacht built in Australia as is the largest aluminium and largest tri-hull superyacht in the world.Designed by Sorgiovanni Design, White Rabbit showcases the highest standards of luxury cruising and will provide amazing seakeeping, speed and fuel efficiency for a vessel of its size and magnitude. Echo Yachts celebrated the reveal of White Rabbit in style during the exclusive reveal function featuring an evening of VIP speeches, video documentary of the build, plus an evocative and memorable sound and light show including special guest and cellist Ms Joanna Quail of London.Guests were provided the rare opportunity to step onboard and view some of the expansive exterior entertaining spaces and enormous luxury interior spaces thanks to the hospitality of White Rabbit’s owner and family who were in attendance for the special event. Echo Yachts director Mark Stothard: “The Echo Yachts team are extremely proud to have been entrusted to create this truly unique and amazing superyacht for our valued client and it has been a pleasure to achieve such a fantastic result together with Sorgiovanni Design, One2Three Naval architects and ALIA Interiors.The enormous trimaran hull form and refined styling of White Rabbit create a profound and immediate Wow Factor that no other hull form can quite achieve. We are confident that this unique Trimaran will produce outstanding performance and provide distinct benefits compared to other hull forms in terms of shear guest space, plus sea keeping and fuel efficiency which we intend to prove during sea trials in the near future.Our team are really looking forward to launching White Rabbit and demonstrating the amazing benefits and performance characteristics this special type of yacht delivers”. Final preparations are now underway for the launch of White Rabbit in early September. Echo Yachts will be attending this year’s Monaco Yacht Show and available for appointments to discuss newbuild and refit opportunities, with immediate build capacity available.
August 16, 2018
Two of the world’s largest sailing yachts, Eos and Athena, have booked the same timing for their coming refit projects.The 93-metre three-masted Lürssen schooner Eos, until recently the world’s largest sailing yacht, has for some time been a regular customer for Royal Huisman’s superyacht refit division, Huisfit. The Eos team has just signed a new contract with Huisfit, taking full advantage of the flexible choice of deep water location offered to meet their needs and schedule.At the same time, the Huisfit team is delighted to announce that the 90-metre three masted schooner Athena, built by Royal Huisman in 2004 and with a seriously impressive log book of globe-circling adventures, has booked the same timing for her latest refit programme. In 2014 the Huisfit team also took care of various aesthetic and technical updates by sending its own ’flying squad’ of specialist personnel out to Athena during a stopover in the Mediterranean.Athena arrived on 6th of August and Eos is expected later this summer. Both yachts will be at a deep seawater location in Holland for several months during the winter “refit season”.
August 16, 2018
German shipbuilder Lurssen launched their first superyacht in the year 2018 in Rendsburg - 111-metre project TIS. Next, she will be outfitted, before her sea trials. This massive volume yacht, Project TIS was commissioned for a long-time charter client of Moran Yacht & Ship, who has over the past seven years, chartered some of the largest and highest quality motor yachts in the world. This experience has led to owner input on nearly every level, from guest accommodations to propulsion package selection, all the way to crew area design.With an interior and exterior styling by Andrew Winch Design, Project TIS will feature 2 helicopter pads, a 12 meter swimming pool, a resort inspired spa in the aft of the vessel, and palatial staircases that to date have only been seen in palaces. Her tender garage will accommodate 2 13 meter tenders, 2 additional 10 meter tenders, a submarine, and a abundant selection of other water toys. Lack of space will not be an issue for this family-oriented owner. In addition to a massive private owner’s deck, eleven other guests staterooms will accommodate twenty-two additional guests in absolute comfort.TIS is expected to be delivered later this year.All photos by Klaus Jordan.
August 15, 2018