That's right, you can get on board the yacht used as the BLACK PEARL in the Pirates of the Caribbean films and re-enact your own Captain Jack Sparrow moment. The UNICORN Brig is a 140ft masterpiece replica of an 18th Century Brig Tall Ship and is a beauty to behold without the tattered sails given to her in the film.
Built in 1948 in Finland, she now offers daily tours starting from Rodney Bay Marin on St Lucia, taking in either the Botanical Gardens or the Toraille Waterfalls & Gardens and the Sulphur Springs of St Lucia in the Caribbean. The trip even includes a hearty meal and traditional pirate rum punch, perfect for a fantasy family day out.
Category Archives: Destinations
YachtPlus – Fractional Ownership of a Norman Foster designed Super Yacht
If you have ever owned a yacht or thought about it you will no doubt have come face to face with the realities of owning a yacht that you will probably only use for a few weeks in the year. The excitement of yacht ownership can sometimes be superseded by the expense and attention required to keep it running. However, the bright sparks at YachtPlus have come up with the perfect solution; taking the proven concept of fractional ownership and applying this to a fleet of private luxury contemporary motor-yachts you can now own a yacht without the side-effects. The yachts have been exclusively designed and built by Lord Norman Foster the acclaimed architect of Wembley Stadium, the Sage in Gateshead and the new Beijing Airport.
The 40 SIGNATURE SERIES designed by Lord Foster and his team are luxury super-yachts with emphasis given to quality and quantity of space, outdoor terraces, light and views offering more deck space and interior comfort than any equivalent yacht. YachtPlus take the hassle out of Yacht ownership by managing, maintaining, crewing and repositioning the fleet on behalf of the Owners ensuring that the yachts are kept in pristine condition. The fractional ownership programme guarantees you an agreed number of weeks cruising each year and if you don't want to use all of them you can also receive revenue from chartering the yacht in those weeks. The fleet is expected to spend the summer in the Mediterranean and the winter in the Caribbean.
Upon the owners discretion, these yachts will also be available for charter during weeks when the owner won't be using their allocated slots. Click here if you are interested in chartering a YachtPlus yacht.
YachtPlus “ A New Concept in Luxury Super-Yacht Ownership
Car Manufacturers getting involved in Yachting; this time it’s BMW and Audi
Following on from the announcement of the Porsche Design collaboration with the Singapore based yacht builder Royal Falcon Fleet (see the blog dated September 12th) a further two German Automobile Companies have inspired sea worthy vessels; Audi and BMW. 
The Swedish company Vizualtech were inspired by the Audi R8 and have designed a power catamaran in its image for a Dubai race boat company. It is 8.8m (29ft) in length, has two gullwing doors and uses either a modified biodiesel V10 engine or two smaller 320hp V8 engines taking the vessel to a top speed of 110 mph.
BMW Designworks USA meanwhile, has teamed up with Belgian yacht builder Zeydon to create the Performance Cruiser Z60 sailing yacht and enter a completely new yacht market; performance-oriented luxury sailing yachts. The boat can reach downwind speeds of 23 knots under sail power alone or 10-13 knots using the yacht’s engines.
Will this trend from the automobile world to the yachting world continue? Watch this space to find out.
Information and images courtesy of WorldCarFans.com and MarineBusinessNews.com
Fincantieri tries his hand at Yacht building at the Monaco Yacht Show
The Monaco Yacht Show is a venue notorious for world firsts and this year was no exception with Fincantieri, the Italian builder, turning his creative hand to yacht building. Fincantieri unveiled to the yacht industry’s most scrutinating eyes a miniature model of the seven deck, 134m sleek and graceful beauty rumoured to be owned by a Russian.
Until now, all that was available to see of the yacht’s design were photographs so carefully angled that no secrets were spilled.
Since the show the company have picked up another order for a 90m plus vessel and have commited themselves to the niche market for yachts greater than 70m. This is due to a helping hand into the industry from Vincenzo Poerio, the managing director of Benetti who moved from Fincantieri 15 years ago. In return Fincantieri have agreed to stay in the larger yacht market and not threaten the domestic market, of which Benetti is a strong contender.
Information and photo courtesy of Llyod’s List.
Monaco Yacht Show 2008 Boatbookings Report
All the yachts have now left the Monaco Yacht Show and most will now be preparing for their 
annual migration to Fort Lauderdale and the Caribbean for the winter. The success of this year’s show is testiment to the thriving status of the Mega-yacht industry despite the recent economic crisis. The Boatbookings team were out in force to see the yachts and find the newest additions to the Super and Mega Yacht charter market; among those yachts viewed by the team were Martha Ann, Newvida, Makululu and Leonora, Daybreak, Midlandia and Parsifal III. Updates on these boats coming soon…