Azimut Yachts in Times Square
World-leading mega-yacht builder Azimut|Benetti Group, after celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with an exclusive gala dinner last May 11 at the Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center, has chosen the ultimate birthday gift for itself: an exclusive installation featuring the 18-meter yacht Azimut S6 in the world famous location of New York’s Times Square. The installation brings to a close a month of initiatives linked to this extraordinary anniversary, including public and private events, cruises on the Hudson river, cocktails on Chelsea Pier, debates and talk shows, with what can only be described as an unforgettable grand finale. In fact, this is the first time in the history of one of the world’s most famous city squares that such a big yacht (the biggest that the square was able to host) has been exhibited and transformed as part of a creative installation. The organisation and production of this incredible initiative was made possible by the partnership with Design Pavilion and NYCxDESIGN, the annual event at which New York celebrates design. The partnership between Azimut|Benetti Group and Design Pavilion confirms the company’s desire to continue to surprise and innovate the yachting sector, not least through alternative communication initiatives that illustrate the cornerstones of the company culture: refined universal design, constant evolution and ongoing technological research. The installation (preceded last year by the Azimut S7 initiative outside the Triennale di Milano during Milan Design Week, also produced by FeelRouge Worldwide Show) is part of a cultural operation designed to shine a light on the DNA of the Azimut brand, which from the outset has hybridized yachting with unexpected elements, broken the rules of convention, and subverted the established order. In this sense, even the locations chosen to exhibit the product are not coincidental. A 60-feet boat taken out of its natural element of the sea and placed in an iconic city square densely populated with neon lights changes our perception of the usual and the possible, and this is how it symbolically represents the drive for innovation in design and technology that is a distinctive feature of the Group’s projects. For Azimut, being at the center of what New Yorkers call “The Crossroads of the World” means being at the symbolic center of the contemporary world, at the nerve center of a network, a representation of global contaminations. This spectacular urban show is designed to create a dialogue with the city, in which the yacht reflects the hypnotic and kaleidoscopic plays of neon light, in a new form of design that is consistent with the powerful choices and new codes established by Azimut Yachts over the glorious past 50 years. The initiatives connected with the S6’s appearance in Times Square until June 11 also include public engagement activities, the first of which is addressed to new generations in partnership with One Ocean Foundation, the organiser of projects to protect the marine environment. The second, on the other hand, promotes an international competition for design students entitled Can You See/Sea The Future, organised by Azimut Yachts in collaboration with Arts Thread. In the days following the gala evening, Azimut|Benetti top management played a leading role at two important initiatives. At the Nasdaq Impact Summit, which provides a forum for sustainability initiatives, an entire session was devoted to the protection of the oceans, featuring some key players including Volvo Penta, Paola Lenti, Seakeeper,One Ocean Foundation and, of course, Azimut|Benetti. And on May 14, a panel discussion was organised on the role of art and design in contemporary lifestyle, moderated by New York Magazine design editor Wendy Goodman and chaired by Group Vice Chair Giovanna Vitelli. So far as concerns this latter event, it should be remembered how the history of Azimut is run through from the outset with the creation of new archetypes based on unprecedented design and lifestyle solutions. The Group has established highly successful partnerships with the world’s finest designers in both the yachting segment and beyond, firmly convinced that important innovative input can be provided by other areas of endeavour. The famous names brought in from the luxury residential and artistic sector include Elle Decor US A-List member Achille Salvagni, who took part in the panel discussion, Vincenzo De Cotiis, whose work includes both architectural projects and art installations and who is represented in New York by the Carpenters Workshop Gallery, and the New York-based European duo Enrico Bonetti/Dominic Kozerski, currently in charge of the new Pace Gallery project in New York, who were also on the panel, along withCarpenter’s Workshop Gallery Director Ashlee Harrison, and Jennifer Olshin, Partner at the Friedman Benda collectables gallery. The company finally confirms its pioneering and revolutionary vision, as well as involving young talents who it offers the possibility of becoming future protagonists in the industry, through Azimut Yachts’ launch of a design competition jointly with Arts Thread, the digital platform that acts as a meeting point between artists and designers. The winner will be announced before the end of the year. This is the most recent chapter in the long-standing partnership between the Group and various schools of design and universities, including IED, Polimi, Coventry University and Politecnico di Torino, with the aim of identifying the latest trends and propositions in yacht design. Azimut|Benetti Group has also entered into a partnership with One Ocean Foundation, the no profit association committed to protecting the marine environment by promoting a sustainable “Blue Economy”, a better understanding of the situation in the oceans, and programmes for the new generations. Five international events have been planned for the Group’s 50th anniversary, each representing a decade of Azimut Yachts’ activities, starting from 1969, the year the company was founded by Paolo Vitelli. Dubai, New York, Cannes, and Hong Kong are the locations involved, with a concluding evening event held at the company’s Avigliana headquarters near Turin in December.
Back Cove Makes Great Loop
After purchasing a Back Cove 41 in October 2016, Bill and Amy decided to make a shakedown cruise during the summer of 2017 to Maine and then on to Nova Scotia. The Back Cove 41 felt right at home in the Maine waters, and also had the opportunity to visit the factory for a tour. Traveling to the more remote parts of Nova Scotia was a challenge and a thrill to see such a beautiful part of Canada. The 41 proved to be a very capable and reliable boat. Now, what will the next adventure be? It was decided during the winter of 2018 to travel the Great Loop, a 6500-mile journey crossing 13 states and the Province of Ontario. The route basically circumnavigates the eastern part of the US. So we ordered charts, cruising guides and joined the AGLCA. How do we live in a space that is less than 400 square feet? Bill and Amy had to take with us everything that a homeowner would need to run a house, but in this case, the house is our new boat. They had to be organized, and everything had its dedicated spot. On any given year there may be 300 to 400 boats making this trip. And since it is a loop, you can start anywhere, and most people travel the Loop in a counterclockwise direction to receive the benefit of the river currents. So off they go on June 15, 2018, leaving from the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. After reaching Norfolk, the weather being good, we decided to go out to sea and run offshore to NY Harbor with one stop at Cape May. Continued north on the Hudson River for about 155 miles. The scenery was stunning as we passed by the tall buildings of New York City. As we proceed northward, we noticed how the mountains came down steeply to the water’s edge. Further up the Hudson, we passed the US Military Academy at West Point and then on to Albany where we experienced our first big lock in Troy, NY. We decided to go west and enter the Erie Canal in Waterford, continuing on to Oswego, which is on Lake Ontario. The Erie Canal was a scenic cruise through the farmlands of New York. So far we have transited 30 locks. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, and we were able to experience the many towns along the way and tie up at town docks. This part of the journey was very peaceful and relaxing since we did not have to worry about tides and currents. Entering Lake Ontario, we noticed the geology change greatly as the soft bottoms of the rivers have been replaced by granite of the Canadian Shield. It was in Oswego we had to make a choice of going straight across to Kingston, Ontario or continue east down the St Lawrence River to Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands. And there really are 1,000 islands. If it is large enough to stick out of the water and has at least one tree, it is considered an island. This is where the famous Boldt Castle is located. There are endless beautiful anchorages among these many islands. It was here in Gananoque, Ontario we decided to enter Canada, clear customs and hoist our Canadian courtesy flag. From the Thousand Islands, we traveled westward for two months on our way to the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. As we went the scenery got more spectacular with the many species of pine trees growing between the rocks down to the shoreline. In Trenton, we entered The Trent-Severn Waterway and negotiated the 41 locks and 240 miles on the waterway. Most of the locks are still hand-operated, and there are many rivers and lakes that interconnect the waterway. There are two unusual locks we encountered. One is a hydraulic lift lock where the boats are secured in a tub of water on the upper side, and an identical tub on the lower side and the boats ride up like an elevator. The other unusual lock is the Big Chute Railway that takes the boat completely out of the water on a carriage that travels overland to the other side. After exiting the Trent-Severn Waterway, we entered the Georgian Bay. We decided to explore the Bruce Peninsula’s eastern shore. There were many remarkable anchorages we visited. In most cases, we were the only boat staying the night. Wingfield anchorage was one of our favorites. When we reached Tobermory at the north end of the Penninsula, we steered an easterly course to the Bustard Islands about 50 NM across the Georgian Bay. These are a small grouping of islands composed of mostly granite rocks and pine trees coming down to the water’s edge. The inflatable dinghy was a great way to explore the islands and also try some fishing. Next, we traveled through Collin’s Inlet with a stop for a few nights at the Sportsman’s Inn in Killarney on our way to the North Channel. One thing that surprised me was how clear the water was. You can see at least 20 feet down. So checking the anchor for a good set was easy. The North Channel was probably the most beautiful place on the whole trip with endless anchoring possibilities and a few small towns along the way to get provisions and top off the water tanks. Baie Fine is a not to be missed destination up a 10-mile fjord to a popular anchoring spot called the Pool. The Pool is the only place on the trip that had neither cell service nor TV reception. Definitely, this is a place where you can disconnect. At the western end of the North Channel, we re-entered the US at De Tour Village in Michigan. The new Customs and Border Patrol app for the smartphone made clearing customs easy. From there, we decided to take a step back in time and spend a few nights on Mackinac Island. To this day, cars are not allowed on the island, so all transportation is accomplished by horse and wagon and bicycle. It was truly a wonderful experience. At this point, we had to decide which coastline of Lake Michigan to travel the 300 NM south towards Chicago. We decided to go down the Michigan side. There were many harbors of refuge about 50 miles apart. It took us about ten days to get to Chicago on account of 8 to 10-foot seas in the lake. It was great the Back Cove 41 has the speed to travel longer distances in a shorter time. We arrived in Chicago for Labor Day and some sightseeing. The deep-dish pizza and the architecture tour were fabulous. Our next experience after leaving Chicago was navigating about 1,000 NM of the various rivers to Mobile Bay and back to the salt water in the Gulf of Mexico. The rivers down to Mobile are used primarily for commercial tows and barges, many of which push 40 to 50 barges at a time. We realized that the rivers belonged to them, and we are just sharing the river with them; we got along fine. AIS was most helpful at spotting the tows ahead of time so that we could make passing arrangements. From Chicago, it was 300 NM to the Mississippi River, and that is where the fun began. The river was up about 25 feet with a current of 4 to 5 knots. Buoys were being sucked under, and in some instances, on the Ohio River, we actually went over the dams, so we did not need to use the locks going upstream to Paducah, KY. We needed a few days rest in Paducah after traveling the “wild river” and fortunately did not hit any floating logs. The remaining rivers being the Cumberland, Tennessee and the Tenn-Tom canal completes the trip to the Gulf of Mexico. These rivers were much more tame and beautiful than the trip down from Chicago. We met up with many other “Loopers” on the river systems, and we tended to travel together for days at a time. Once in the Gulf of Mexico, we were rewarded with the warm weather we had been looking forward to. It was getting close to Thanksgiving, and our goal was to be in Fort Myers and find a turkey to cook. It was sad to cruise through the hurricane damage around the panhandle of Florida, which occurred just months before. Our plan was to get to Key West by mid-December, so we had plenty of time to visit the towns along the west coast of Florida. We spent a month in Key West. What a fun place with great restaurants and historical places of interest. In Marathon, there was the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center, which are very important for the rehabilitation of these beautiful animals that get entangled in man-made plastics and fishing gear. After spending about two months in the keys, it was time to head north since we had been gone for almost nine months. There were still many great anchorages and towns we visited on the east coast. A few of the most fun places were St Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, and St Simons Island. There were great food tours in St Augustine and also Savannah. Our pace returning home in North Carolina was somewhat leisurely since we wanted to arrive back home with the warm spring weather. We arrived back home on March 27, 2019, after an amazing 10-month journey. We had so many great experiences, and the fellow boaters doing the loop were great to travel with. The Back Cove 41 was the ideal boat for this trip. It was a perfect size and could fit under most bridges along the way. We put close to 500 hours on the boat, and the only maintenance required was a few oil changes.
Benetti 19th Yachtmaster in Australia
7 months, 4 continents, 6 events worldwide and 550 attendees, including 250 industry professionals: these are the numbers behind the success of the 19th Benetti Yachtmaster, the classic annual event for captains, crew and yachting world professionals. During this year’s edition, with the collaboration of sponsors and partners, Benetti organised events, roadshows, meetings and workshops in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, the USA and Australia. Benetti Yachtmaster has scored a huge success again this year. The impressive attendance figures for captains, companies and sponsors and the variety of topics covered confirm the importance of the event. Approval across the board for this 19th annual event is also thanks to the organisers, who have successfully identified topics and an organisational approach that the industry finds very appealing. The 19th Yachtmaster ended at the Gold Coast City Marina and Shipyard in Queensland, Australia, in front of an audience of about fifty attendees. This is the first time ever that Benetti has held the event here and, with the collaboration of the Gold Coast City Marina, a consolidated local yacht services operator based in Coomera, an ad hoc debate was organised on issues relating to yacht management with industry operators from Indonesia, Thailand, Vanuatu, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. Host Peter Mahony, General Manager Benetti Yachts Asia, introduced Edward Woodman (captain of a 45-meter Benetti yacht), Kevin Altera (GM Operations and Business Development of GCCM), Donna Murray (Global Recruitment Manager of Hill Robinson Superyacht), Andy Shorten (Lighthouse Consultancy), Adam Frost (Founder and Managing Director of Seal Superyachts), Justin Jenkin (Seal Superyachts Vanuatu), Paco Bredin (Seal Superyachts Tahiti), Ben Osborne (Seal Superyachts New Zealand), Mark Wightma (Integrated Marine Group) and Ayla Wharton (North Australia Yacht Support, NAYS). Before this meeting, which officially closed the 19th Yachtmaster, three more events were organised in the period from March to May. The first was the March 20 Turkish roadshow held at the Yeniköy Kaşıbeyaz Bosphorus Restaurant in Istanbul and organised by Benetti in partnership with Gino Group, a leading yacht management company with forty years’ experience operating in Turkey. Flivos Marina in Athens played host on April 3 to the Greek roadshow organised by the Tuscan Shipyard in partnership with First Quality Yachts, a company specialised in yacht management services for owners, captains and crew, to whom it provides operating support and personalised assistance. Inside the Marina area, operators from Ariexpo, a company that makes engines for the marine, railway and air industries, analysed the pitfalls of yacht engine management and lawyers from law firm Markogiannis & Partners presented the latest developments in Greek yachting legislation. The American event was another high point, held from April 30 to May 2 in Key Largo, Florida, at Playa Largo Resort & Spa. Nick Bischoff, Benetti Country Manager for the Americas, opened the working sessions in front of an audience of 80 attendees, including more than 30 captains, surveyors and owners’ representatives, 65% of them attending Yachtmaster for the first time. One particularly popular session was on the subject of the “Owner’s team perspective”, during which Lucy Chabot Reed, Editorial Director of American magazine The Triton, interviewed Mark Gallaway, the captain of “Elaldrea+”, the 49-meter Benetti Custom yacht presented last February in a world preview at the Palm Beach International Boat Show. The captain highlighted Benetti’s ability to realise the ideas, modifications and suggestions put forward by owners during the design stage, placing the emphasis on dialogue and cooperation between the parties involved. “This event is an integral part of Benetti’s philosophy and it has proved to be a tool with a double benefit: it helps the Shipyard better understand and anticipate the needs of the sector, as well as providing a unique opportunity for captains and professionals to keep up-to-date, to network and to discuss the dynamics of the yachting business,” said Nick Bischoff who highlighted the fact that some of this Yachtmaster edition’s legs took place concurrently with the Benetti Giga Season: “A period of fervent activity that led Benetti into accomplished the launch of 3 +100 meters yachts in 100 days”. Several workshops were also organised with Fraser Yachts and experts from law firm Batini Traverso Grasso and Associati, including a discussion about the commitment needed from the Project Management team to build a yacht, as well as about how to manage unexpected events, protect the owner’s interests and ensure employment stability for captains. The Partners for this year’s event were: Awlgrip, Boero, Dockwise, Jotun, Peninsula Petroleum, Viraver, Slam, Kongsberg, Lusben and Sevenstar. CMC Marine, Fraser Yachts, Rko, and LMC were among the Gold Sponsors. The Sponsors were Rina, Cgt, SeaSat Com, Naiad Dynamics and Yachtique. The Guest Sponsors were Port Adriano, GCCM, Gino Group, Esprit Yachting and VSS, while Seabob, Williams tender, YMS (Yachting Marine Service) and IK Yacht design were Silver Sponsors. Preparations are already underway for next year’s event, which won’t fail to amaze attendees with touring events and meetings that focus on the most topical and interesting issues facing the industry.
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