I’m sitting in a hotel room in Miami Beach right now, looking out over the thousands upon thousands of feet of yachts and megayachts that are exhibiting at the Yacht & Brokerage Show, which opens tomorrow. Thunderstorms have been rolling through all night and are expected to continue all day, not exactly conducive for the last bit of staging that needs to go on–and not exactly conducive to the video I plan to shoot on the docks.
If I can dart between the raindrops, however, I’ll have footage of two of the biggest yachts here, the 141-foot CRN Emerald Star (above) and the 157-foot Christensen Lady Joy (below). Even though she’s smaller than several megayachts here, Emerald Star is being touted as the “queen of the show.” Making her U.S. debut, she’s worth $30.5 million and boasts some pretty innovative features for a yacht her size. Two standouts: the private outdoor terrace off the owner’s suite, something thus far only seen on yachts in the 200-foot range; and the “beach” terrace at her stern, formed when a portion of the transom folds down to just above the water level.
Lady Joy is certainly no slouch in the looks department. High-gloss mahogany paneling covers practically every wall onboard, and her owner, songwriter/socialite Denise Rich, selected some of the most colorful and impressive modern artwork I’ve seen aboard a yacht in some time. Rich, who often entertains family and friends onboard and who has the yacht available for charter, also got something no other 157 series Christensen has: six guest staterooms (the rest have five). The sixth stateroom is a nanny cabin with bunk beds, and although it’s smaller than the other bedrooms, it’s not cramped, and none of them feel compromised space-wise to accommodate it.
If you’re interested in checking out either of these megayachts, the show runs from the 14th to the 18th along the Indian Creek Waterway. If you can’t make it, keep an eye out here for my virtual tours within the next few days. Of course, I’ll have all sorts of other news from the show to share as well, so it’ll be a busy few days.
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