
SUPERYACHT #501 January 2004
Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest
and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical
articles, images and yachting news

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Interview by Angelo Colombo to Mrs. Loredana Zichichi, owner of Rigo Yachts International
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THE LUXURY CHARTER
Chartering a boat, be it a luxury yacht or a motorboat, means you
have a suitable boat at your disposal for a limited period of
time, without all the worries of ownership. Naturally there are as
many kinds of charters as there are kinds of boats present on the
market, from small boats for coastal trips to super-yachts,
suitable for challenging cruises to be enjoyed in comfort and
luxury. This time let's look at charters designed for those
clients who intend to have at their disposal a boat offering on
board hospitality like that of a travelling luxury hotel, that is
in other words what is on offer in the range of super-yachts
equipped with every comfort and a highly qualified crew.
In this specific segment the choice sees a predominance of engine
driven boats, from classic ships with displacing hulls to the
large motor yachts with planing hulls; sailing boats on the other
hand, due to the scarcity of boats available and the limited
request, remains a fairly small niche market. A super-yacht can
also be chartered for purposes other than holidays, for example,
for a while now on the C“te d'Azur agencies have been offering
boats to meet requests for an appropriate setting for events such
as conferences and formal encounters. This activity allows to
overcome the limits posed by the hotel structures existing in the
location of the proposed event offering surroundings and services
that fulfil the expectations of both the organisers and the
guests. To better understand this phenomenon, we turned to the
competence of Mrs. Loredana Zichichi, owner of Rigo Yachts
International, a charter agency specialised in super yachts
charting all over the world, with head office in via Pindaro 50/9;
00125 Rome (Italy); tel. +39 06 5090222; fax +39 06 50917530;
website www.rigoyachts.com; e-mail rigoyachts@tin.it.
Mrs. Zichichi, can you tell us if over the past few years this
tendency to charter luxury boats has undergone any changes?
Over the past few years chartering has definitely benefited from
a general growth in the boating sector. Bear in mind that as far
as regards the offer of important boats, in the past we had at
our disposal almost exclusively boats from English owners. For
them the yacht is a bit like a hotel and therefore the idea of
it being used by someone else does not bother them at all. An
Italian owner, for example, has always seen his boat as a second
home and the idea that others might use it has always led them
to reject the hypothesis of chartering. Recently we have seen an
inversion in tendency by those owners who previously would never
have considered putting their boat on the market; this
circumstance has increased the number of boats up for charter
and consequently the market is growing, at least as far as our
country is concerned.
Can you tell us about super-yacht charters for professional reasons?
For many years luxury boats have been chartered for events and
formal encounters, above all on the C“te d'Azur, where there are
more suitable sized yachts available, with rooms big enough for
press conferences or conventions. This choice enables
shortcomings in hotels to be compensated for, ensuring a very
important return in terms of image. In Italy not many events are
held on board super-yachts, but this is mainly due to a shortage
of suitable boats.
What boats are requested the most for luxury chartering?
In this case, we must differentiate between those who charter a
boat for a limited period of time, mainly for brief, high speed
trips and those who, on the other hand, intend to cruise for a
much longer period of time, involving great distances between
one port of call and another. In the first instance, a fast
motor yacht with planing hull is fine, in the second case they
usually require a classic ship with displacing hull. Despite the
target of this specific sector, one of the elements considered
by the client when choosing the boat is consumption, as well
naturally as comfort during sailing and the service that we can
offer on board. The crew is a fundamental element for complete,
quality service, a good crew must be able to offer something
extra, good cuisine for example, the ability to keep the yacht
tidy without disturbing the privacy of the guests, in other
words, it must be personnel on a level with the situation.
Consider that the more crew members there are and the better
prepared they are, the higher the standard of service. As far as
the boat is concerned, it must be in impeccable condition under
every aspect, complete with accessories dedicated to leisure
time such as top quality audio video systems, high class
tableware and furnishings, with maybe a few nice touches, for
example lamps for a formal dinner and other furnishing
accessories that manage to make each single area on the yacht
particularly welcoming.
To finish, can you tell us what the most requested destinations
are in the Mediterranean?
Our boats go all over. For example, the Americans who come to us
and who represent without doubt an important part of our
clientele, have as basic stops the Smeralda Coast, the Amalfi
Coast, the C“te d'Azur, the Balearic Islands and recently we
have had an increase in requests for the Aeolian Islands and Croatia.
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