It's September again, time for some of our favorite annual events. The Bridge in the Hamptons, Cannes Yachting Festival, and best of all, the Monaco Yacht Show. That's the yacht show of yacht shows, where top brokers and the 1% of the 1% come together to make deals on some of the most breathtaking superyachts and mega yachts on the planet.
While we've been visiting Monaco at least once every year since 2021, oddly enough, we only started covering the yacht show last year. Since our focus has shifted more towards travel, MYS has become more important to us than the Monaco GP.
I've never been to the show. That responsibility falls on our media coordinator. I'm still trying to pull strings so I can attend, but it looks like I'm out of options this year. Maybe I'll have better luck next year.
Whenever I'm not at an event, it often means I need to coordinate live to ensure the crew has all they need, and be there to make a call if a crucial decision needs to be made. You could argue that I should delegate, but it's part of my job description, so delegation isn't really an option for me.
I know what I signed up for, so it's not a big deal. The worst of it was managing the Yas Marina event. I had to attend multiple Zoom meetings with the crew, the Yas Marina Circuit staff, and the modeling agency in Dubai at some very odd hours.
But for Monaco, the time difference isn't that bad, so it's more manageable. Last year, we needed to update the photos on our Top Cars Museum page, so I had to ensure that it was done with the required precision.
One side note: the museum looks very different from our first two visits. During our first visit, it was in Fontvieille. It has since moved to Port Hercules. If you haven't seen it in the last two years, there's your excuse to visit the principality.
Other stories we were working on also needed up-to-date photos. That includes multiple places in Carré d'Or. It's actually an interesting process, as the photographer sends me shots in real-time, and I decide if the angle works for the relevant story.
So what's in store for this year's show? We're still waiting for information from the PR companies, but we'll likely have some tours of yachts on display by Fraser Yachts and Gulf Craft. Fraser will have the €200 million Energy yacht on display, but a full tour may not happen.
At that price point, only prospective buyers are invited on board, but maybe we'll get lucky. We'll have to wait and see.
Other vessels, Fraser Yachts will bring to the show include the €16.5 million Bravado. They'll also have the charter yacht, O'Maldeleine, on display. Perhaps you'll remember it from our list of top yachts for French Riviera cruises. It is available for charter for €390,000 per week.
We'll be capturing a tour of the Majesty 100 Terrace during its European debut in Cannes. Hopefully, Gulf Craft will have some 'Easter eggs' for Monaco. Whatever it happens to be, we'll announce it on Instagram and cover it as much as we can.
Ferretti has a long line of new yachts that'll likely be at the show, including new vessels from Riva and Pershing. We'll be delivering updates on our Instagram page, so follow us if you won't be in Monaco.
There will be 119 yachts for sale or charter at this year's show. These include some mouth-watering options such as 'After You' presented by TWW Yachts, the 42.61m Arina by YachtZoo, the 50m Bel1 from my favorite brand Rossinavi, and the 49.9m Black Legend by Northrop & Johnson.
Hopefully, it won't rain this year. The weather almost ruined our tour of the Go Yacht last year. If that pesky rain didn't get in the way, our tour would have been more thorough. Perhaps that would have helped anyone who was considering making an offer for the yacht.
Beyond the yachts, carmakers often have booths to display some of their latest models. Last year's surprise was Maserati. They had their Tridente electric boat on display along with the all-electric GranCabrio Folgore. I got to drive one on Monterey's 17-mile Drive last year. My opinion? If you're thinking about it, stop. Just write the check. You won't regret it.
A few other things I planned to cover included the reopened of the Jardin Exotique and Mareterra. I've delayed articles on Mareterra until we're in a position to deliver first-hand information. We'll capture Mareterra during our time in Monaco, but the reopening of Jardin Exotique has been pushed out again to October (the original date was late summer).
I have a few additional things planned that I'll keep to myself for now. Here's a hint. Our goal is to be the most complete resource on Monaco, so look out for plenty of new information on our favorite country in the world.
