America's Cup stunt with a Motorbike!

A motorcycle daredevil from the Kiwi Crusty Demons yesterday backflipped over an America's Cup yacht in Auckland. Luke Smith became the first person in the world to perform this crazy stunt, falling the equivalent of 4 storeys once he had cleared the yacht.  When asked what was going on in his mind before going 'head over wheels' Luke admitted he was nervous and said:

“I wasn't sure how I was gonna end up you know. I wasn't sure if I was gonna over-rotate, or wMotorcyclist stuntas gonna be able to kick the bike away, but yeah, no it worked out great, there was nothing to worry about.”

Luke will continue to perform with the Crusty Demons in Auckland, though his motorbike, unfortunately, won't.  The America's Cup yacht belonging to the New Zealand team was not damaged in the stunt and awaits the onset of the New Louis Vuitton Cup Regatta to come to Auckland in next spring (see previous blog).

Information courtesy of 3news.co.nz

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. Audi R8 inspired power cat
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 yachtBMW 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

Monaco Yacht Show 2008 Boatbookings Report

All the yachts have now left the Monaco Yacht Show and most will now be preparing for their image of Monaco Yacht Showannual 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…

New Ferretti Yachts announced at the Monaco Yacht Show

The Monaco Yacht Show has always been a platform for the newest luxuryPhoto of the Monaco Yacht Show, the most up to date technology and of course the latest Yachts to excite the yachting enthusiasts that travel to the event in a pilgrimage to their passion. This year the Ferretti Group (Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, Bertram, Riva, Apreamare, Mochi Craft, CRN and Custom Line) are presenting 9 elegant yachts at the show, 2 of which are world previews produced by CRN:

The CRN 54m MARAYA and the CRN 57m ROMANCE.

New models Riva Duchessa 92’, Apreamare Maestro 82’, Custom Line Navetta 33, Custom Line 112’ Next, Pershing 80’ are also being displayed, which were presented at the recent Cannes Boat Show, as well as the already well-known and much admired Pershing 90’ and Itama Forty

Some information courtesy of BYM Product and Industry News