Best Beautiful Yacht Videos - Part IV : London Boat Show

It's ironic that what was once considered the Land of the Barbarians and their glorious victories...is home to most of the best and beautiful yachts of our times.


The London Boat Show has been able to mark its own niche in the plethora of European Boat Shows. Organised by the British Marine Federation, the same body that was involved in getting the Mumbai Boat Show going, the LBS is a feature-packed one that caters to the the Creme-de-la-Creme clientele of the British markets.

THE HEART OF LONDON

The London Boat Show is held each January at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in the heart of London, just opposite the O2 and the centre of London's business and entertainment centre.

It is a very large event, now in its 54th year, which uses ExCeL's two 32,500 square metre halls.

It is one of the two main annual boat shows in the United Kingdom, alongside the Southampton Boat Show.

Both are organised by National Boat Shows, which is a subsidiary of the British Marine Federation, the trade association for the UK boating industry. The 2008 show, known as the Collins Stewart London Boat Show for sponsorship reasons, ran from 11-20 January.

HISTORY

The first London Boat Show was held at Olympia, before moving to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in 1957 due to increase in demand. A popular feature of the show during its time at Earls Court was the use of the venue's pool area to host floating boats for visitors' inspection.

Up until the Second World War, sailing was very much a sport for the rich, but in the post-war years, with the launch of cheaper boats such as the dinghy, sailing became accessible to the middle classes and so there was demand for a show which could satisfy this trend.

The London Boat Show moved to ExCeL in 2004 because the old venue could no longer accommodate the vast selection of boats and equipment suppliers that visitors demanded from the show. Additionally the venue couldn’t accommodate the larger boats that visitors wanted to see and buy.

AS GOOD AS BEING THERE

The Video shows the entire LBS as it happens...both within the arena and outside on the marina also.



Many of the launches of famous manufacturers took place there and it the show was a HUGE success in terms of visitor and media turn-out.

It even highlights some of the latest technologies that were revealed at the show like the amphibious dinghy and new propulsion materials that will employed on some of the finest yachts in the future.

GO FOR MORE...

For more information on the London Boat Show and its sister concern the Southampton Boat show click here.

Hopefully the BMF makes the Mumbai Boat Show a similar success on the lines of the London Boat Show. Read more...

Best Beautiful Yacht Videos - Part IV : The Wally Power 118

The WALLY POWER 118 - arguably one of the fastest yachts in its size, and definitely with one of the most contemporary and at times controversial design and function. Imagine a combination of a jet plane that looks like and is as big as the B-2 Stealth Bomber, but have all the luxuries and comfort of the Airbus A380XX. The Wally Power 118 is just that albeit a sea-going version of it.


If a figure like 16,000 horsepower doesn't excite you (we are sure it already did), then a high-performance superyacht with a master bedroom, two guest rooms, a professional kitchen, and a huge dining/seating area at 118 feet long, notching speeds up to 70 mph - all cocooned in a design like this...DEFINITELY WOULD!

WALLY YACHTS

Based out of Monaco and founded in 1994, Wally Yachts has carved a niche of its own in the mega-yacht category. Wally is considered to be one of the premier yacht builders, noted for its unique blend of stylish, sleek, minimalist design, power and comfort. Celebrities owning a Wally include Gianni Agnelli, Juan Carlos I of Spain, Marco Tronchetti Provera, and Lindsay Owen-Jones.

WALLY POWER 118

WallyPower 118 is a high speed luxury yacht which is narrow and angular in design with black glass housing. It is 118 feet long and is capable of reaching speeds as fast as 60 knots (70 mph, 110 km/h).


It is capable of this feat due to three Vericor TF50 gas turbines generating 16,800 HP. The three gas turbines each drive a Rolls-Royce Kamewa water jet, two steerable outboard and a non-steering booster on centerline. The steerable water jets also have a diesel engine input for a 370 hp Cummins diesel hence these two wing drive trains are Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine (CODOG). It has one many a design awards over the world and at the same time had a cameo as a futuristic yacht in the movie 'The Island'.

THE VIDEO

This one of the most complete and comprehensive yacht video ever! The beginning score from the James Bond movie Goldeneye is just perfect for the Wally Power 118...since it seems like something out from W's laboratory.


It starts with the Wally in its entirety, unmoving - as though its resting on a throne of water. Then the focus shifts to what the Wally is really good at - displacing as much water as fast as it can. It looks nothing less that a wedge cutting through the water and the draft created by its 3 turbine engines is humongous. At time it feels as though it would lift off and fly incase someone attached wings on its side. In this part of the video, the Wally looks like a mono-block design, right out of a mould.


What really amazes is that how the Wally manages to satiate its owner's appetite for opulence. One would expect an absolutely spartan interior for a yacht with a body designed like that. But there is more to than what meets the eye. Every part of the body opens to a functional use, so much so that every hatch gets converted to a fine piece of furniture. You even have a full Dinner Deck (our creative minds at work) at the aft for your guests to enjoy a 5 course meal.

There is enough storage space for everything you want in there. At the fore, a hatch with enough space to hold in a Zodiac with an mechanical winch is present. The attention to detail is of immense good quality. A windscreen (retractable) allows your hair (and maybe even you) not to fly away, at the speeds that it can touch.


A finishing touch to the video is given in the form of the amazing Technical Specifications and a bit of bragging about the Wally's capabilities.

THE FUTURE, NOW

We strongly feel that the Wally is all about things to come. The way yacht architecture and design are heading, it surely would be. It's a piece of the future albeit at the price of the future - a cool US $ 25 Million for the 3 Gas Turbine engine version. Read more...

Best Beautiful Yacht Videos - PART III : Roberto Cavalli Inside/Out

Roberto Cavalli - the name of the game for the World's Best Line of Luxury Clothing is also the owner of a hynonymous yacht - M/Y Roberto Cavalli.


In a world where most of the yachts are white beauties - what makes this yacht stand out of the crowd is the DEEP PURPLE - almost ultra-violet in nature color that it has. Just as his world renowned wild-animalized prints and hot cuts stand out - this man has gotten it spot-on to make his yacht stand out in the crowd.

THE MAN HIMSELF

Cavalli is known for using wild animal prints and sexualized cuts in his design, leading to comparisons with designer Gianni Versace and his popularity with many young celebrities, such as Victoria Beckham, with whom he famously signed an exclusive dressing contract.


He is also known for his lavish lifestyle.

...AND THE YACHT

E! TV presenter, Maruska Albertazzi has been one of the lucky few who have been aboard this one-of-a-kind beauty. A special guest of Roberto Cavalli himself, she presents us with one of the best videos that takes a detailed look at the attention-to-detail in this hot yacht.


Roberto Cavalli shows off his beauty inside-out in this 3 minute grab and we get a peek at the lush interiors and exteriors of this yacht. Note the use of animal prints and hot-white leather on the top-deck.

Technically very advanced, the boat is equipped with the best of navigational and communication systems.

What we missed most in this video is the lack of animal print on the phone shown in it. To people who dont know much about Roberto Cavalli, he has a special line of cell-phones with animal prints on them.

The end of the video shows us the beautiful bow of this ultra-violet showstopper. This video is perfect in terms of being a guideline of how to have the most amazing looking interiors for a yacht!
Read more...

Best Beautiful Yacht Videos - Part II : France and Nice

Part II of our Best Yacht Videos takes us to France and Nice, Europe's finest yacht parkings - rich with heritage and class - exacctly the two things that make yachts special themselves.


The Mediterranean is the best spot for yachts and yacht-owners thanks to its pristine coasts and its clear waters.

FRANCE AND NICE

Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. French people often refer to Metropolitan France as L'Hexagone (The "Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory - which is shaped as so due to the waters that flow around it.


France happens to have the beautiful islands of Bora-Bora and New Caledonia, thousands of miles away from itself, under its administration. Of course, we all are well aware that the Mecca of yachts - Monaco - is one of its principalities also.

Nice on the other hand, is a city in southern France located on the Mediterranean coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 2007 estimate. The city is a major tourist centre and a leading resort on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur). It is the historical capital city of the County of Nice.

WHY THIS VIDEO?

This is definitely one of the hottest videos in terms of its varied content. The video starts with our favorite topic - yachts - then moves on to the lavish interiors of the cities, the cars and the friendly people. The Musee Aquarium and a huge ship just add to the life-like nature of this video. What seems like the icing on the cake is the Changing of the Guards in one of the French palaces pictured to perfection. Princess Grace's Tomb is shown too before this fabulous video ends by its amateur cameramen - Wendy and Todd Beck.

Thanks for the visual creme-de-la-creme treat, Wendy and Todd...
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