A YAcht Owner missions accomplished

HaPPy Meals

wants to host a party for 80 of his friends on a deserted islet, serenaded by big-name singers while dining on gourmet cuisine. His yacht management company turns to its concierge division. Four months of planning and three weeks of construction sees a stage erected and a restaurant-grade kitchen installed. Generators are helicoptered in and temporary housing is provided for the workers. The guests have the night of their lives. Rumor has it, Michael Bublé and Stevie Wonder arrived via private jets. The cost? Don’t ask. What was important: The concierge made it happen.

Yacht concierge companies function just like the concierge at a fve-star hotel, but often on a far grander scale. Some operate as part of yacht management companies while others are independent. Some handle only a specifc geographical area, such as the Caribbean, while others roam worldwide to satisfy requests. The one thing that defnes each is a “black book,” a carefully guarded compilation of essential resources, from the cellphone numbers of maître d’s at exclusive restaurants to forists willing to provide arrangements at 3 a.m.

Having a yacht concierge makes life very special. A service can uncomplicate your plans afoat, from making airline reservations to staging parties aboard to arranging a golf tee time at an exclusive course or delivering hometown newspapers to your boat. Some can even fnd a local veterinarian in a far-fung locale.

The services of a concierge company can be retainer-based or à la carte as a need arises. “When I was a captain, I objected to being tied into an agreement,” says Nick Line, whose Anchor Concierge & Super Yacht Services is based on Antigua. “I would expect to be free to use whoever gave me the best service,” he adds, noting that his company now follows that standard. “I looked for agencies that provided a full range of services at reasonable rates, and particularly liked to work with ones with a yachting background, rather than ships’ agents.”

Yacht concierge services are a natural spin-off for Harless & Associates, an accounting and fnancial planning company with offces in West Palm Beach, Florida, that counts many yacht owners as clients. For concierge services director Steve Wagmeister,

whose black book was built from decades in the hospitality trade, requests can range from transporting polo ponies to providing security services for visiting yachts.

Another approach is taken by the Azimut-Benetti Group, which launched the Yachtique Concierge Club for its owners, offering 24/7 services through a network of contacts worldwide.

Tamsin Seabright, founder of Yacht Gopher, provides a concierge service for the owners of racing yachts. From a base in England, she travels to major events worldwide such as the St. Barths Bucket, Cowes Week and the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta in the British Virgin Islands. She sets up villas for owners and crew, provides chefs, transportation and crew uniforms, and gets instant repairs for damaged sails. A recent challenge: Find dockage for Comanche, a 100-foot record-setter fnishing the Transatlantic Race. With the yacht’s 22-foot draft, not one marina in the Solent could take her, so Seabright worked with a commercial dock and chartered a barge to keep the racing yacht in deep water.

While day-to-day spare parts normally are handled by the logistics team for a yacht management company, more urgent requests fall to a concierge. Whether you need caged tigers for a child’s birthday party, a sculpture of your wife’s face in chocolate or an invitation to stroll the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, a yacht concierge is just a phone call away to make it so.