The inauguration ceremony of the first Explorer Dock took place at the Yacht Club de Monaco earlier this week, as part of the activities planned for the Ocean Week and under the aegis of ‘Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting.’
The seven yachts displayed on the quay of the Club, M/Y Beyond Capricorn, M/Y Prometej, M/Y Audace, M/Y King Benji, S/Y NDS Evolution, M/Y U Boat Navigator and M/Y Santandrea, represent a combination of passion for adventure and innovation. Each one is designed to navigate beyond traditional boundaries and face the challenges of the oceans.
Capturing everyone’s attention on the quay was the christening of the brand new M/Y King Benji. Attending the event dedicated to the 46 metre megayacht, built by Dunya Yachts and designed by Greg Marshall, were many guests alongside the Yacht Club de Monaco General Secretary Bernard d’Alessandri.
“I am very humbled and proud to be here because it took years to build this yacht. It required a lot of passion, dedication and team work with Greg Marshall and other designers. And finally she’s here and we’re proud of it,” said Sedat Ergun, owner of Dunya Yachts.
“We’re thriving to be a custom builder, we’re building many different yachts. Everyone’s different from each other. We love exploration. So when the client came to us, we loved it and we got on well since day one. It actually is a funny story because he came in as a crew member so we didn’t know he was the client. We talked about it and I said ‘we love the project’ and I think he felt the passion about it,” he added. Everything started from a sketch. “I flew to a meeting with the owner and he described what he was looking for and why he couldn’t buy it anywhere in the world. So I pulled out a piece of paper and just started drawing and in the first minutes he said ‘that’s it.’”
“We adjusted the sketches and it was just what you see here and it never happens. The boat is what I’d design for myself. We had a full-sized mock up build of the boat so we could walk through it 4-5 years ago. And now to see it here surrounded by the Yacht Club it just makes your skin tingle,” said Greg Marshall.
The Environmental Symposium, a day of conference for the industry, owners and captains, took place on Thursday, March 21, organised in collaboration with The Explorer’s Club of New York.
A large delegation from the US is visiting the Club and taking part not only in all the ‘explorer’ activities on the quay but also in regattas, sailing experiences involving for example the YCM flagship Tuiga.
On Thursday and Friday the Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous took place, organised in partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and YCM, a natural extension of the Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous.
ORIGINAL SOURCE & PHOTO: Monaco Yacht Club
