A SECRET conversation.

How did you get into yachting and what do you enjoy so much about it that you are now the captain of a very prestigious large yacht?

I got into an Optimist when I was four years old sailing around our local reservoir. I grew up on the Orwell River in Suffolk where I was a dinghy racer until the age of about 16 when I moved over to yacht racing. Throughout university I was on the sailing team.

After that, a friend of mine was doing a delivery from Palma to Porto Cervo, called me up and said, 'Do you want to give me a hand?' I landed in Mallorca, got on an 80ft Wally called INDIO and fell in love with the lifestyle. A year later after I got my Yachtmaster and joined the classic motor yacht CALISTO, left in 2010 and joined BATON ROUGE. After I passed my Master 3,000GT, my first captaincy was VERTIGO and I spent three and a half years there and now I captain SECRET. I might think about taking some unlimited tickets but for the moment 80m is where I aspired to be and I'm very happy here.

SECRET was commissioned by a very experienced owner. Having captained several yachts, what benefits do you feel that design and build experience brings both to guests and operationally for you and the crew?

The amount of experience built in is remarkable and it defines SECRET. When on board you do not even have to think about it, you just do it. For the guests, it is how everything flows naturally and that is a true testament to how things have been designed correctly.

Every detail was taken into consideration, especially ease of service for the crew, you reach for a drawer and it is there, the storage in the pantries, you do not have to move to a different deck to get a plate or go to a different wine fridge.

The upper deck dining room, when the doors are closed, is extremely intimate. It is inside but you can also slide back the glass walls and let the air flow through and bring the outside in to add to the ambiance. It is all about the privacy and the experience while enjoying the great view. You flow from there straight out onto the aft deck where you have two aft facing tables to enjoy cocktails while relaxing with the view out over the sea.

It is this design feature that really rolls through the whole yacht, encompassing all the relaxing guest areas and cabins as well as the crew areas, they are all elegant and comforting at the same time. She is beautiful but also easy to maintain, even the engine room is very spacious and well laid out, everything is easily accessible. This is the product of a thought-out plan with Abeking & Rasmussen, whose engineering department is well known for doing things correctly.

Underway she is very quiet and extremely smooth running. Her twin sets of stabilisers keep her beautifully level while cruising the world’s oceans.

Which features make SECRET stand out as a very special charter yacht? What are the most popular guest areas?

It is the flow through… You can relax while watching an early evening movie in the upper deck cinema then gather for a sumptuous dinner in the magnificent dining area. On the sun deck you have the forward jacuzzi and the bar area where you can lazily enjoy the passing of the day or head down to the beach club and have an exciting time on the water enjoying all the latest watertoys. It is an all-encompassing experience that these areas provide.

When the evening comes and it is time to call it a day, there are seven highly appointed cabins to choose from with a highlight on the master suite on the upper deck that has an unobscured view of the sea. There is also a VIP suite on the main deck which sets SECRET apart from other yachts as she offers guests an option of two comparable suites to choose from.

What impresses you most about SECRET? What are her key selling points in your view?

You can tell immediately that the owners have treated SECRET as one of their homes with no expense spared on her quality and maintenance. She has been looked after to the highest standard in yachting and her next owner will immediately appreciate this and know that she is a level above all others on the water.

Step aboard now and you have an incredibly well maintained, beautifully built yacht that is ready to go. Whatever you want to do, wherever in the world you want to go, this yacht can do it - and she has done it. She has been to Australia, all around the Indian Ocean, she's proven herself.

What sort of person will buy her? What will be important to them?

It will be someone who appreciates the high standard of SECRET, from her striking exterior design to her meticulous maintenance programme, you must recognise what you are looking at to appreciate how great SECRET is.

With an interior layout that flows effortlessly, to the unlimited opportunities for guest to enjoy themselves, this yacht can do anything the new owner can imagine, whether they are an experienced yacht owner, or this is their first yacht, she accomplishes everything perfectly. If they want to set off around the world or sit off Saint-Tropez, SECRET works for every programme.

Following the recent EUR 4,500,000 asking price reduction, what kind of value does SECRET represent in your experience of large yachts?

SECRET has always been considered good value for the very substantial yacht she is but now I would say she is the best value in this sector of the market, no question. Any changes her new owner may consider are more than covered by this price reduction. There are far more expensive yachts that are newer but not better because they weren't built by an owner with this level of experience. SECRET is the yacht where people who appreciate high standards and understand value for money will come.

Where is SECRET at the moment, what are her plans for the summer and how do you prepare for inspections, either virtually or in person?

We are in Imperia now finalising our winter maintenance programme, then we will move to the South of France and stay there throughout June so guests will have ample opportunity to visit SECRET and experience her beauty and excellence first-hand.

We will be following all the usual Covid restrictions. When you come on board there's a sanitation station, you'll be temperature checked, everyone wears a mask, where possible we maintain social distancing and we keep the numbers as low as possible. We have a thorough tour that covers all the main aspects of SECRET that I have created, and this can be given by the chief officer and the chief stew as well. We have the availability to accommodate virtual tours where the client is interactive throughout the walk-through and guide us as to what they want to see, stopping longer in certain areas that is of interest to them. This has been an extremely useful tool during the pandemic.