The Fog Warning Blog

Words vs. Videos

I. Big News from France, and your Save the Date!

I figure I have about eighteen months before I am dislodged from my throne here as publisher of our industry’s best and most-widely read yachting blog.

Now that throne is not as high-and-mighty as you might expect, as there are simply not that many quality yachting blogs. And great ones? Well, you tell me! But as my loyal clients, readers and friends know, I just love to write. But for the last ten days I have been playing around with the widely commented-upon new ChatGTP AI-driven writing platform, and I see that in the not too distant future most yacht brokers will be able to publish some pretty good blogs. I suppose I will have to challenge myself to write better. But you know what they say …. pressure makes diamonds!

That said, today’s blog post though is far more about videos than words. And boy, do I have some great video for you! Let’s start with Motor Boat and Yachting’s exhaustive review of the J Craft 42:

 

 

And if you would like to read it’s written version, here ya go:

 

Here’s another stunning video for you, this one from J Craft’s Chanel ad series. It’s a very telling story: Chanel’s ad agency spent a good bit of time last summer plowing through the south of France looking for the ideal yacht to showcase their new campaign. If you’ve spent a summer day in St. Tropez, you know that it is wall-to-wall luxury dayboats –

All day long there is an endless procession of luxury dayboats from the likes of Wajer, Zeelander, VanDutch, Pardo, Riva, and you-name-it yachts. Chanel had no lack of choices. But clearly they made the right choice here:

 

 

There are always no less than six J Craft’s in St. Tropez:

And I am very excited to report that number is about to drop to five!!!!

Loyal readers of The Fog Warning Blog will remember this post, announcing the rare entry of a 2012 J Craft 42 onto the Brokerage market. Click below for your re-read:

Click away…

Well, if I may riff on one of the funniest films I know, your next available J Craft is …

…. coming to The Hamptons!

Yes indeed, Natalia – 

 

 

– the storied St. Tropez-berthed Torpedo that has recently come on the brokerage market – is now shipping to America in search of her next owner! She will arrive in Sag Harbor this June, where she will proudly serve as our ambassador to our US clients. As such – unless you buy her first – we expect she will spend the summer exploring the waters from The Hamptons to Montauk to Martha’s Vineyard and beyond, before being displayed at the Newport Boat Show.

Natalia’s provenance is both striking and instructive. She  was first built as a luxury dayboat tender to the 87 meter Lurssen superyacht Ace. Although to be strictly accurate, technically she served as tender to Ace’s tender, as she was stored aboard Ace’s Damen 67m service vessel. You can see the fleet (and Natalia) in this video here:

 

 

After nine years in that capacity, and upon Ace’s sale, she was bought back by J Craft. Now, interestingly, there is a new Lurssen Ace (84 meters, I believe), and she has a new J Craft tender as well! To me it is instructive when a no-compromise superyacht is paired with a no-compromise tender. Twice!

Natalia is now being prepped for shipping, including all new varnish work and some new upholstery. She will arrive in a condition that will exceed the expectations of her next owner.  And if you would like that to be you, we would very much like to speak with you! Natalia’s replacement value is $1,950,000 (just launch a flare if you would like a copy of her line-by-line accounting). But as you will see on this Yachtworld listing, she represents an enormous opportunity THIS SUMMER at $1,100,000.

                            Click Away…

Towards this end, Radenko Milakovic (the owner of J Craft) and I will be fully available to meet you at the Palm Beach Boat Show, running from March 23rd through the 26th. While we will not have a J Craft physically at the show, you can find us (with Natalia’s scale model) at the elegant (and very well-stocked)  IYC display. Radenko has several hundred hours of Natalia-time under his belt, so he is the perfect person to speak with. Just launch a flare to schedule your appointment with us. A good time will be had by all.

Before I leave the wonderful word of J Craft today, I thought I’d present you with a little pop quiz, and my thoughts on an interesting dynamic. Below are two photo arrays that come from J Craft’s Configurator module. So many of my clients jumped on the Configurator when I started publicizing it in December that it almost broke their internet!  As clients began to “build” their own yachts online, I sat back and saw a distinct difference between the way European’s custom build their J’s, and the way Americans do. Look at these two representative arrays, and take a guess which were build by my European clients, and which by Americans:

Array #1:

Array #2:

I will share the winning answer to this little game on a future blog post. Meanwhile, feel free to write or call me with your guess. Even better, jump on the Configurator yourself and build your dream boat. I’ll post all configurations, and the world will see exactly what kind of J Craft American’s truly love.

II. And the Dutch Video?

No words here, loyal clients. Because this video shows LIY’s new and bold direction much better than any words I can write:

III. And the Turkish Video?

And Vicem Yachts? Last month I published the first-ever photo of their brand new 65 Flybridge. Now, just click below for an exciting video that makes their case far better than my writing can:

Click away…

So there you go! I look forward to seeing you at the Palm Beach Boat Show. Meanwhile, keep those cards and letters coming….

Big Wave Dave

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