Just months after being acquired by Grand Expeditions, The Moorings has established a new power yacht chartering division out of its bases in St.Thomas, Virgin Islands and the Abacos, Bahamas.
Just months after being acquired by Grand Expeditions, The Moorings has established a new power yacht chartering division out of its bases in St.Thomas, Virgin Islands and the Abacos, Bahamas.
Called NauticBlue, the charter powerboats will be custom-built for The Moorings by Mainship, Fountaine-Pajot and Robertson and Caine. The powerboats will come in three sizes: a 34-, 37- and 45-footer. NauticBlue has said it will take care of everything from airline reservations to provisioning the yacht to briefing charter operators.
The company also says that first-time boaters will be able to operate these boats, unlike its sailboat charters, which require some boating skills. “Our research with boating consumers overwhelmingly endorsed this concept,” said Hans Birkholz, vice president of global sales and marketing, adding that it will appeal to boaters who are pressed for time.
“We are very excited about creating a line of custom yachts for NauticBlue,” said Chip Shea, vice president of Sales for Luhrs Marine Group, which manufactures the Mainship line. The boats will be equipped with everything from full electronics to generators, he added. The Moorings currently has 770 sailboats in 24 charter destinations around the world.
