The mince pies have nearly all gone and the turkey dinner is a distant memory however it is never too early to start planning for your next charter! Avoid disappointment and take advantage of special early charter booking deals, discounts for longer charters as well as discovering some of the hottest up and coming destinations for summer 2009, such as Croatia, Greece, the UK and Scandinavia. Always hot to trot, the French Riviera is also sure to be a popular charter destination so get booking early to avoid disappointment!

It is never too early to start planning ahead, and for the best deals contact the Boatbookings team! With expertise in all the major charter destinations worldwide, we are bound to find the perfect yacht charter for you, whether you are looking for a day charter on a power boat or a three week tour in a stunning sailing boat, we can find the right boat at the right price for you.

There are also still plenty of last minute extravaganzas in the winter charter hotspots; the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Asia. Enquire now to find out more about a perfect personalised yacht charter in any of our winter destinations.

Wishing all our boatbloggings a very Happy New Year, we look forward to hearing from you in 2009.

The team Boatbookings try our utmost to bring you the latest and best in chartering information, yachting destinations and exciting things to do and our new favorite way to bring you closer to your potential chartering experiences is through the medium of video. We proudly bring you six videos from various locations across the globe and hope you enjoy watching them in your spare time!

Classic Yacht Charter – the Blue Peter
Video – Cannes to Club 55 – St Tropez
Video – Cape Cod
Video – Italian Riviera – Camogli to Portofino
Video – Pemaquid Maine
Video – Croatia Charter

As much as we would love to spend our time cruising the coastlines of the world to bring you fantastic footage of the beauties and delights that yachting can bring you, there isn’t the time in the working day for us to cover everything, so if you have been somewhere that is worth shouting about and want us to feature it on the site please feel free to send us any photographs or videos of where you have been on your favorite charters! We look forward to hearing from you!
Please note, we will not show anything that shows recognisable faces or nudity and we reserve the right to edit any footage sent to suit the marketing restrictions of our website.

Here, at Boatbookings, we love Christmas, and hope that you have all had a spectacular one, especially if you have been floating around on a fantastic yacht enjoying the thrills of Christmas on board;  The wonderful views, the ever attentive crew, the excitement of a Christmas Day cruise and the feeling of the sea on your toes as you dangle them over the side.

If you didn’t manage it this year, you can always arrange for New Year or for next year, we have boats all over the world, but our favourites for Christmas and New Year’s are the Caribbean and Singapore.

Here’s to a bright New Year from all the team at Boatbookings, and to finding you a boat, anytime and anywhere!

The third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, between Cochin in India and Singapore, has been won by Telefonica Blue of Spain. The favorites to win, Ericsson 4 of Sweden, came into Singapore in fourth position closing the ranks on the points table. The 1,950 nautical miles of the leg sawthe US Puma Ocean Racing team come in second and Sweden’s Ericsson 3 team come in thrid only 4minutes and 40 seconds ahead of their compatriots.  Whilst in Singapore the teams will undertake one of the 5 in-port races scheduled into the race before heading off to Qingdao, China on January 18th.

Some information courtesy of the New York Times online.

The Vendee round the world solo yacht race threw another twist to its unyielding and vicious tale on Thursday when French sailor Yann Elies suffered a broken leg, the result of his yacht being hit by a huge wave 800 miles off the coast of Australia.  Two other competitors, British yachtswoman Sam Davies and Frenchman Marc Guillemot, heroically altered their course to go to his aid and arrived at about the same time as an Australian naval frigate. As Davies noted “most of the time we are our nearest rescuers.” and due to their actions and sportsmanship Elies is now under a doctor’s care.  Davies and Guillemot have now returned to the race as it heads towards the open expanse of the Pacific Ocean along the clipper routes of old.

Famed as the star of the show in the film ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’, Positano lies on the charmed shores of the Amalfi Coast in Italy.  Steeped in myth and legend, the history of the town is heavily referenced by the major Mediterranean civilizations from over the centuries and the success of the region as one of the most import Italian Maritime Republics from the 9th to 13th century opened the towns up to influences from the East. Examples of Moorish architecture and its alluring beauty can be seen all over Positano and the pastel colours of the buildings in the misty haze of dusk are what makes this town so romantically inspiring.

Positano is the jewel of the Amalfi Coast, but the coast is a treasure chest overflowing with exquisite destinations and chartering a yacht on this coast is becoming more and more trendy as foreign visitors realise its attractiveness, the Italians have known this for centuries, the Romans first coming here to build their luxurious villas out of Rome, so now is your chance to experience life like an emperor!

In what is believed to be an industry first, Boatbookings.com has launched a promotion offering free carbon credits for all charters booked until the end of the year.  Boatbookings will purchase credits on all charters – based upon the boat’s estimated fuel consumption and 3 hours cruising per day. “We want the charter industry to do more about Climate Change” stated Boatbookings.com founder Tom Virden “By purchasing carbon credits for all of our charters, we can essentially have a zero carbon footprint charter business.”

Credits purchased go to projects that reduce emissions worldwide in UN approved projects.

When you charter a crewed yacht, you expect the utmost in service and luxury, and one of the things that can make the charter for you is the food served to you whilst on board. At the St Maarten-St Martin Boat Show a Concour’s de Chefs Challenge was held this year to praise and highlight the best. One of our Boatbookings USA Team was able to play a part in assisting in the event.  The theme this year, ‘The Spanish Influence on Caribbean Cuisine’, had to be expressed through the presentation of one entree and one dessert being judged not only on taste and appearance but also on the overall use of the theme, from table setting to the accompanying wine.

With only 30 minutes to get both dishes out onto the table, the challenge was a spectacle to behold, our Boatbookings team member was fortunate enough to get a guest spot on the splendid yacht Paramour. The meal was served alfresco style, overlooking the magnificent yachts docked in the marina. The service was impeccable, and timing was perfect. The crew was very friendly and upbeat, ready for the judging panel!

The results of the challenge are as follows
Division I (yachts over 140′):

First – Guy Barrett of VA BENE
Second – Nicolas Richert of LADY JOY
Third – Christina Jones of TUSCAN SUN

Division II (yachts under 140′):

First – Amanda Hutchins of NAMOH
Second – John Chamberlain of LUCKY SEVEN
Third – Jeff Ciucevich of GOLDEN TIMES

Best Dessert: Matthes Vanducci of CHEVY TOY

Best Crew Service, Ambience and Table setting:

First – NAMOH
Second – Tie with PARAMOUR and TUSCAN SUN
Third – LADY JOY

The 2008 MYBA St. Maarten Charter Show, held from December 6th-9th, went off without a hitch and was a huge success. There were plenty of yachts to see, crew to meet and of course the occasional fun event in the evening schedule. The USA Boatbookings Team was fortunate enough to attend this event, inspect the yachts and meet the crews.

Our team agree that the Best Yacht in Show was the 2007 132’ (37.3m) Heeson Ilona.

“Her modern minimalist Asian theme was a pleasant surprise amongst all the other contemporary yachts on show.  Her warm welcoming crew of 6 are looking forward to having a successful Caribbean charter season. She is eager to show off her state of the art equipment i.e Kalaidescape audio visual systems for aft deck, master and main saloon. She also comes with a Equator tender that boasts a 225hp inboard engine.  This is not your standard charter yacht she definitely stands out in a crowd.”

If you’re interested in chartering her just contact our agents who will try their utmost to get her for you!

Jean-Pierre Dick, has overtaken his fellow frenchman Sebastien Josse and shot into the lead of the Vendée Globe Solo Round the World Yacht Race.  The Race, which was one of the starting pinnacles of Dame Ellen MacArthur’s sailing career, is considered by many to be the most gruelling of solo races. The 30-boat fleet of contestants entered the Indian Ocean southeast of the Cape of Good Hope on Monday having started and continued non-stop from the west coast of France on 9th November.

Josse was also overtaken by Roland Jourdain, another frenchman, and the fourth spot is occupied by Loick Peyron, meaning that the first four places in the race are currently waving the french flag. 68.3 nautical miles behind the leader is the first non-french contestant, England’s Mike Golding. Six boats have already dropped out of the race and with the rolling and unforgiving oceans of the south yet to come we could see further abandonments as the race progresses.

Watch this space for more information!

Some information courtesy of the Daily Times.