Virgin Territory
Secretary general of the YCCS, Jan Pachner, gives The Superyacht Owner an insight into why the world-famous yacht club has invested in a sister location in the British Virgin Islands.…
Located in the pristine and protected waters of North Sound as a winter base for Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s (YCCS) members, YCCS Virgin Gorda brings that touch of Italian style to the Caribbean. Secretary general of the YCCS, Jan Pachner, gives The Superyacht Owner an insight into why it has invested in a new sister location in the British Virgin Islands.
We had been looking for a seasonal venue to complement Porto Cervo, Sardinia, as a winter base for several years after we initially approached the members in 2007 asking where in the world they would like to see another YCCS facility. The majority replied that their first choice would be the Caribbean.
We wanted a place that could compare to what we have here in Porto Cervo, where you can go day cruising with spectacular scenery, bays and beaches or racing using the islands as buoys instead of having to always lay marks. If you try to cover all these different criteria, the Caribbean starts to become pretty small. We had a look at quite a number of destinations, and had started to narrow it down when we were introduced to David Johnson of Victor International and his project in Virgin Gorda.
David was already working on his Oil Nut Bay beach club and resort and construction started on the YCCS marina in October 2010. It was operational in 2011 and we officially opened the clubhouse in January 2012. It really was perfect timing; he hadn’t started breaking any ground. Originally he wanted to build the clubhouse at sea level but we looked at the design and suggested he imagine that a four or five-storey superyacht might be berthed on the dock. As a result, we recommended moving it on to the hill for a better view. And that’s what happened. In 24 hours the whole project just literally moved up the hill.
We have the exclusive management of the marina, which for us is key, because the clubhouse and the marina are complementary facilities and, obviously, when you’re running events you want control of the berthing. Our first event was the finish of the Transatlantic Superyacht Regatta sailed each November from Tenerife, which originally arrived in St Maarten and now ends at our own facility in Virgin Gorda. We followed this up with the annual Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta and Rendezvous and in 2013 we added the biennial Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean, both held in March. We also held a circuit event for the Melges 32 class and in 2014 we will be adding further regattas to our sporting calendar in the Caribbean, such as a leg of the RC44 circuit, which has already been confirmed for February.
It is accessible only from the water so offers peace and privacy for our members, their families and friends and visiting yachts. I feel there is something special about having no roads; that’s the charm, it’s unique and original to have to arrive by water. The area is already well-known as a cruising ground, especially from a small yacht perspective, but as we’ve seen from the statistics we’ve been collecting on the North Sound, the bigger boats are now coming in too. Previously nobody was there to cater for them and organise events and regattas but this is improving. St Barths is only 90 miles away if you want shopping, nightlife and variety, but in Virgin Gorda we can offer peace, nature and exclusive facilities.
Our next phase is going to be creating more services on the seafront side for the marina to make it more appealing for the captains and crew, maybe with a crew bar, chandlery shop and retail outlets, and at the same time start adding some accommodation for the members.
For the full story, you can read the article in Issue 10 of The Superyacht Owner online here.
We had been looking for a seasonal venue to complement Porto Cervo, Sardinia, as a winter base for several years after we initially approached the members in 2007 asking where in the world they would like to see another YCCS facility. The majority replied that their first choice would be the Caribbean.
We wanted a place that could compare to what we have here in Porto Cervo, where you can go day cruising with spectacular scenery, bays and beaches or racing using the islands as buoys instead of having to always lay marks. If you try to cover all these different criteria, the Caribbean starts to become pretty small. We had a look at quite a number of destinations, and had started to narrow it down when we were introduced to David Johnson of Victor International and his project in Virgin Gorda.
David was already working on his Oil Nut Bay beach club and resort and construction started on the YCCS marina in October 2010. It was operational in 2011 and we officially opened the clubhouse in January 2012. It really was perfect timing; he hadn’t started breaking any ground. Originally he wanted to build the clubhouse at sea level but we looked at the design and suggested he imagine that a four or five-storey superyacht might be berthed on the dock. As a result, we recommended moving it on to the hill for a better view. And that’s what happened. In 24 hours the whole project just literally moved up the hill.
Secretary general of the YCCS, Jan Pachner
We have the exclusive management of the marina, which for us is key, because the clubhouse and the marina are complementary facilities and, obviously, when you’re running events you want control of the berthing. Our first event was the finish of the Transatlantic Superyacht Regatta sailed each November from Tenerife, which originally arrived in St Maarten and now ends at our own facility in Virgin Gorda. We followed this up with the annual Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta and Rendezvous and in 2013 we added the biennial Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean, both held in March. We also held a circuit event for the Melges 32 class and in 2014 we will be adding further regattas to our sporting calendar in the Caribbean, such as a leg of the RC44 circuit, which has already been confirmed for February.
YCCS Virgin Gorda from the air (credit: Carlo Borlenghi)
It is accessible only from the water so offers peace and privacy for our members, their families and friends and visiting yachts. I feel there is something special about having no roads; that’s the charm, it’s unique and original to have to arrive by water. The area is already well-known as a cruising ground, especially from a small yacht perspective, but as we’ve seen from the statistics we’ve been collecting on the North Sound, the bigger boats are now coming in too. Previously nobody was there to cater for them and organise events and regattas but this is improving. St Barths is only 90 miles away if you want shopping, nightlife and variety, but in Virgin Gorda we can offer peace, nature and exclusive facilities.
Our next phase is going to be creating more services on the seafront side for the marina to make it more appealing for the captains and crew, maybe with a crew bar, chandlery shop and retail outlets, and at the same time start adding some accommodation for the members.
For the full story, you can read the article in Issue 10 of The Superyacht Owner online here.
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