Every inch a Lady

The ultimate perfectionist, the owners of Lady Kathryn V have spent the last 12 years learning from their experiences, trading up and refining their vision in order to achieve their perfect superyacht. Launched by Lürssen in 2011, the 61m motoryacht Lady Kathryn V is their fifth superyacht and she seems to be pretty close to their ideal. The Superyacht Owner spoke to the husband about the couple’s latest superyacht project and what ownership offers him and his family.

“All of our family have grown up on lakes and oceans so there has always been some kind of a relationship with the water,” says the owner, explaining that it was a trip on a friend’s large yacht in the Caribbean that convinced him and his wife to buy their first superyacht, Lady Kathryn I. “We saw what a wonderful space it was for being together and entertaining, so we bought our own.”

As someone who runs a business that builds roads and bridges and mines aggregate, the owner’s interest and expertise in civil engineering draws him more than most to the technical side of yachtbuilding, which is one of the main reasons they chose to build with Lürssen. “Lürssen are very much technically orientated, and we are too,” he says. “They even told us that we were the most involved owners they’ve ever had.” Attending almost all the build meetings, the couple were heavily involved from the adoption of the spec through to the negotiation of the contract.

The same involved attention to detail went into the interior. “We actually interviewed maybe six different studios before we found Adam Lay,” says the owner. “We felt that he could turn our dreams into reality the best.” According to Lay, working with experienced owners like this really made the difference on the project and took it to the next level.



Chartering out their yachts has always been a way for the owners to offset the costs. “The cost of ownership is continuing to rise,” the owner says. “It is probably not at the crazy levels of excess that typified 2008 or 2009, but it is high.” As well as bringing in extra revenue, charter is a way for the crew of Lady Kathryn V to keep busy and happy. “If we get eight to 10 weeks of charter per year we are happy,” says the owner. “It’s not only an offset for the overall expense of the boat, it also keeps the crew happy. In my opinion, the busier the boat, the happier the crew. It is not the best of circumstances if they are doing nothing but waiting for the owners to come on board.”

To have owned five superyachts, two of which they built, the owners of the Lady Kathryn dynasty must clearly find a unique value in ownership, but what is it for them? “To me, coming to the boat is the most relaxing thing that I can do,” says the owner. “When I am travelling, I just open my briefcase and I work. When I come on to the boat, I can relax. It is the best of venues, especially for the family. For example, for the past three-and-half weeks we’ve had the whole family on board – we just love cruising as a family. That is what life is all about.”

The full feature on Lady Kathryn V and her owners will appear in Issue 6 of The Superyacht Owner. To become a member and received your copy of the magazine, click here.

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