The Monaco Yacht Show is likely to be the first major event to be held in the Principality post confinement, and organisers are keen to promote the fact that planning is full steam ahead.
During this time of endless event cancellations and postponements, it’s heartening to hear that one of Monaco’s biggest yearly events, the Monaco Yacht Show, is still planning to go ahead.
The MYS, scheduled for 23rd to 26th September, attracts thousands of visitors each year and is the staging ground for many nautically-related companies to show off their wares.
In addition to the spectacular selection of yachts and superyachts to check out, there are also products, services and innovations on offer, making the show a sort of one-stop-shop for boating enthusiasts in the region.
This year’s MYS will be markedly different than those of the past, though, as the Covid-19 epidemic has drastically changed the way large events are held.
As public health is a priority, organisers of the MYS say they will be working closely with the government of the Principality and the World Health Organisation to ensure the safest conditions, taking into consideration the evolution of the pandemic come September.
As such, the Monaco Yacht Show will most likely be one of the first occasions in 2020 to bring together many major players in the luxury yachting community with those in the industry.
Other major yacht shows have been forced to alter their timelines, postponing to dates later in the year in hopes they can still attract visitors. The East Med Yacht Show in Greece and the Singapore Yacht Show have both been curtailed by the health crisis, with the former’s new dates not yet announced and the latter holding off until October. Some have had to cancel outright. The Palma International Boat Show and the Venice Boat Show have both cancelled their events.
The effects of the Covid-19 crisis have hit the yachting industry particularly hard. The drop in sales happened quite literally overnight, with people re-prioritising funds to their personal and business affairs. Many are adopting a “wait and see” approach to determine what the market does once the crisis passes, though yachting industry veterans say this hit will be felt less than during the 2008 financial collapse. They say the industry is better prepared and the circumstances are temporary and not market driven.
For those looking to buy, opportunities may be plentiful in the coming months, making shows like the Monaco Yacht Show a fantastic place to look for deals.
As for owners, they are quick to remind people that a yacht is the ultimate social distancing vehicle, perhaps making them more appealing than ever to those who can afford the luxury.
Achieved diddlysquat in lockdown? You are not alone
Since the start of lockdown, I’ve learnt Mandarin as well as how to play the french horn while doing the formidable and enviable yoga posture of the tripod headstand with lotus legs. What have you achieved?
We are six weeks into the lockdown in Monaco. Many of us entered confinement telling ourselves that we would use the time to do that thing that we have always wanted to do but never had the time to do (fill in the gap for what “that thing” represents to you). Some of us are now despairing that we haven’t quite accomplished our goals.
As a psychotherapist, I am awarded a privileged and unique insight into other people’s lives. Please don’t be fooled that we are all conquering new heights while confined in our homes. It’s just not the case. In fact, the popular mantra that the virus has been sent to us so that we can save ourselves and the planet has left many of us feeling inadequate.
Feeling stuck
What I heard and felt last in my virtual therapy room was “stuckness.” We all have that version of ourselves that inconveniently pops up to remind us that we are not worthy, inadequate and full of shame. Well last week, they seem to have popped up in mass. Here’s what I heard throughout the week:
I should be more productive
I should have achieved more since the confinement began
I should be able to concentrate more and procrastinate less
Note the use of “should.” Our inner critic loves to remind us of all the things we should have done. Please banish this word from your vocabulary or at least during confinement. It supplies oxygen to our inner critic.
I think we may have overestimated what we could achieve in lockdown and underestimated the emotional baggage that would stand in our way. Think about how creative we often feel on holiday. There are fewer distractions. We usually sleep well. We often have more sex. Our minds and bodies are rested. Crucially, we are not overwhelmed with anxiety. Now contrast that with the last six weeks. Are you still confused about why you haven’t learned three new musical instruments while locked in your apartment with children and pets and the prospect of a global economic meltdown?
Redefining productivity
I think we need to redefine what productivity looks like during confinement. For example, many of my clients in Monaco are high achievers. For those emanating from the corporate world, success and productivity are measured using a limited number of metrics such as revenue and/or profits. This is not the time to measure productivity the old way. That’s like drinking soup with a fork. It’s frustrating.
I encourage all of us to redefine productivity and consider a day well spent if we feel grounded, have achieved some emotional connection with ourselves and others, managed to eat well and get some exercise and/or fresh air. We might even sneak in a naughty Netflix. In other words, we need to lower the productivity bar.
We often feel productive because we cling to routines and rituals. We go to the gym, do the school run, go to work etc. These tasks help fill our day and enable us to feel like we are achieving stuff. In confinement, many of us have fewer of those familiar tasks, if any. That adds to the feeling that we have accomplished less. Its more than likely that we have accomplished something but it won’t be the usual stuff that occupied our days before confinement.
Procrastination
We are far more likely to procrastinate when we cannot manage our emotions and feel out of control. Procrastination is partly linked to self-control. It’s hard to focus on saving the planet when I feel emotionally drained or alone. The reality is that staying in the present moment is hard with so much else distracting us. It’s not a surprise to me that so many people have shared that they are struggling to complete some of their daily tasks not to mention the elusive thing that they were going to do in confinement. There is a lot of noise in the background which makes focusing on the foreground difficult.
Aloneness
Let’s not underestimate that many of us are lonelier and more isolated, and not by choice. There is a reason that we invented solitary confinement in prisons. It’s a punishment. It leads to depression and mood disorders. Loneliness/social isolation changes the brain (It can be reversed).
There is more talk now about if/how the lockdown will end. I believe that in itself triggers emotions of loss. Part of the complicated grieving process sets off emotions of depression, anger and denial. There is also such a thing as anticipatory loss. What might we have lost if we didn’t use our lockdown to its fullest?
Standing still
The fear of standing still is overwhelming. It’s why we create busy lives. Well now we are not so busy. We are truly standing still. We are left with more time to experience our emotions. If we have never really been great at dealing with our emotions or have spent a lifetime avoiding painful emotions, this will make confinement that much harder. It will make productivity challenging. Cut yourself some slack. I think we need to practice self-compassion if we have not achieved all our goals in these six weeks.
I often say to my clients that if I spoke to them in the same way that they are speaking to themselves, they would not come back to therapy. So, let me pose these questions. How is your inner critic engaging with you most days? What would it be like to lower your lockdown aspirational bar? Can you redefine your definition of productivity, and if so, what might it look like?
Diddlysquat
Social media is awash with all the potential opportunities that confinement offers and all the achievements that our friends, neighbours and people we have never heard of have accomplished. Good for them. But it’s not a race. Comparisons to others can be a way to reinforce negative beliefs that we are not good enough and keep me frozen. Let’s stop comparing ourselves with the Joneses.
Finally, if you are one of the people who have achieved diddlysquat in confinement, maybe that’s just the way it is. If you haven’t got it all figured out or you haven’t yet mastered the tripod headstand with lotus legs, look on the bright side. There is a strong chance that this won’t be our last lockdown.
Gavin Sharpe Gavin Sharpe is a UK qualified psychotherapist, relationship/psychosexual therapist and executive coach. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and not necessarily those of Monaco Life. Gavin Sharpe can be reached at www.rivierawellbeing.com.
Gavin has started a weekly group on Tuesdays at 12pm to 1pm – an informal gathering which Gavin moderates and where people can share ideas, thoughts and feelings about the lockdown. Note: it is not group therapy. It is intended as a community building initiative.
The thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts and opinions of Monaco Life.
Belgian professional road racer Philippe Gilbert was recently fined for breaking Monaco’s confinement rules.
The lockdown rules are there for a reason, and no one is excepted. Professional cyclist and Monaco resident Philippe Gilbert learned this the hard way, revealing that he was fined €100 for training outdoors around the Principality.
The cyclist tried to go for an 11km spin “in the immediate vicinity of his home” but was stopped by a police officer who fined him for flouting the regulations. In an interview with Monaco Info, he said he accepted the punishment and has mended his wayward ways, now only training indoors.
“All citizens are equal before the law. Just because I won Paris-Roubaix last year, I don’t have any more rights than anyone else. The fine was €100,” Gilbert said. “As public figures, we need to set an example. I’ve put the bike aside and now I’m only training on the turbo trainer.”
He added, in his defence, “Up to a few days ago, it was tolerated in the Principality for professional riders [to train outside] but that changed not long ago and now we must adapt and train indoors.”
Gilbert owns a bike shop in Monaco, though he has voluntarily shuttered the doors during the epidemic, despite having had the option to remain open. His shop, The Bike Shop by Philippe Gilbert, is available however for those in urgent need.
“Given that bikes are a form of transportation, we have the right to stay open but seeing as everybody is in lockdown, we’ve decided to close the shop itself,” Gilbert explained. “We are still on-call for repairs because people are still riding bikes to go to the shop or make necessary journeys. We’ve helped out a few people that way, so we’ve been fulfilling our role as best we can.”
The Grimaldi Forum has been forced to cancel its summer event ‘Monaco and the Automobile, from 1893 to the Present Day’, the biggest exhibition of 2020.
The exhibition was three years in the making and was due to be held from 11th July to 6th September. However, in a statement released on Monday 20th April, organisers said it was “impossible” to go ahead given the coronavirus crisis.
“Monaco and the Automobile, from 1893 to the Present Day, was the perfect exhibition to celebrate our 20th anniversary, and it is with great sadness that we had to make the decision to cancel it,” says Sylvie Biancheri, Director General of Grimaldi Forum. “The health security of visitors and staff remains the top priority for the management of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco. Faced with the uncertainties weighing on the organisation of this enormous summer event, both in terms of technical feasibility and conditions of visit, it was decided by the Grimaldi Forum, in consultation with the Monegasque authorities and the Prince’s Palace, to cancel it.”
The exhibition was to be the first of its kind for Monaco, which has a long and treasured history of racing. A number of rare items were to be shown, including 50 unique vehicles and never-before seen photographs and videos connected with the Princely family, Monegasque drivers and two legendary races – the Monaco Grand Prix and the Monte-Carlo Rally.
Around 1,300 visitors a day were due to walk through the doors of the Grimaldi Forum this year, figures that were achieved for 2019’s Dali, a history of painting exhibition, which saw a total of 80,000 visitors over three months.
While the Grimaldi Forum is exploring “other avenues” for the automobile exhibition to go ahead, “it is still too early to determine their feasibility.”
In the meantime, a 320-page book will be published in its place in July, a catalogue of vehicles and items planned for the Monaco and Automobile, from 1893 to the Present Day exhibition, in French and English. It is already available for pre-order, priced at €29, by emailing the Grimaldi Forum: gf@grimaldiforum.com / Tel +377 99 99 20 00
Pre-purchased tickets to the exhibition will be refunded.
Earth Day 2020 is bringing together some serious heavy hitters to show support via digital means for the event’s half century mark, including – not surprisingly – Prince Albert II of Monaco.
This year’s Earth Day celebration on 22nd April will be marked with a collection of videos put out by celebrities, politicians, personalities, environmentalists and even royals. Monaco’s HSH Prince Albert II, well-known as a staunch protector of the environment, will be airing his own message in defence of the planet this week along with the likes of Zac Efron, Al Gore, John Kerry, Kyra Sedgwick and Anil Kapoor, amongst many others.
The makers of these videos will provide live messages, talks, teach-ins and performances during a 15-hour period on the Earth Day Network at www.earthday.org and on Twitter (#EarthDay2020) as part of the celebrations. Starting at 12pm CET, an incredible line-up of personages will present personal videos for the public to watch throughout the day.
“This unprecedented time has stopped us all in our tracks,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. “As each of us ensures that those around us are safe and well, it is in a momentous opportunity to examine our individual and collective relationship with the natural world and how our activities impact the planet. The way forward is hopeful, and we have an opportunity to forever change how we interact with the environment in our own backyard and our community at large.”
Earth Day 2020’s goal is to trigger interest in individuals to help the planet in responsible ways. This is especially important during our current time of crisis, where we have seen scientific proof that making small adjustments to daily life have shown huge rewards to the environment. Air pollution levels have improved in some of the world’s worst polluted places such New Delhi, which has seen an incredible 71% drop in air pollution since lockdown.
These extraordinary improvements are heartening for many, but as yet, no one is looking beyond lockdown to keep up the good work or to create long-term solutions to stop the return of old ways.
As such, individuals are being asked to participate in the Earth Challenge 2020. This “global citizen science initiative” aims to build a fully accessible database on air quality and plastic pollution using a mobile phone app found on both the App Store and Google Play. Data collection widgets will be rolled out throughout the year, and the data collected will assist in promoting better policies the world over.
“Despite that amazing success and decades of environmental progress, we find ourselves facing an even more dire, almost existential, set of global environmental challenges, from loss of biodiversity to climate change to plastic pollution, that call for action at all levels of government,” said Denis Hayes, the organiser of the first Earth Day in 1970 and Earth Day Network’s Board Chair Emeritus.
“Progress has slowed, climate change impacts grow, and our adversaries have become better financed,” said Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers. “We find ourselves today in a world facing global threats that demand a unified global response. For Earth Day 2020, we will build a new generation of environmentalist activists, engaging millions of people worldwide.
Earth Day is observed in 190 countries with nearly a billion people taking part in activities each year, making it the largest civil observance in the world.
Photo: Pixabay
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