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MYS Series: The superyacht champagne

by:
21/09/2021

As the doors burst open on the Monaco Yacht Show 2021, you can hear the persistent pop of Champagne corks – the Show’s very own music sheet, a suitable background sonata to the greetings “at a distance” and elbow “handshakes” of an industry that hasn’t met up together in two long years.
As the fizz starts to flow, the elbow bumps will be replaced with backslaps, bear hugs and les bises. As a gambling gal, that’s what I say anyway.
The Champagne du Comte de Monte-Carlo is the official tipple at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, and the man behind the bubbles is not the Comte de Monte-Carlo, but Philippe Melliard, President of Monte-Carlo Lifestyle.
The Comte de Monte-Carlo does not exist, but Baron Christian Louis de Massy does. He is the son of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, the Baroness de Massy and tennis champion Alexandre-Athenase Noghés, the man who created the Grand Prix.
The Baron, first cousin to Prince Albert II, created a portfolio of 34 brands under the banner of ‘Monte-Carlo Lifestyle’, which he sold to Monsieur Melliard. The Champagne du Comte de Monte-Carlo is part of this portfolio that was created in 2019. “Le Comte does not exist, but if he did he would be refined, elegant and ethical in all his dealings be they financial or philanthropic,” saysMelliard. “We have selected Champagne from the best creators to offer unique wines belonging to a noble terroir.”

This is the first time our imaginary friend, Le Comte, and his Champagne attend the MYS with the aim of ricocheting Le Comte du Monte-Carlo Champagne into top position as the premier cru Champagne of choice. Says Melliard, “We only make premier cru Champagnes, unlike other well-known Champagne houses.”
Premier cru relates to an old-fashioned system of land evaluation and potential grape growth called L’Echelle des crus. All premier cru Champagnes must be made with grapes from premier cru villages/vineyards in Champagne, of which there are 44. There are 17 grand cru villages in the region. But according to the experts, don’t be dazzled by labels, let your tastebuds decide.
Melliard and the Monte-Carlo Lifestyle company have selected two particular winemakers to supply the premier cru Champagne: Olivier Herbert, whose family has been cultivating vines in the mountains of Reims for over a century, and Pierre Trichet, also from a long line of winegrowers in the Champagne-Ardenne region. “Concerned about environmental issues, the selected winegrowers have cultivated their land with love and passion for generations, committing themselves to preserving their land through sustainable viticulture methods,” explains Melliard. “Our chosen partner Champagne houses all have HVE3 certification: High Environmental Value, based on results indicators relating to biodiversity.”

Le Comte de Monte-Carlo Champagnes and the wine-growing partners offer up four different Champagnes, each one named after iconic locations relating to Monte Carlo.
La Riviera (The Classic)
La Riviera is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. It is aged for four years on lees and dosed with eight grams of liqueur. Golden yellow with aromas of brioche and apricot, gingerbread and cinnamon on the palette. “It is smooth, round, a very pleasant aperitif and on any occasion,” explains Melliard. Grape variety: 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier. It was bottled by Olivier Herbert in March 2015, with four years on slats.
Le Sainte Dévote (The Bright)
Le Sainte Dévote is a ‘Blanc de Blancs’, thus 100% Chardonnay, and comes from the Pierre Trichet vineyard. It’s been aged four years and dosed with 7.8 grams of liqueur. This one is fresh, light with notes of citrus and violet, lemon and vanilla.
Le Carré d’Or (The Radiant)
“Le Carré d’Or is a low pressure ‘Blanc de Blancs’ Champagne, 100% Chardonnay. Aged for three years by Pierre Trichet, the Champagne was made using a second fermentation at below three bars of pressure. It’s delicate, pale in colour with lovely bubbles,” explains this Champagne aficionado and businessman.
Champagne Noblesse Oblige (The Epic)
Created by Olivier Herbert, this is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 2010 and dosed with seven grams of traditional liqueur. Noblesse Oblige is complex and gourmet, says Melliard, with notes of truffle and walnut oil, good as an aperitif or can stand up to the gastronomy of great starred restaurants. “It’s lively, greedy and complex which makes it an unforgettable experience.”
If you dig a little deeper to get just a hint of the secrets of Champagne production, Mr Melliard is giving nothing away: “Then it wouldn’t be a secret!”, he says. But he will say that the Comte du Monte-Carlo will launch a limited Champagne collection at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. So, Santé!

At Close Quarters with Philippe Melliard

Where were you born?
I was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, but I spent all of my childhood at Villars-sur Ollon in the Swiss Vaud Alps.
A happy memory?
Walking in the mountains with my dog, Mico.
If you weren’t President of Monte-Carlo Lifestyle, what would you be?
A mechanic.
Your advice for someone seeking a career like yours?
Tenacity.
The worst time of your career?
The financial crisis of 2008.
The hardest part of your job?
Having to choose between different Champagnes!
The best?
Tasting the Champagne.
Of what are you most proud?
I’m proud of my extraordinary Champagne, worthy of any table.
A favourite meal?
Rösti
A person you admire?
Churchill!
A favourite restaurant or place in Monaco?
Maya Bay or restaurant Avenue 31.
 
 
 

Monaco confirmed as E1 host city during RaceBird unveiling

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/09/2021

Monaco Life was there for the exclusive unveiling of the first full size model of the electric RaceBird powerboat that will form the basis of a new E1 championship, to be hosted in Monaco and other locations worldwide.

Just one year after the series launch in Monaco, E1 hosted an exclusive event at the Yacht Club of Monaco on Monday night, where E1 Series Co-Founders Alejandro Agag and Rodi Basso were joined by Prince Albert II of Monaco, the boat’s designer Sophi Horne, Founder and CEO of Victory Marine Brunello Acampora, and UIM President Raffaele Chiulli to remove the covers from the revolutionary new vessel.

The unveiling of the full-scale model marks a major milestone for the championship as the E1 Series moves closer to putting the RaceBird on the water and the start of prototype testing early next year.

“Seeing the full-size boat like this for the first time, it’s starting to feel like the E1 Series is coming to life,” said Alejandro Agag, Co-Founder and Chairman of the E1 Series. “We revealed the digital designs ahead of World Oceans Day in June earlier this year, but to see the physical model is a massive step forward in terms of our preparations and it shows the fans what to expect when we start racing in early 2023.”

The E1 raceboat series is the latest venture for the Spanish businessman, who is also behind the Formula E and the Extreme E series.

UIM President Raffaele Chiulli, Alejandro Agag, Prince Albert, Designer Sophia Horne, Rodi Basso and Brunello Acampora, Photo by Lloyd Images/Getty Images

Also backing the E1 Series is the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique), the world governing body for powerboating headquartered in Monaco, which took the opportunity on Monday to announce that Prince Albert is to become the UIM’s Honorary President.

“With this new boat, we’re all one big step closer to the realisation of a very ambitious and vitally-important vision,” said UIM President Raffaele Chiulli. “Very ambitious because E1 is entering new territory with this first electric-propulsion powerboat racing series, and vitally important because of the role E1 will play not just in raising awareness of the climate crisis but also in leading the delivery of solutions.”

The RaceBird will use innovative hydrofoil technology to rise above the water’s surface, allowing for minimum drag and maximum energy efficiency. In the coming months, the RaceBird engineers will focus on the integration of the battery and controls systems and how they work together with the powertrain, then they’ll incorporate the propulsion architecture to the platform ready to hit the water.
Afterwards, Victory Marine will manufacture a full fleet of race-ready electric powerboats for a 2023 race schedule.

The UIM E1 World Electric Powerboat Series ‘RaceBird’ prototype, photo by Lloyd Images/Getty Images

“In a time of giant technological changes, Victory Marine has accepted with enthusiasm this incredible opportunity to change the face of powerboating forever,” said Brunello Acampora, Founder and CEO of Victory Marine. “I’ve personally selected the best experts to support myself and Victory Marine in turning Sophi Horne’s and SeaBird’s vision into an electric racer. I’m also looking forward to transferring this technology to a new breed of consumer leisure craft.”

Sophi Horne, Founder of SeaBird Technologies, added: “I remember I used to spend a lot of time here in Monaco for my previous job and seeing presentations of different boats and my boss would tell me: ‘you will be doing this one day’, and I never believed it. Now we’re here presenting the RaceBird and it’s a bit emotional actually seeing my design… the final full-size model you see today really meets my expectations and looks really cool in the flesh.”

As well as providing an update on the technical roadmap for the RaceBird powerboat, it was also confirmed that Monaco will host a race in the inaugural season of the E1 Series, which is scheduled to start in early 2023.

The E1 Series will eventually be taken to 10 global race locations for a knockout-style race format involving short races close to shore.

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Revealed: the RaceBird final design

Top photo left to right: Alejandro Agag, UIM President Raffaele Chiulli, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Designer Sophia Horne, Founder & CEO of Victory Marine Brunello Acampora, and Rodi Basso attend the unveiling of the UIM E1 World Electric Powerboat Series ‘RaceBird’ prototype – the world’s first electric powerboat series, at Yacht Club de Monaco on September 20, 2021 in Monaco. Photo by Lloyd Images/Getty Images.

MYS Series: The superyacht game changers

by:
20/09/2021

In 2019, shortly before the world locked up and we all thought someone had thrown away the key, two people were busy co-founding a business designed to track and trace more than 1,000 invisible pathogens by monitoring both air and surfaces.
Entrepreneur and scientist Sam Molyneux and entrepreneur and technology expert Elizabeth Caley founded Poppy in the USA along with a team of experts in the fields of infectious disease, health security, bioaerosol physics and microbiome metagenomics.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Will Faimatea, Founder and Director of the technology management and consultancy firm BondTM, was looking into air quality on yachts. “I read that humidity and temperature were measured on board yachts and I figured more could be done,” says Faimatea.
One day, a mutual friend put Sam Molyneux and Will Faimatea in touch and after one phone call, they knew they were onto something. Says Molyneux, “That was a game-changing moment. We’d already thought of cruise ships but not yachts and the conversation with Will was transformative.”
Bond TM and Poppy are now partners in bringing the pathogen testing device to the Côte d’Azur and the superyacht industry. “Our presence at the Monaco Yacht Show represents our first launch outside America so it is very important for us,” explains Poppy Co-CEO Elizabeth Caley. “We’re very keen to make the invisible visible to the yachting industry.”
This year will be Will Faimatea’s eighth year at the MYS and he is pleased the show is going ahead: “We’ll just have to work around the restrictions, but it couldn’t be more topical this year with the pandemic and with Poppy. From that perspective, I’m very enthusiastic about moving forward.”
Says Molyneux, “There’s an urgent need to improve safety in indoor spaces, and Elizabeth and I are looking forward to introducing Monaco and the yacht industry to our pathogen security system and telling the story of what is possible when you bring biotechnology to indoor spaces, whether they are at sea or on land. We are also keen to learn how we can support the region and yachting in general. I’m positive there will be a lot of receptivity from yachts hoping to create safer voyages.”

Poppy, a new pathogen detecting device, will be presented during this year’s Monaco Yacht Show in partnership with BondTM

So, what is Poppy? Simply put, the aim of the Poppy device is to make the invisible visible, which the company already does for a variety of spaces such as offices, airports and large performance spaces in America.
The same technology is now available to ships and yachts at a time when it has never been more challenging to navigate airborne infection risks. The detect and monitor device can also be used to identify molds, pests, food-borne bacteria and pathogens like salmonella. “Our ultimate goal,” says Molyneux, “is to produce something that we can call infection-resistant ships that ensure safe voyages for guests, crew and vessel.”
This is done by installing a ‘collector’ device on the yacht that takes samples from the air. The device spits out a DNA tracer created by the Poppy scientists that circulates the yacht in the same way that human breath and pathogens do. “With our technology, such as genetic sequencing and computational analysis, we can map and measure how pathogens move in invisible ways throughout the indoor space,” explains Molyneux. This gives analysts a perfect image of airborne pathogens and it also reflects how ventilation and other safety measures are working onboard.
The second part of the process involves collecting samples of the air in cartridges on an ongoing basis and when the yacht comes to port a biotechnology lab will analyse the presence, identity and changes of 1,000 health related organisms.
The first lab will be based in Monaco and, in close collaboration with BondTM, will eventually role out across the Mediterranean.
A presentation of the track and trace device will take place at the Luxury Lounge next to Steak and Shake on the evening of Friday 24th September.
 

At close quarters with: Will Faimatea, Founder of BondTM

Where were you born?
Revesby, near Sydney, Australia.
If you weren’t Founder of BondTM, what would you be?
If rotation existed back when I worked on yachts, I’d still be an Electro Technical Officer on a superyacht.
What’s your advice for someone looking for a career like yours?
Be inquisitive, and do what you do better than it’s been done before.
Worst career moment?
When you start your own business, you have to get out there and do public engagements. I remember dreading the Superyacht Forum, but I’m much better now.
Most difficult part of your job?
Weaving through the business of politics. Sometimes there is a curtain, and you don’t know what’s behind it.
Best part?
Working with great partners like Elizabeth and Sam!
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of developing BondTM to a place where a company like Poppy would consider us as a partner.
Favourite meal?
Veal milanese.
A figure you admire?
Michael Jordan and his single-mindedness.
Favourite restaurant in Monaco?
Caffé Milano or the Quai des Artistes.
 
 
Top photo: Will Faimatea on the left, Sam Molyneux on the right
 
 
 

MYS to showcase yacht available to buy with bitcoin

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/09/2021

The owner of Azteca, a 72m CRN yacht, says he will accept full payment in bitcoin. The superyacht will be paraded to potential buyers at this week’s Monaco Yacht Show, with an asking price of €65 million.
It is the first time that Azteca has been put up for sale since her delivery in 2010. Her owner, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owns retail, banking and Mexico’s second largest TV network, TV Azteca. He is also a renowned supporter of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
 
The superyacht, whose most recent refit took place in 2021, is jointly listed for sale by Edmiston & Company with Camper & Nicholsons International.
“Although cryptocurrency transactions are starting to be reported in the industry, the announcement makes Azteca the largest yacht ever available to be purchased with bitcoin, it is believed,” said Camper & Nicholsons International in a statement.
Azteca will be on display at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, taking place in the Principality between 22nd and 25th September.
 

Heavy-hitters in Nice for Transition Forum

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/09/2021

The 4th edition of the Transition Forum is coming to the Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice and is dedicated to fostering cooperative efforts between decision makers and civil society to create eco-friendly solutions for tomorrow.
The Transition Forum will take place on 30th September and 1st October, welcoming innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and decision makers to meet with members from the business world who are looking to make the transition to more ecological ways of working – from high government officials such as France’s Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery Bruno Le Maire and Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, to business leaders like KLM Managing Director Anne Rigail and Deputy Governor of the Banque of France Sylvie Goulard, to members from the scientific and research world including Hervé Le Treut, Climatologist and Research Director at CNRS.
Launched in 2018 by Aqua Asset Management, the Transition Forum is “an exclusive annual gathering of global influencers and change makers in business, government and civil society, investors, startups, top researchers, and scientists who share our vision for a clean and sustainable future.”
This year’s edition, themed Time to Cooperate, is dedicated to the development of new co-operations to accelerate the ecological transition and to enable an effective implementation of the Green Deal.
The event focuses on four topics: mobility, food, housing, and production and consumption.
The mobility part will consider energy and transport alternatives, food takes a look at sustainable farming and reducing natural resource depletion, housing will address the problem of keeping up with infrastructure and basic social needs of an ever-growing world population, and production and consumption is looking at ways to modify the way we produce and consume goods and resources.
“Public-private collaboration is essential to build new economic models compatible with the ecological transition, to support the development of territories and solutions for the protection of the environment,” say the organisers of the event.
Monaco Life is proud to be a media sponsor of the event.
To register, click here: https://transitionforum-2021.vimeet.events/fr/question/209
For more information on the Transition Forum, click here: https://nice.transition-forum.org/
 
 
 

AS Monaco “on the right track”

by: Luke Entwistle
20/09/2021

AS Monaco ground out a well-earned draw in a closely-contested, eerily-quiet local derby against OGC Nice. The match, played behind closed-doors at the Allianz Riviera, lacked the atmosphere that usually accompanies such an occasion, but TV viewers were treated to four goals, which ultimately led to the Riviera rivals sharing the points.
Monaco came into the fixture high on confidence following a successful start to their Europa League campaign, having beaten Sturm Graz on Thursday evening. They came up against an in-form Nice side who are so far unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season, and are yet to even concede.
That quickly changed, as in the 39th minute, Aleksandr Golovin tapped in a perfectly-weighted pass across goal from Gelson Martins, becoming the first player to beat Walter Benitez this season.
Nice came out rejuvenated in the second half and quickly equalised through an unmarked Andy Delort, who headed in at the back post. Nice completed the turnaround in the 73rd minute when Hicham Boudaoui neatly slotted in a cut-back from Delort to make it 2-1.
Nice immediately surrendered their advantage as Caoi Henrique was felled by Nice winger Calvin Stengs within the penalty area. Wissam Ben Yedder blasted home the subsequent penalty to restore parity.
Any hopes of a Monaco victory, or even draw, were seemingly dashed moments later as Nice were awarded a controversial, and arguably generous penalty, when Benoît Badiashile was adjudged to have handled within his own penalty area. Despite the ball having undoubtedly struck the Monaco defender’s arm, there was seemingly little that he could have done to evade the ball which was struck hard, and from close-range, from Delort. Monaco will feel that justice was served moments later as Gouiri blasted wide from the spot, and proceeded to rip his shirt open in frustration at the missed opportunity.
The score therefore remained at 2-2, and that is how the 101st installment of the Cote d’Azur derby ended. Nice will ultimately feel disappointed, having been gifted the opportunity to move up to second place in the Ligue 1 table.
Monaco will be buoyed by a positive performance against a strong Nice side and, in addition to a positive result in midweek, it paints a picture of a team moving in the right direction. Speaking post-match, Monaco manager Nico Kovac was pleased with his side’s performance, saying, “We are progressing little by little. Things were progressing against Sturm Graz, today we had some good moments and some not so good moments. I think we are on the right track.”
AS Monaco come up against Saint-Etienne at the Stade Louis II stadium on Wednesday evening, and Kovac will hope that his side can build on their recent uptick in form.
 
Photo source: AS Monaco