June 2025 Newsletter

June 2025 Newsletter

AI Promises and Pitfalls

A YouTube video recently stopped me iin my tracks. It was a bow-on collision between two superyachts… except it wasn’t. The entire video was fabricated, purely for clicks.

For all the extraordinary benefits that AI is bringing to yachting, deepfakes like the one that nearly fooled me are just the beginning of problems. The images of owners, crewmembers, yacht brands, and more aren’t far behind.

Unfortunately, there’s no federal law governing AI in the United States, one of many facts that Michael Moore, the renowned maritime attorney, wants you to understand. In fact, he gets so many calls about AI that he suggested we cover it in our latest podcast episode. Listen to Deep Fakes & Yacht Wakes: The AI Dilemma on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite service, and email me with your thoughts. We’ll record another episode addressing questions soon.

Superyacht Selections: Sea Bold Portraits

Sandy Giameo cherishes the summers she spent aboard her grandfather’s boat along the Jersey Shore in the 1980s. She established Sea Bold Yacht Portraits to let those of you with equally fond memories preserve them in extraordinary ways. Giameo and her team of pastel artists can turn a photo of your yacht into a stunning painting.

In fact, as part of a package, you receive not just a professionally framed and matted pastel artwork worthy of hanging in your home, but also a set of personalized note cards featuring the portrait. Additionally, you receive a custom engraved plaque with your yacht’s name.

No photo? No problem. On request, Giameo can arrange for Tom Serio, a well-known yachting photographer, to capture your pride and joy looking her best.

Sea Bold Portraits

People in Superyachting: Capt. Hugo Ortega

A native New Yorker, Hugo Ortega discovered a career in yachting in an unusual way, after his corporate office job burned him out. Having climbed the ranks to captain over nine years and across dozens of countries, Ortega is parlaying his experience into help for newbies wanting to break into the industry. He does it through Superyacht Sunday School.

The all-digital Superyacht Sunday School purposely targets those who lack connections to the industry and boating overall. They’re often overlooked, he argues, resulting in lost opportunities. Ortega and a team of experienced superyacht crew personally uncover what someone’s goals are, then lead them through steps to take, including creating a strong CV and negotiating salary. He further dispels myths and misinformation that spread online, particularly on crew discussion boards. Already, some of his students have landed roles on yachts.

Superyacht Sunday School

Superyacht Snippets

The owners of the first AB 130, the largest model in AB Yachts’ lineup, recently took delivery. To say that AB Yachts has a zest for speed is an understatement, with the AB 130 clocking upwards of 40 knots on the radar gun. We’ll have more information about what the owners requested, along with photos, a little later this year on our website. …A summer of private time onboard has just started for the owners of Moonstone (pictured). Originally launched as Albatross from Delta Marine, the yacht departed Damen Yachting in May following an extensive, 26-month refit. The refit included creating a winter garden for dining on the bridge deck, a pool on the main deck, and a 23-foot (7-meter) extention, bringing her LOA to 260 feet (79.2 meters). …If you need a good excuse to go to New Zealand, plan to attend, or even race in, the New Zealand Millennium Cup. From January 31 to February 3 next year, the waters off Auckland will host some of the most well-known sailing superyachts in competition. The race welcomed 10 sailing yachts earlier this year, a few of which intend to return in 2026. …Speaking of sailing, one of the most famous sailing superyachts has charter availability in the Adriatic and Greece this summer. Maltese Falcon can welcome your party of 12 starting July 24 through September 3. See her 25,833 square feet (2,400 square meters) of sails set in less than six minutes and experience quite the thrill. Contact Burgess to book her.

Did You Miss These Stories?

megayachtnews.com

an in-depth look at the refit shipyards in Savannah, Georgia, which are quietly turning this Southern city into a superyacht-service powerhouse (right)
a conversation with Hystream Yachts, building hydrogen-electric yachts and superyachts–on U.S. shores
a podcast delving into the art of superyacht design and fulfilling desires