Sometimes things just go your way and today at The Rendezvous in Monaco, the stars aligned beautifully for Lürssen’s 60m superyacht Linda Lou.
The Rendezvous in Monaco
While yesterday was a day for the whole fleet to cruise en masse along the beautiful Cote d’Azur, today the ladies and men went off to do their own thing. A group of 30 ladies met for cocktails at Graff’s new Monte-Carlo boutique in the Hôtel de Paris, which opened for the first time today. It was a particularly special moment for Linda von Allmen, owner of motor yacht Linda Lou, who was the first customer to pass through the door and see the exclusive diamond collection. ‘Ten years ago my husband and I were the first customers to be invited into Graff’s other Monaco store, so it’s really exciting to come back to Monaco and once again to be the first customer to enter their new shop,’ she said.
Store manager Madame Nicole Rey welcomed the ladies for lunch at Le Grill in the Hôtel de Paris and new friendships were forged between the superyacht owners and VIP guests from the Principality. Afterwards, some ladies returned to the Graff store before shopping in Monte-Carlo’s many fabulous boutiques while others opted for a relaxing afternoon of spa and beauty treatments courtesy of Carole Joy, London.
Meanwhile the men were living out the James Bond lifestyle in a Poker Run, a contest that pitted nine of the superyacht crew against each other in a water-borne game of poker. Tenders from nine of the Rendezvous superyacht fleet were sent off in quest of five different destinations around the waters of Monte-Carlo.
The Rendezvous in Monaco 2010
At each destination, the teams were given the chance to select an envelope from a bowl, each containing a single playing card. Having pitstopped at some of the Principality’s iconic waterside venues, including the Monaco Beach Hotel and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel, the teams sped back to the Yacht Club de Monaco. Here a croupier from the Casino de Monte-Carlo revealed which team held the winning hand.
The gods of Monte-Carlo were smiling on the crew of Linda Lou, who produced a pair of aces to scoop the prize – a table at Jimmy’z, Monaco’s exclusive night club, and a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne. Michael Schueler from Linda Lou revealed his winning strategy as he celebrated victory. ‘At every bowl I selected the third envelope from the left – there was method to our madness,’ he said. ‘So tonight we’ll be inviting six or seven thousand of our closest friends along to Jimmy’z to share the champagne!’
Thomas Haffa, owner of 4H, a 38.5m Sanlorenzo, joked that he’d be changing his strategy for next year’s Poker Run. ‘We had two 5’s in our hand, which was not good enough to win, so we need to improve! It was challenging finding the five marks for the five cards, but it was very good fun, nice to get out on the water on such a beautiful day.’
For this evening’s social programme, yacht Linda Lou is rounding off an already special day by inviting other superyacht owners and their guests to a cocktail party on board the Lürssen 60m. From there the party moves to the Monte-Carlo Beach Club for the Diamonds and White Rendezvous Party, with live music from the fabulous Soul Division.
Across the port, superyacht crew take the party to Stars ‘N’ Bars and the world’s first Monte Carlo RaceRoom for some friendly competition on state-of-the-art, professional racing simulators and an intoxicating mix of cars and cocktails.
With the final day of the The Rendezvous in Monaco programme tomorrow, it’s going to be a late night in Monte-Carlo for guests of The Rendezvous!
