The Beauty Of Yachting In The Seychelles: Introducing M/Y ICON

Ask an adult to draw such a vessel and their picture would include sunset cocktails served on a floating beach club. And a jet-black hull that conjured up the golden age of cruising. The image might also include a pool that gazes over the Seychelles’ million square kilometres of ocean. Not to mention a hammam spa. Plus WiFi to upload the day’s GoPro output, while downloading the final series of Game of Thrones. M/Y ICON offers all these trappings and more. “Its beach club and deck areas are superb,” affirms the yacht’s captain, Jeremy Dean. “Walk out of your cabins on the lower deck, passing the gym, sauna and steam room and jump straight in to sea for a morning dip.” At 67.5m, ICON commands the seas like a modern leviathan.

ICON’s contemporary allure is thanks to her designers, Redman Whiteley Dixon. The doyennes of superyacht styling crafted five tiers of alfresco bars and sunbathing areas. An interior design by Amsterdam’s Studio Linse, the agency that designed part of the Rijksmuseum, resulted in a main salon that exudes the pizzazz of a Manhattan gallery. Like Dubai’s Burj al Arab Hotel, ICON uses Hermès products in her sea-view bathrooms. Although a staff-to-guest ratio of nearly 1.5 to 1 puts her far ahead of most luxury establishments.

And then came the cherry on the already very impressive cake. In 2014 she sailed back to her original Dutch shipyard for a finishing touch - an extra diamond in an already sparkling crown. By elongating the hull by a full five metres, her naval architects added a vast beach club and a workout room where Technogym machines overlook the open ocean. Plus a sauna that can comfortably house four people. ICON is a more than a yacht. She is a gourmet restaurant, a gym, a spa and a cinema with a 85-inch Bang & Olufsen screen. In short, a floating six-star hotel.

Not that ICON is a showboat. Indeed her most advanced accoutrements are hidden below deck. A full kitchen can serve up the cuisine of your choice. Better still, dishes are created by a Swiss-Australian chef who has worked alongside several Michelin-starred greats, as well as scooping awards of her own. Quantum zero speed stabilisers ensure that guests won’t spill their Armagnac digestif - in passage or at anchor. Finally, with a range of 4,000 nautical miles, she can cruise back to Cannes, Monaco and St Tropez for the Mediterranean charter season next summer.

Indeed the Mediterranean is ICON’s spiritual home. After several successful seasons spent from Croatia to Spain, her regular charter guests have succumbed to the sybaritic pleasures of Corsican beaches and Balearic nightclubs. Plus the Champagne-popping excitement of St Tropez’s Club 55 and Monaco’s Buddha Bar. The ultimate pairing for 2019? Surely whale-watching from a Seychelles desert island this winter, followed by bellinis in Portofino next summer, will float anyone’s boat.

For more information or your yacht charter onboard M/Y ICON in the Seychelles or in the Mediterranean, please contact the Bluewater Charter Specialists.