Executive Jet Management (EJM) has received recognition from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). At the same ceremony, EJM's Repair Station received a 'Certificate of Appreciation' for its contributions to aviation safety through the Service Difficulty Reporting (SDR) program. This program provides a communications vehicle where specific safety issues are identified and submitted to the FAA and can result in Safety Recommendations made to aircraft manufacturers.

XSMG Marine was presented with a prestigious design and innovation award for the XSR48, the firm's iconic and ultra-luxury superboat. The Condé Nast Traveller's Innovation and Design Awards, which took place at a gala ceremony at Grosvenor Square, London, celebrates excellence in 10 categories ranging from Sustainability to Infrastructure. The XSR48 was selected in the Transport category that included other recent design achievements such as the new Fiat 500 and Philippe Starck's concept motorcycle for Voxan.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Shaun Preacher into the Yacht Management division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Shaun was born into a seafaring family. Originally from England and raised in the United States, Shaun completed his studies in Marine Science and received his Business degree from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Sarah Gates as the new Quality & Safety Assistant for the Yacht Management Division within the Fort Lauderdale office. Raised in West Springfield, Massachusetts, Sarah is no stranger to life on the water. From an early age she enjoyed activities such as fishing, boating and traveling outside of the United States with her family.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Sean Doyle into the sales division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sean brings knowledge and first hand experience of the yachting industry to Fraser Yachts. Born in South Africa, he developed a love of the sea. After completing his education at the Merchant Naval Academy and five years with the Merchant Navy, Sean came to the United States, via the Caribbean, as captain of a small sailing yacht.

Medical and travel assistance company, On Call International, announced its partnership with Fort Lauderdale-based, Fraser Yachts, to serve as the emergency response call center for the company's worldwide employees and managed yachts. Equipped with physicians, on-demand 24/7/365, On Call will facilitate any urgent situation that might occur on a Fraser-managed yacht.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Rob Newton into the sales division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Rob was born into the family that founded a yacht manufacturing company, best known for building the trawler yacht series named Grand Banks. After completing his studies in International Management at the California Polytechnic State University, Rob went into the family business building custom sailboats and sport fishers.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Melanie Clarke into the Yacht Management Division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Melanie grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. Along with her father, an avid sailor, she traveled around the world and spent most of her time along the water.

Fraser Yachts announced the opening of a new office in Mexico City, providing and coordinating a full range of yacht activities. The new office is located in a southern area of the city, called Santa Fe. The business park is home to today's top Fortune 500 companies and recognized as the business park of the future.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Judy Apicerno as sales assistant, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A native Floridian, Judy was born and raised in Miami and has been a resident of Ft. Lauderdale since 1979. Judy has been in the yachting industry nearly 20 years. Her administrative background, organizational skills and broad range of experience have allowed her to support some prominent brokers in the industry.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Shawn Laird as the new Fleet Manager of the Charter Division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Shawn brings a wealth of knowledge and international experience to Fraser Yachts. After completing her studies in Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina, she worked for a family law firm for three years, before she decided to move to the Caribbean to begin her career in the yachting industry.

Fraser Yachts is delighted to announce the arrival of Jose Arana into the Sales Division, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jose has always had a passion for yachting. Originally from Mexico City, he grew up sailing with his father and traveling the world by boat. After completing his studies in International Business at Boston University, Jose began his career with yachts at Ferretti of America in 1997. It was here that he acquired the knowledge of relationship management, which became a valuable asset to him.

Chris Cecil-Wright in the Monaco office is pleased to announce KOKOMO and SLIPSTREAM as his latest central agency yachts. KOKOMO is the 23rd sailing yacht and third over 50m in length built by Alloy Yachts. Designed by Dubois Naval Architects and launched in July 2006 she continues the steady progression in the design and construction of large, high performance sailing yachts. With elegant lines and superior build quality and finish, she is the only yacht of her type on the market. Asking price EUR 34.500.000.

As the first ICON 62m hulls arrive at ICON Yachts' freshly refurbished facility in Harlingen in The Netherlands for fitting out, another new arrival is set to head up the Sales & Marketing activities. Paul Manting, whose impressive track record includes running Feadship's South of France office, is already briefing top yacht brokers on the advantages that the new ICON 62m offers their clients - 'a custom superyacht on an optimized platform.'

Hemisphere (formerly Project Gemini), designed by naval architects Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) and built by Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut is on course to be delivered towards the latter part of this year. With a length overall of 44.2m (145ft) and a gross tonnage of just under 500, she is set to scoop the record as the world's largest sailing catamaran. However, this will by no means be her only impressive credential, and the team behind the project has pooled their respective talents and expertise to accomplish the execution of this vessel.

From the 24th to the 27th of September 2008, the companies of the luxury yachting sector will return to Port Hercules for the 18th Monaco Yacht Show. Seven months before its next edition, the show is already sold-out thanks to an impressive repeat exhibitor rate as well as new requests for the few stands that were available in early January.

In Wellington everything is going under way between SailingOne's team, Bostik's New Zealand team, the City of Wellington and the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club to welcome Bostik, the first Veolia Oceans one-design. It's going to be a very warm welcome from New Zealand! Charles Caudrelier and Liz Wardley are getting closer to the end of this first leg of the round-the-world Reconnaissance Tour of the SolOceans after a strong slowdown during the last week-end due to mild weather conditions for the season at the South-East of New Zealand.

Sentient Flight Group announced the launch of privatejets.com, a website empowering travelers to research and book private jet travel online with immediate confirmation - all backed by Sentient?s commitment to safety and relentless focus on customer service.

Fraser Yachts are proud to announce that this year's Newport Boat Show will be the kick off event for the new look on the West Coast. After unveiling the new image in Europe at the Monaco Yacht Show and on the East Coast at last year's Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the Newport Boat Show will mark the final geographic region to meet the new Fraser Yachts. The company, which has recently experienced growth as the market expands across the world, employs 130 people from 18 different nationalities, speaking 25 languages in 10 offices all around the world.

Fraser Yachts is excited to announce the arrival of Lania Rittenhouse. As the new Director of Charter Retail she will be leading the Fraser Yachts Charter Retail Division, based in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The Marina at Marigot Bay on St Lucia's west coast celebrated a bumper 2007/2008 festive season when it welcomed a record-breaking number of super-yacht and mega-yacht visitors to its docks. Not only did the marina, which is situated in front of the five star Discovery at Marigot Bay resort and spa, enjoy 100% occupancy over the Christmas and New Year period, but continued to see a large number of big boats on its docks well into February.

The 28th Annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will hit the open seas on March 6th - 9th and is expecting to attract an international field of competitors anxious to test their skills in the challenging waters off the coast of St. Maarten. The event, hosted annually by the St. Maarten Yacht Club, is renowned in the sailing world for its unbeatable combination of fast-paced action at sea and world-class parties ashore.

Edmiston & Company's classic yacht specialist, Mike Horsley, in the Antibes office started 2008 with the sale of two significant classic yachts, the 36.5m 1936 Thendara, designed by Alfred Mylne, and 25m 1948 Agneta. Both owners are preparing their new respective boats to race each other in the popular Mediterranean classic regatta circuit.

Amphibians is the world's first lighting collection designed to be used both in and out of the water. The first light of the new collection, The Amphibian 3 (A3) will be launched at this year's Miami Boat Show (Booth 1944) on February 14 -18 with the next two models following shortly after.

The island of St. Maarten/St. Martin, commonly known as the -culinary capitol of the Caribbean,- is pleased to announce the third annual running of the St. Maarten/St. Martin Classic Yacht Regatta from January 17th - 20th. The regatta, which features traditional style sailboats, will feature three-days of racing that pits the intrepid competitors on a course that circumvents the island, making stops in such scenic locales as Simpson Bay, Marigot and Great Bay.

Tvtrip.com, the new, travel site where travelers get to check-out their hotel on video before they book it, announced today two major steps in its expansion. The site now offers 4 key destinations in the US (New York, San Franscisco, Chicago and Miami) and plans on adding 10 more US cities in early 2008. TVtrip has also boosted their destinations in Europe with 50 available popular cities. The other big step is TVtrip's hot, new player making it easy for the user to access all the information, without ever leaving the viewer. 'The great reaction to our site has helped lead to our phenomenal growth in Europe and now in the U.S.,' said Marc Ruff, Founder and Chief Executive officer of TVtrip.com. 'When other properties see how potential travelers respond to our videos and our web site, they want to be part of TVtrip.com and we are happy to have them.'

I asked what she did for a living. She said she was a software engineer working with SOA. I did not think about my plane ride much until I arrived in San Francisco to attend the SOA World Conference & Expo this past Monday and Tuesday. The first day of the conference as I walked into the hotel, guess who I saw? My friend who I met on the Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul. What a small world, isn't it? Her company was one of the sponsors of the event.

Blue Line Yachts, is an established Yacht charter brokerage, management and central agency with one of the newest charter fleets in the Med Sea. The company?s operations also include an exclusive in Greece for the purchase AICON YACHTS, one of the most rapidly growing European shipyards in terms of design and charter yacht launching.

Perillo Tours, the largest tour operator to Italy, has been a family-run business for over 63 years. Led by three generations beginning with Joseph Perillo, then Mario Perillo and now Steve Perillo, Perillo Tours' fully escorted tours provide excellent sightseeing, first-class hotels, and experienced and knowledgeable tour guides. All tours include transfers, baggage handling, American style breakfasts, tips, taxes, and dinners with complimentary wines and mineral water.

I love JetBlue Airlines; I adore and admire its founder and chairman David Neeleman, one of the most competent CEOs in the business. I flew with David on more than one occasion. The airline has a cost-savings policy: in flight the crew prepares the plane for the next flight, and by doing this they save both time and money. On one of my flights returning from California to New York, David gave his seat to the standby passengers (he had three seats reserved in the last row for this red-eye flight) and flew in the cockpit. When we landed at JFK, he had his gloves on and was cleaning the front bathroom of the plane for the next flight.

Fraser Yachts is very pleased to announce that its sales division has taken on a new exciting project exclusively with Fincantieri Yachts in Italy. The experience of the two global leaders in the large yacht market place has been joined in a brand new 75m (246?) joint venture project GOLDMINE.

MYBA recently announced the acquisition of the St. Maarten Charter Yacht show. The show will be managed by both MYBA and the St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA), and will proudly wear the new title of the MYBA St. Maarten Charter Show.

Edmiston & Company, world leader in the large yachting business, is announcing their newest yacht for charter: the SENSATION. The SENSATION was designed and created by Sensation Yachts this year, and will be available for charter in August.

This 4th of July marked my sixth visit to the Divan Palmira Hotel in Bodrum, Turkey. My visit this year, which was quite different then the quiet escapes I've had in past years, prompted me to write a review for the first time. The Divan Palmira Hotel is located in the Golturkbuku region of Bodrum. Two recent cover stories published last year in The New York Times Travel Section called this Aegien Sea summer destination, The St. Tropez of Turkey.

As if going on a week-long diving vacation is not exciting enough, Aggressor Fleet recently showered their 100,000th guest with a prize package worth over 6,000!

Fraser Yachts is very pleased to announce that its Yacht Management division is expanding to the West Coast, USA and will be based in the San Diego offices. The location was strategically chosen to service the whole Pacific Coast from Panama to Alaska.

If this year you are craving a bit more excitement then beach bumming for your summer vacation, you may want to consider diving in some of the most breathtaking waters our country has to offer. Horizon Charters, based out of San Diego, is hosting dive adventure trips to the Southern Channel Islands.

In the largest and most strategic move within the Luxury SuperYacht industry, Trinity Yachts, LLC (Trinity) and International Yacht Collection (IYC) have announced today that they have signed a Letter of Intent for Trinity to acquire IYC.

There are numerous ways of rating a good vacation: A good vacation is one that you want to tell your friends about the moment you get home. It's one that you can't wait to repeat. It's one where there are little, if any, travel snafus, and you managed to remember to pack everything you needed for the trip (from toothbrush to socks, and everything in between). For the well-traveled foodie a good vacation is one with top-notch food; one that starts with a cappuccino that is perfect, from its first foamy sip to its last, rich, espresso drop. A trip of this nature promises that every bite will be nothing less than the most tantalizing and luxurious flavors that you have ever tasted.

Knowing who to trust when planning a yachting vacation is vital. Dynamic brands driven by dedicated leaders tend to surpass their promises. When Candy & Candy teamed up with Edmiston to produce and market the 45m / 147ft Candyscape the results for charter guests quickly proved sweet.