Magnificent Mirabella
07/01/2005
After seven years of planning, Joe Vittoria was ready to sail his fantasy
boat:
the 247-foot Mirabella V. The 740-ton, $50-million beauty, the largest single-masted sailing vessel in the world, was scheduled to take her maiden
voyage across the Mediterranean to last summer’s Monaco Grand Prix. But there
was one obstacle—and it had nothing to do with technical dilemmas, bad weather
or personnel problems.Luciana Vittoria, Joe’s Italian wife and the interior decorator of Mirabella V, was unhappy with the floral arrangements in the public areas of their new yacht. “I wanted orchids, mostly white, and they had to look just right,” explains Luciana, who handpicked each item for the interior, from custom Bagni Volpi bed linens to Christofle table settings. “I am very selective, and when the flowers weren’t what I wanted, I asked Joe, ‘What would three more days matter after seven years?’ ” Eager to sail the high seas in his fantastic toy, Joe was not thrilled about postponing a week in the name of interior design. “But Luciana knows best about these kinds of things, so I let her make the decision,” says Joe, who has been the CEO of both Hertz and Avis car rental companies.
Above: The Mirabella V, the largest single-masted sailing
sloop in the world. Left: The helm, which is frequently occupied by owner Joe
Vittoria. After successfully building Mirabella and Mirabella III (two 40-meter sloops by Bruce Farr and Concorde Yachts that are now under charter in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean), the soft-spoken sailor wanted to create a fast, luxurious sailing ship that would perform like a motor cruiser over many miles, while minimizing noise and fuel costs. The boat would also eventually be available for charter.
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From his oceanfront Palm Beach mansion, Joe spent four years coming up with ideas and discussing them with experts. He finally approached naval architect Ron Holland in Ireland with a detailed design of Mirabella V. Holland’s response was positive, and Joe spent much of the next three years at VT Shipbuilding, the British shipyard, overseeing Mirabella V’s creation. “The sails are the largest ever stitched and are made with the most advanced synthetic fiber and textile technology available,” Joe says. “It was fascinating to learn about new materials like carbon fibers, Kevlar and S-glass that build strength, then watch them come together in the finished product.” He was there for the installation of each entertainment system, including a centralized music system and plasma TVs with surround sound and satellite connections; an indoor-outdoor cinema projector system that plays DVDs for the sky deck; electronic and board games; and intercom and Internet connections. Through sophisticated Praxis software, Australian boat captain Robert Johnston and his crew can check all yacht systems, functions and rig loading from various onboard locations. Joe also witnessed the creation of the couple’s favorite social areas: the saloon, cockpit and sky deck, and was there when they constructed the 250-bottle wine cellar, 21-foot swimming pool, spa, gym with sauna and the three radio-controlled mini racing replicas of Mirabella V. For daytime recreation, he personally ordered Laser dinghies, Mistral windsurfers, Jet Skis, kayaks, ski boats, a rowing scull and an inflatable trampoline. Architect Holland, who created the yacht’s interior plan, was fascinated by the size of the boat and by the challenge of how to design a private home for the Vittorias and a boutique hotel for the charter guests in the same space. “It was quite unusual,” he says. “I did it by making the social areas much larger than ever created on a private yacht.”
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To increase privacy, Holland tried something never before attempted on a sailing vessel. He arranged Joe and Luciana’s 1,020-square-foot master suite stateroom on the main deck above the hull and the six guest staterooms on the lower deck. “This gives the owners their own space, and the entire yacht an amazing sense of openness,” says Holland.
When it came to the interior design, the couple volleyed ideas back and forth before deciding. Joe wanted a more traditional interior, and Luciana wanted to meld the architect’s simple lines with style elements borrowed from their homes in Palm Beach and Greenwich, Conn. “I didn’t think antiques and Oriental rugs belonged on a boat,” Joe says. “But I was wrong. They look beautiful.”
Her ItineraryMirabella V is cruising in the eastern Mediterranean this summer and returns to the south of France in early September. Next winter, the sloop will cruise the Car-ibbean and will be available to sail in the Virgin Islands, St. Martin and the Grenadines.
Luciana pushed to mimic the style of their homes because she wanted their four children, 10 grandchildren and close friends to sail “with the best of everything.” In March, with Mirabella’s crew of 13, the family celebrated Joe’s 70th birthday by sailing through the Caribbean; the family has plans to sail Sardinia in September.“I refused to have a nautical look,” says Luciana, who used a lot of Georgian and Regency furniture onboard. “I shopped long and hard at the same places in Europe where I buy for our homes.”A good example of this can be found in the sleeping quarters of their coral-colored master suite, where antique chests and mirrors from England are juxtaposed with modern lighting. The California king-size bed with silk-covered headboard and the antique Oriental carpets are visually tied together by a modern painting hanging on the wall. Sliding closet doors, designed by Viscount David Linley, the nephew of Queen Elizabeth, are inlaid with wood maps from Joe’s favorite sailing areas, such as Positano and Naples.
John Raimondi’s bronze sculpture The Jazz Singer hovers above the dining table in the saloon. The boat’s his-and-her bathrooms were designed using teak and lightweight Avonite with stainless steel ornamental inlays, buff stainless steel Hansgrohe faucets and spa bathtubs. Luciana even created custom bath products and a customized fragrance, Mirabella.
The master suite’s adjoining library/sitting room is a stunning blend of past and present, with Holland-designed teak, antique rugs, contemporary couches, chairs and throw pillows. A 24-by-30-inch Larry Rivers Pop Art lithograph, ca. 1963, hangs in the room. “All of Luciana’s rooms have an old-world quality,” says John Raimondi, a sculptor and collector with whom she consulted on the purchase of 16 paintings. “She matched their colors to the art. That is quite unusual.” Indeed, Luciana decorated much of the pale-wood-and-teak saloon around the yellow, red and orange in a 40-by-80-inch oil-on-linen landscape by Brian Rutenberg. Contemporary couches, armchairs, game tables and the occasional antique fill out the airy room. Meals are usually taken alfresco in the cockpit or on the sky deck. “Breakfast in the cockpit is our favorite time of the day,” says Luciana. “It starts around 7:30 a.m. and can linger until 10:30 a.m. Our Australian chef, Keiran Glossop, cooks to order—waffles, muffins, fresh blueberry pancakes.” If the weather is good, dinner is served on the sky deck, reached via one of two spiral staircases. There, a full gas barbecue, glassware cabinet, crockery storage, icemaker and refrigerator are on hand. And when the boat is at anchor, an Arabian-style sun awning is suspended from the boom to provide shade and ambience. Over cocktails, the Vittorias often watch sunsets give way to glittering nights. “Seeing the stars from the sky deck is amazing,” muses Joe. “But watching the sails go up in the morning actually gives me goose bumps. For regular sailors, it takes our breath away.”
To charter Mirabella V, contact Jacqui Beadon at Jacqui Beadon Yachts, +33.493.01.86.71, www.mirabellayachts.com.
The vessel can accommodate 12 guests, who can choose from the master suite or five of the six en suite staterooms. Each room comes with bathrobes that match the decor, a plasma TV with surround sound and a DVD player.
Charters vary from around one week to a month, at $275,000 per week. For the occasional charter of three to five days, the monthly fee is divided by six. Around Christmas and New Year’s, the price can spike to $300,000 a week.
The charter fee includes the hire and insurance of the yacht, food for the crew of 13 and their salaries. All other expenses—including fuel, food, drinks and dockage—are at the charterer’s expense. An advance of 25 percent of the charter fee is requested to cover these costs.