Set for circumnavigation: An owner's vision for adventure

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Welcome to Yacht Charter Market, the weekly newsletter dedicated to the world of yacht charter.

In today’s newsletter:

• Top story: Set for circumnavigation: An owner’s vision for adventure

• Top charter updates: Inspiration joins RYI, enjoy a 15% discount chartering AHS, a New-England summer chartering Indy, charter through Thai waters onboard Mia Kai, explore the Mediterranean onboard Ohana, charter XO of the Seas with a 30% discount

• Zairos: FX & Cross-Currency Solutions for Charter & Asset Payments

• Charter Spotlight: Benetti’s A+ to attend Cannes Yacht Show

TOP STORY

Set for circumnavigation: An owner’s vision for adventure

Built for circumnavigation back in 2005, the 57-metre Feadship Solace has recently undergone extensive refits at Pendennis in preparation for a multiyear circumnavigation. Joining up with EYOS, leaders in superyacht expedition charters, Solace will set out on a three-year journey to the most remote corners of the world. Titled The Solace Odyssey, the aim is to create a unique, immersive and experiential chartering experience.

A Global Odyssey

What is so special about Solace’s circumnavigation, is that chartering her is designed for returning guests. While Solace will charter for three consecutive years, the idea isn’t for guests to charter her for a week and then head home. Rather, the idea is to charter Solace for two or three weeks at a time and really experience a new place, to then come onboard again in a different location at a different time of the year and be greeted by the same crew, on a superyacht that feels like home. 

This three-year circumnavigation of Solace shows what chartering can also be: an experiential journey of global exploration. Joining The Solace Odyssey for a few weeks at a time, two times per year, is meant to be an experience aimed to allow guests to not only to charter in luxury, but to experience remote corners of the world. To see the Manta Ray migration in Raja Ampat or spot a polar bear in Greenland, a charter journey onboard Solace is meant to translate passions and interests into real life experiences.

Solace was specifically purchased and refitted to set out to circumnavigate the globe over the course of three years. Split into six parts, each chartering segment will take the superyacht to an area of the globe for three months, starting with the Caribbean in winter 2025/26. From here she will make her way to Norway, Greenland and the Arctic for the summer, before heading to South East Asia where Solace will cruise around for the winter before visiting Japan in Spring 2027. Then Solace will charter across the Southern Pacific Ocean before heading towards South America for the Winter of 2027/28, where she will visit Antarctica before heading back up North to Alaska at the end of her three years.

While her itinerary is mostly mapped out, it’ll be up to guests to decide the exact locations they wish to charter. Solace’s owner mentions it’s a first-come first-serve basis: “if you’re the first person to book this and take a lot of weeks across the whole three years, you’ll have more flexibility to pick and choose where you go.”

It’s not only charter guests who get to have an extended stay onboard. EYOS has partnered with Yachts for Science to bring a scientific research team onboard, who will use Solace as a home base for important research, starting with a mission in the Dominican Republic in February 2026. 

Refit for circumnavigation 

Before being ready to traverse the globe, Solace’s interior and exterior designs had to be adjusted, prepped, and upgraded.

Originally built for circumnavigation, Solace has undergone numerous upgrades over the last couple of months to ensure she is ready to traverse the globe once more including a 2-metre extension. The recent refits at Pendennis have been aimed at making Solace a superyacht that effortlessly mixes her scientific abilities with the opportunity for leisure chartering. Solace is able to accommodate up to twelve guests in five staterooms. Additionally, a tender bay was repurposed to add a two-berth cabin, allowing for specialists, scientists, or guides to join alongside the 14 crew members ready to care for the guests, returning or new.

While systems for storing provisions, storing trash and disposing of waste were already built into her bones, other systems have been updated, modernised or added: anything to prepare her for three years of non-stop cruising. Due to the superyacht’s vast experience with remote regions, she already has polar code compliance for vessels of this size, and a crew who knows how to navigate icy waters and high seas. 

Whether anchored or enroute, there’s plenty for guests to keep busy. Solace has a wide range of water toys, ranging from kayaks and SeaBob to a sailing dinghy and diving gear for 12 guests, as well as land toys like e-bikes, e-scooters. Onboard, all the standard charter facilities are available, including a gym, sauna, and a cosy, family-oriented saloon decorated in warm beige tints. 

Teaming up with EYOS 

In order to make this purposeful, experiential chartering a reality, Solace teamed up with EYOS Expeditions. A leader in private superyacht expeditions charters since 2008, EYOS knows how to prepare bespoke expeditions the likes of The Solace Odyssey.

The idea of The Solace Odyssey stems from Solace’s owner, who has always sought to charter with purpose. While chartering off the coast of a Caribbean island is lovely, there’s something special about journeying to remote corners of the world for with the same crew onboard a yacht that feels like home. This is precisely the experience that Solace, together with EYOS, aims to create. 

In a press release announcing EYOS and Solace’s collaboration, Ben Lyons, EYOS CEO, stated “EYOS’ mission has always been to bring clients a new level of understanding and discovery in the world’s most remote and wild regions. Working with Solace, we are elevating the expedition charter experience, and offering a new level of customisation and discovery for select clients.”

A unique experience chartering onboard the same vessel across seven seas, to remote corners and countries of the world, The Solace Odyssey is set to be a game-changer in traditional chartering.

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CHARTER UPDATES

Charter Spotlight

Benetti’s A+ to attend the Cannes Yachting Festival

@fgiyachtgroup

Step aboard M/Y A+ at the Cannes Yachting Festival

Delivered in 2024, this 34m Benetti Oasis is a showcase of modern yachting, defined by seamless indoor-outdoor living and sleek Italian design. From alfresco dining to the glass-fronted oasis pool and her dynamic fleet of toys and tenders, A+ sets a new standard for Mediterranean cruising.

At the heart of her layout is the award winning OASIS Deck, featuring fold-out sea terraces, panoramic 270º views and a design that brings the sea closer than ever. Inside, oversized windows and a neutral-toned palette create a serene connection to the water.

Find A+ at the Benetti display during the Cannes Yachting Festival, September 9-14.

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