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Tahiti is one of the destinations we can’t help but swoon about when we think of it. Time to get to know French Polynesia a little bit better with our base manager Patricia Hubbard.

Hello Patricia, thank you for taking the time to chat with us.
You started working at the base many years ago — how did you start out in the yachting industry?

Well, I started out 22 years ago... I spend the first 9 years only with Sunsail and the last 13 years working for both Sunsail and The Moorings. In the beginning, I worked as a hostess/cook for private boats in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, until my family and myself made the decision to sail to Tahiti onboard our schooner.

Have you always been based in Tahiti, French Polynesia?

I've been yachting all over the globe however I have been lucky enough to call this island home since 1998!

Have the islands always been popular or did they grow significantly as a yachting destination over the recent years??

The Tahitian Islands were popular as a legend, but have been quite difficult to access from Europe. We've been getting more and more yachting interest over the last 15 years due to the low level of sailing experience needed thanks to many channel markers installed all over the main islands.

How would you describe the sailing conditions to our owners?

The sailing conditions are good in the trade wind season, with an average of 15kn SW winds, but in the rainy season, it’s mostly calm. The lagoon is easily accessible by large passes, and inside the lagoon, the markers help to stay away from the coral heads.

Tahiti is seen as one of the most exotic places there is on the earth, we’ve all seen the dreamy images but aside from that, it’s pretty much a mystery for those that haven’t been (yet), what makes Tahiti such a pristine destination?

Customers are amazed by the very few other boats they find at anchorages, the advantage of sailing in the lagoons is to anchor anywhere along the inside part of the reef, ( except at Bora Bora where mooring buoys are mandatory); Customers also enjoy the friendly Tahitian people and the ultimate relaxed lifestyle.

Other than the splashing around in the ultra-clear waters, what is a real must-see or must-do when sailing in French Polynesia?

Snorkelling the coral gardens is like swimming in an aquarium, the best snorkelling you'll do! Whilst onshore make sure to visit the vanilla plantation and the black pearl farm. The Polynesian temples are also amazing, rent an e-bike to get around the islands easily and take in the wonderful sights. Don't forget Taputapuatea marae, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! 

Besides the magnificent location, why should our owners choose Tahiti as a base to have their yacht managed at?

First of all, we have an excellent base staff team ready to greet you and help you with everything you need, we provide great maintenance, your yacht will enjoy strong resale values and let's be honest owning a yacht in Tahiti will give you the best reason to come visit and make it the trip of a lifetime!

One last question, how much time would you advise our owners to come spend sailing in Tahiti?

I would say Owners should come at least 2 weeks, and many European owners come for 10 weeks. They come over in September so they really have the time to visit the islands, meet the people and soak up the culture!

Thank you so much Patricia, it was a pleasure speaking with you. I wish you a superb season in Tahiti this year!

We currently have a Moorings 4500 for sale in Tahiti, you can download the special offer here. 

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Discover more of what awaits you in Tahiti in the video below!

2020, a year which the whole world will remember for the COVID-19 pandemic, is drawing to a close. Although the infection statistics are still not improving as much as we all would like, hope is just around the corner, in the form of vaccinations.

Like most sectors, the sailing world has been severely affected by the close downs in many countries, particularly in terms of chartering. The good news for current the Moorings/Sunsail customers on a Yacht Ownership programme, however, is that their guaranteed revenues have been maintained throughout the year. And the good news for new, prospective customers, is that we are in the process of bringing out our brand-new catamaran, the Moorings 4200!

As you probably know, we have an exclusive rights partnership for building catamarans with the world-famous boat makers, Robertson and Caine. The blending of their technical know-how with our extensive knowledge via the feedback generated by the sale and chartering of nearly 1,500 boats over a period of nearly 30 years, has guided them in the design and construction of our latest catamaran.

So, what’s special about the Moorings 4200 and who is likely to want one? Well, the demand over last few years has been for boats, particularly catamarans which are reliable, comfortable and easy to manoeuvre, particularly with smaller crews and/or relatively little experience. The Moorings 4200 meet exactly those requirements.

Reliability 

The hull design, noted for its overall solidity and its stepped hull, has initially been tested in exacting conditions of the coast of Cape Town. All the participants in the recent Vendée Globe Challenge race will testify that you don’t get much tougher conditions than those! The materials and accessories are all chosen to ensure that technical issues are kept to minimum, especially in the particularly hardwearing conditions they undergo through being chartered out to so many different clients.

Comfort

This model will be of great interest to skippers wishing to take friends and family off on a comfortable cruise in warm climates. The design is light and airy. The sleeping areas are particularly spacious, and each berth has its own en-suite shower room and head. There is plenty of room for socializing not only in the cockpit but upstairs in a newly-designed and easily accessed, lounge area on the coach roof, within chatting range of the helm station.

Easy-to- manoeuvre

The boat is designed to ease steering while at sea: all the lines come back to the helm station, the electric winches powerful and strategically placed. Mooring in quiet coves and going ashore will be child’s play thanks to features like the centrally-house, remote-controlled windlass and the ultra-efficient davit system for raising and lowering the dinghy. Docking, perhaps the most accident-prone and panic-inducing operation skippers undertake, is made easier thanks to the panoramic, high level vision from the helm station and two powerful 45hb engines which ensure the boat can swivel on its axis and dock seamlessly even in the most crowded marinas.

Now is the time to look forward to 2021. As cruising may well be not only one of the pleasantest but also safest possible holiday activities, why not check out the new Moorings 4200 by paying a visit to the upcoming Boat show in April in La Grande Motte? See you there.

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Tony Rainold and his wife, Sherryl, along with Charlie and Ginnie Cary, the founders of The Moorings, met as you would expect -- through sailing. And the idea to open a charter company in the Caribbean came as all great ideas do, under the influence of rum.

The Moorings has come a long way when you think about it. Starting out with Tony and his wife booking charters and marketing the product in their New Orleans home and starting with just Charlie and Ginny Cary working at the base in Tortola. The Moorings now employs somewhere around 800 people worldwide, is located in 20 destinations worldwide and has a fleet of 400 yachts. But it all started with six Pearson 35's half a century ago. Tony remembers, "We had about $120,000 between myself, Charlie and our third partner. We went up to the New York Boat Show in January of 69', and we had already been talking to a few manufacturers and looking at different designs. We became enamoured with Pearson Yachts. They had a 35 ft. centreboard sloop called a Pearson 35, and we ended up ordering six of those at the show."

Choosing the first destination

Deciding on the destination of choice took a lot of time, a lot of planning, and a few strokes of luck. After five or so months of searching the Caribbean to find the right location, they had honed in on the Virgin Islands, for obvious reasons. Charlie and Tony caught wind that in August of 1969 an air service would be instituted in Tortola, BVI. And with the news, they knew what their next move would be. "Having learned that, we chartered a motor boat and went over to Tortola to start talking to people. We met a guy from Houston who had just bought a couple of waterfront apartments in Road Harbour and we ended up buying two apartments and the rights to use the small dock he had out in front. So that’s where we decided to have our base," Tony explains. And so there you have it, the first charter base to ever exist in the BVI. 

Pieces fall into place

While Charlie and Ginny were busy getting the base ready for opening, Tony and Sherryl were in New Orleans getting the word out. "We started making a brochure and getting ads into sailing and yachting magazines. And we just started booking charters over the phone. It was amazing the interest that was there.I was actually working for a mining company for the first three years and Sherryl was at home answering the phone and working on the brochures," Tony recalls.

In the summer of 1969 those six Pearson Yachts were delivered by freighter to San Juan, PR, and then delivered to Tortola by Tony and his wife, in addition to Charlie and Ginny. Tony shares, "We got the first two boats off the freighter, stepped the masts and rigged them at the San Juan Yacht Club and then sailed them over to Tortola. And that’s how we really started."

Building the business

Charlie and Tony realised pretty early in that they were going to need more than six boats if they wanted to take business to the next level. Once they got through the first year, they started talking with builders about designing a yacht that would be good for charter. The pair headed down to Florida to collaborate with Charlie Morgan of Morgan Yachts. They decided on a design that was much more beamy than that of your typical monohull at the time. And of course, for the charter fleet, the yachts were an instant sensation. "The boat was a Morgan Out Island 41. And in 1971, we headed back up to the New York Boat Show, but this time it was to sell the boats. We got a deposit on all ten available boats. It was amazing," Tony explains. Three years in, as the business continued to grow, Tony decided time to leave his job with the mining company, rent an office and hire some help. But that doesn't mean that things slowed down for Tony. He remembers the hard work put in, "I was constantly creating brochures with Sherryl and I would travel down to the BVI frequently to learn the area. We’d take pictures and write up the brochures. And when the boats were getting delivered to Clearwater, FL I'd have to go over to Clearwater to the boat factory to see the boats, check up on the production and make sure everything was going right. But then when the boats came out of production I would go receive the boats from Morgan Yachts and then I would commission the boats. We had a big trailer and a couple of suppliers and we would buy everything we needed and store them in the trailer. I would do all the varnish work, rig the boats and hire a delivery crew to sail them down to the BVI. I was wearing so many hats at that time." 

It was not long after that initial order of 10 Out Islands, that Tony and Charlie decided to order 20 more. Tony was in charge of selling those yacht and it was never a difficult task. Tony recalls that it's the idea of owning a yacht in the Caribbean that had people excited and ready to invest. 

Obvious reasons for success

It is not by coincidence that The Moorings has seen success for 50 years. "I imagine that The Moorings is as successful as it is today because they follow what Charlie and I did from the beginning, which is to have high quality boats and provide a high quality service. There is a lot of expense that goes into making those things happen. I think that’s always been the key. When a charterer comes down and something is not working we would make it right immediately. We had chase boats that you could call up if the water pump isn’t working or if the engine won’t start. We’d just zip out there and get them going again. I think it was that attitude. I can’t emphasise how hard we worked, and I think that work ethic has gone forward with the company." 

But all of the hard work was worth it, as Tony remembers, it provided him the opportunity to go sailing, and to bring that dream to other people too. "When my son, who is 51 now, and his sister were babies, we had a bassinet with telescoping legs that we would adjust to the heel of the boat. And they grew up sailing with me. The best part about starting this business was the opportunity to travel and sail in so many beautiful places. I was working tooth and nail, and it was difficult, but at the same time we loved what we were doing because we loved to sail and we loved the beautiful BVI. I loved to be able to share the opportunity to sail in a beautiful destination with other people."

How time changes things

In the early 70's, if you wanted to book a week long charter it would have set you back somewhere around $400. To charter a yacht of similar size (38 ft. - 41 ft.) today, you'd have to multiply that number by 15. "I can’t wrap my head around how much the business has grown. I always thought of it as a mom and pop operation. It became a real entity in 1985. I kept my ownership in the company, which was right about the time I stopped actively working in the business. The company that purchased us was associated with Group Beneteau. At that point we were buying a lot of boats from Beneteau because at that time the dollar was very strong against the French franc, and Beneteau built a really good boat." So good, in fact, that Tony bought one for himself, which he enjoyed racing (and winning those races) for many years.

"When I left the company in the 1980’s we had 20 people working in the New Orleans office. We had help with sales, marketing and bookings. I had also started a travel agency, Mariner International, because we realised we had a captive business. Everyone was going down to the same location so that was a lucrative business for us. We had airline booking agents in addition to the charter agents. I think when I got out in 1985 we had close to 200 boats, we had opened up a base in St. Lucia in Marigot Bay. We had bought a company in the South Pacific with bases in Tahiti and Tonga."

If you want to know what our owners are saying about us, you can read it all here! For over 50 years we have built a reputation based on trust and honesty. We put our owners first, and we are proud to be able to help our family of owners achieve their dreams of owning a yacht in a beautiful destination and discovering the world's best cruising grounds.

"We are on our third Moorings owned yacht over the last 10 years, and our second 5800 crewed sailing catamaran. We had many years and many trips of trouble free chartering all over the world by using yachts at many of the exotic locations available.  Over the past few years The Moorings has had two major hurricanes and now a complete shut down of its worldwide operation for several months — through it all - The Moorings has always lived up to their end of the financial commitments and managed their business through the harsh events that they were dealt.  The Moorings has a long term minded owner with deep resources to continue to enhance the overall experience and the financial arrangement on my end has been very lucrative if you love chartering and enjoyable trips with family and friends."

Owners Adam & Jenice - Moorings 5800 Crewed Yacht, Happy Endings

"Carl and I are yacht owners with Sunsail/Moorings. It is financially beneficial to us because we were already chartering 3-4 times a year. The first new boat that we bought through this company was heavily damaged during hurricane Irma and it was over a year before the yacht was repaired and put back into the charter fleet. The Sunsail/Moorings company NEVER missed paying us our monthly check. We lost no money whatsoever, and all of our vacations have been virtually free since we participated in the ownership program. We traded in our first yacht for a second yacht through the same program, which we would not have done if we thought it was a bad deal. Naturally COVID-19 has greatly impacted tourism and, we still have not missed receiving a check and, in-fact, the company has emailed us, reassuring us that we will continue to receive our monthly payments.

Carl and I receive no special considerations or payments for posting this testimony. I'm simply giving you an honest report on what our experience has been.

One reason we bought into the ownership program is because it would save us money on our sailing vacations. We expected to at least break-even but, the deal has been better than that! We've been able to take friends and family members sailing with us. The other reason we bought specifically into the Sunsail/Moorings ownership program is because they have bases all over the world. Our yacht is in the BVI but, because we are owners, we can fly to other locations and use boats at other Sunsail/Moorings bases. It's a great way to see the world and experience other cultures. We have sailed Croatia, the BVI, the French West Indies (St. Martin), French Polynesia, and Thailand through this program. There are still so many other Sunsail/Mooring bases that we want to sail from!

If you have really close friends or business partners, you could even consider being partners in ownership, after you learn all the details of this program."

Owners,Carl & MaryLee– 444  Catamaran and now 454 Catamaran ‘MaryLee’

"The love affair began in early 2010. The LADY B won all our hearts and we couldn’t wait to spend time with her. She was a Moorings 474PC and quickly took us anywhere our hearts desired. We stood out on deck under the stars while, at anchor in Anegada and said 'It just don’t get any better than this'!

And then it did!

In late 2013  DOUBLED came into our lives. We had purchased her in late 2013 and took delivery in the summer or 2014. She was Hull #1 of the 514PCs  While we hated to see LADY B go, we did see her occasionally on the dock while she continued to be busy on charter for a few years. DOUBLE D was a 514PC and she was an amazing hostess. Once we took a first set of friends out on her, the requests to join us never stopped. We were on a mooring ball at Cooper Island when we were all sitting around enjoying a cocktail on the fly bridge and we said 'It just don’t get any better than this'!

And then it did!

It may have been the tequila, but my wife said she had found our next boat. She had worked her trading magic and we were about to say goodbye to DOUBLE D 514PC and hello to 5800 Crewed DOUBLE D. She is an amazing boat with a fantastic crew.  We have had her since 2015 and she is a true joy to be aboard.

We were devastated with what happened to The Moorings and the islands with Irma and got back down to the base as soon as they reopened and they did come back better than before with so much hard work from everyone. It was wonderful to see so many friends still there.

Now we are all facing a disaster called COVID-19. It cancelled our plans to be in Thailand in April.

We know it will pass and can’t wait to be back on a boat under the stars and say 'It don’t get no better than this', and then see how it does.

Derek & Diana, Moorings 5800 Crewed Yacht, Double D, St. Lucia 

"We’re relatively new to the Moorings but have enjoyed the time and opportunities it presents our family.  We are experienced sailors (mostly inshore racing) so the ocean cruising style of boating was new to us.  The Moorings has provided a way for us to maximize our access to fun while helping to minimize the headache and overhead.  We love the fact that we can conveniently see some of the best spots in the world without having to deal with all the logistics that would be associated with traditional boat ownership.  The comfortable and well maintained boats make a group trip pleasant so we don’t need to waste lots of time dealing with boat issues before and after trips with friends.  Finally the people at the Moorings have been great to work with helping make every step of our adventures a blast!"

Kailas N.,Owner Moorings 5000, Tacocat

As a  Moorings Power Cat owner I would like to relay our experience with The Moorings Ownership Program. First and foremost is our positive experience with the Moorings staff over our first year of ownership. Last year we were able to take 3 amazing trips with Moorings; Abaco, Minorca and St. Martin, and were provided excellent support in the planning and execution of each experience. Our 51PC the ‘Guanahani Dream’ was based in Abaco; now in Nassau, and we were able to enjoy eight beautiful days there travelling from Marsh Harbour to Double Breasted Cay and spent some very memorable time on Spanish, Sandy and Green Turtle Cays. Our trip to Minorca couldn’t have been better as the weather allowed us to circumvent the entire island on a Moorings 433PC. The landscapes and Spanish culture we experienced is beyond description. Our final trip of the year found us in St. Martin enjoying both French and Dutch hospitality and cuisine and the beautiful British island of Anguilla. If you want to spend vacations at amazing places all over the globe in a private setting that puts you front and center in some of the most beautiful locations the world has to offer I suggest you consider joining The Moorings Ownership Program.