Karl-Henry Edström gives a preview of Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur’s anticipated annual Dream Machines edition—out now across Monaco and the French Riviera.
A love of water is at the core of our primal instincts as humans. Ponder the meditative properties afforded by the ocean’s rhythmic tides—and the freedom for exploration presented by its vastness—and it is little wonder that cruising on the azure onboard one of the most luxurious vessels money can buy is among the greatest of pleasures.
In the case of the Robb Report audience, of course, the word “luxurious” feels a little understated: our readers are seduced only by the most opulent, innovative and aspirational floating palaces ever to be magicked from the drawing board to the marina. Which is why so many in our community—from the Principality and beyond—will be heading to Port Hercules from September 24th-27th to mingle with the great and good of the international high-end yachting community.
A record fleet of 120 superyachts—around half of them world premieres—are expected this year, along with over 560 exhibitors and more than 30,000 visitors. Many entries on our yachting editor’s lengthy list of watercraft to investigate are featured in this issue— among them the 47 m Dunya-built explorer yacht King Benji (page 69) and Feadship De Vries’ long-range family cruiser Lady Marina (which is graced with Donald Starkey’s interior, and whose guest cabins are named after star constellations—pages 70-71). Readers are also implored, while sauntering around Port Hercules each day, to pay close attention to Tribute to Yachting: a photographic exhibition by photographer Guillaume Plisson, whose spellbinding work graces this issue’s cover.
This being our “Dream Machines” issue, sea-craft are not alone in our editorial affections. On our automotive pages, Vince Jackson gets a taste of a car he calls, with plenty of justification, “a vision of pure automotive fantasy”, the Pagani Huayra R Evo Roadster (pages 106-107). Jackson also delves into two new imposing beasts from Range Rover, the SV Black and the Sport SV Black (not to mention the marque’s revved-up bespoke personalisation programme—pages 104-105).
Elsewhere, we take to the skies in the ergonomic marvel that is the Cessna Citation Ascend (pages 96-97), brace ourselves for record-breaking velocity in the ultra-longrange Bombardier Global 8000 (pages 94-95) and enjoy razor-sharp industry insights from Jahid Fazal-Karim, owner of Best of the Best award-winner Jetcraft (pages 88-89), and Adel Mardini, the founder and CEO of Jetex (pages 90-93).
“Dream Machines”—as regular readers will be aware—refers to state-of-the-art static wonders as well as moving marvels. And Bugatti’s collaboration with Jacob & Co. (pages 62-65) is the most eye-catching timepiece we’ve seen in a while—think 328 baguette diamonds topped with 18 rubies, configured as a nod to the V16 engine block automaton—while Luphonic’s H2 turntable (page 111) marries minimalist design with unashamedly maximalist playback.
You’ve heard the phrase “the stuff that dreams are made of”—for Robb Report, it’s all about those visions being fulfilled, via our pages and life-changing experiences. Enjoy the issue!
