Pink Lady Charters, Qatar’s new and exclusive yacht charter for women and families, is the first and only all-female captain and crew boat. This essentially means groups of women can revel in the comforts of a luxury yacht charter and set off on breezy sea-scapades in complete privacy, with a female European captain and a female crew to manage the boat and the trip.
The Pink Lady Charters crew.
This clever piece of product positioning in the rising boating scene of Qatar is the work of Ventura Gulf Yachting, a top name in motor yachts in Europe that’s now operating here. Mike Newton-Woof and Robin Tupper of Ventura lounge about in the open deck, soaking up some sun. Tupper, who is the Managing Director in their Spain office, says, “What’s unique here is the concept of having ladies as captain and crew to give women complete comfort. Women can relax, do what they like, be how they like, show each other the clothes they bought – it’s a private environment. It’s almost sterile. It’s that good.”
An interesting blend of Mediterranean crew and boat, Pink Lady Charters prides as much on its “European-style service”.
“The captain and the crew — which is the hostess and the deckhand — have been effectively trained in Europe. So they understand the European level of service that’s required. So we have put together a combination that hasn’t yet been done in the GCC,” says Newton-Woof, who is the Managing Director in their London office.
Tupper points out, “Moreover, the boat isn’t available only for the ladies. It can be chartered by anybody. But certainly, we are focusing on making the ladies and the families feel more comfortable. So with families, too, mothers with their children, for instance, will feel more comfortable with a female crew around than a male crew.”
Since all-male groups aren’t excluded, enquiries are coming in from even Saudi men who would like to avail of an all-female crew trip. “The concept has therefore extended beyond purely women and families chartering the boat, which of course, remains its USP,” Newton-Woof says.
It’s also the choice of vessel that takes the Pink Lady Charters experience up a few notches. Built in Italy by the celebrated Ferretti Yachts, the plush, air-conditioned, 80ft motor yacht that can cruise at more than 50kmph is licenced to charter 16 passengers.
“Unlike the less expensive boats that age quickly, this yacht, like other Ferrettis, looks better for longer,” explains Tupper, “We have refurbished it, but we haven’t had to rebuild it. Would you believe she is 14 years old? This finesse is indicative of its build quality. So when our customers come on board, we know everything is going to be just fine.”
Newton-Woof seconds his friend. “It’s a bit of a classic,” he says, “Chartering is two-fold — it’s about enjoying the boat and making sure the crew can look after you. What we offer is a variety of charters and packages that can even be custom-made. So we offer everything from two-hour to five-hour charters, or even overnight ones or those that span three or four days, say to Dubai or Bahrain.”
The pricing, while at the outset might raise eyebrows, eventually seems reasonable. A two-hour charter costs QR6,500 and includes soft drinks and snacks, whereas it’s QR10,000 for four hours, and so on. “When you pay QR10,000 for 16 people on board, how much is that per person? QR625. Is that too much for four hours on a luxury yacht with drinks and snacks?” Newton-Woof reasons, “So our custom package allows one to start with a basic two-hour charter and then build their way up to what they want. If one includes a proper food menu, then it’s more. You can have anything from birthday parties to weddings on board.”
Last November, at the Qatar International Boat Show, the duo presented Pink Lady Charters to several female VIPs who came as visitors through Ventura’s Qatari sponsor. “In five days, we had 150 enquiries. Now that we have started operations from this month, we are re-engaging with each of them,” Tupper says, “A lot of women were extremely keen and told us that we should let them know the very day we get operational.”
While the boat arrived from Europe in August, due to registration and other formalities, Ventura managed to get the charter licence only earlier this month. Understandably, even the Pink Lady Charters concept has taken time to materialise. Newton-Woof and Tupper came up with the idea three years ago and have been fine-tuning it ever since to ensure that when they are ready roll, everything’s near-perfect. “You get one shot to get it right — you’ve got to get it right,” Tupper says.
Both Newton-Woof and Tupper have been selling boats for 30 years. Tupper began selling and servicing boats in the South of Spain in 1986, and four years later, Newton-Woof joined him. “Since then, we have grown the business and have moved from one company to another, then set up our own and have been growing it ever since,” says Tupper. As distributors of Ferretti boats in Europe, they handle everything related to it; chartering, sales, insurances, servicing, you name it.
“We have been coming to Doha for four years now. A year ago, we established Ventura Gulf Yachting here, and Pink Lady Charters is part of it. Ventura Gulf Yachting is also the local dealer for the fine range of motor catamarans from Fountaine Pajot, which are perfect for Qatar as they are wonderfully spacious, extremely stable, and provide the ideal platform to enjoy every aspect of cruising and leisure on the water,” Newton-Woof says.
As for the “toys”, in the vein of jet skis, Ventura Gulf Yachting offers cool machines like Quadrofoil electric-powered, foiling personal watercrafts, and Seabobs. “A good part of our job is to just get people on the sea and to show them that it’s actually very pleasant out there, and that there’s marine life, islands, pristine sea that’s warm for them to dive into and see things. When you use a boat, you start enjoying it. If you don’t use a boat, you won’t know,” Tupper says.
The most challenging part for the duo thus far, has been to sell new boats in Qatar. “The boating market here is quite young. But we see a few more boats each time we come here. So it’s definitely growing,” says Tupper.
As for Pink Lady Charters, Newton-Woof believes it’s literally one-of-a-kind. “We think this is the first fully female operated boat not only in the GCC, but in the world. Soon, others might copy this concept. But in business, you have barriers to entry. While buying boats are relatively easy, the real barrier for others would be to find all-female crew,” he says, “That’s hard.”
Tupper and Newton-Woof would know. While having female hostesses is the norm, having female deckhands or captains is far from. “We had to work hard at finding unique members of the staff, who are women and are comfortable in their own environment,” explains Newton-Woof, “We have known Captain Bianca Cragg, from Europe. She is a MCA yachtmaster with many years’ experience in superyacht charter in the Mediterranean. It has taken us months to find a European crew who would want to move to Qatar.”
Tupper says, “And now that they have been here for a few months, they are happy to embrace the Doha experience. Interestingly, the boat went to Dubai for some servicing work and the ladies were eager to come back ‘home’. To them, Qatar is now home.”