Editor's Note: Grand Adventures in the Mediterranean

The first opening practice round of the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco was held this morning, bringing with it a variety of early highlights and dramatic turns against a backdrop of luxury yachts.

This is a major global event that essentially fires the starting pistol on the busy summer season, transforming the Mediterranean into a playground for superyachts and luxury adventurers.

To honour this annual changing of the season, we’ve been looking into a few charter opportunities available across the Med this week, with many more to come over both charter and brokerage markets.

Our sharpened focus on the yachts available to experience first hand started this week with Cloudbreak.

To this day I remain a huge fan of McMullen & Wing’s iconic explorer Big Fish, and to see a new yacht which reflects the same unbridled approach to adventure will grab my attention every time.

Controversially, the story behind a yacht often intrigues me more than the design. Custom yachts are arguably a reflection of one person’s passion and journey, and Cloudbreak has one of the best.

The adventure, fun and personality of the yacht - including her name, taken from a Fijian surf mecca - all surround the yacht with this true explorer pedigree, and I can’t wait to hear more of her adventures.

While our focus on the yachts on the water will continue, this week we also had the pleasure of gaining an insight into a project preparing for launch at the Turquoise Yachts shipyard.

In an ongoing feature series looking at the new 77 metre superyacht project, we spoke to Mehmet Karabeyoglu - CEO of Turquoise Yachts - and Jonny Horsfield - H2 Yacht Design - to discuss their approach to a new design.

In line with my - agreeably over-romanticised - penchant for a backstory, I not only learned about the finer points of the yacht, but that the NB63 evolved from a previous great (Vicky) and represents a whole new era for the shipyard.

You can read my stories in the appropriate links above, but with the Monaco Grand Prix almost underway and the industry taking the chance to prepare itself for the show that defines a year, I’ll be taking the chance to focus on bringing you the best in charter and brokerage. Until then.