Wolfgang Behnken and Leonard Prinz wrote a perfectly nice book about famous people on yachts, their own ones, or other people’s. They collected humorous stories about those “Stars on Board” and added an ounce of criticism, as most of the featured celebrities milked the background of a yacht to its limits. The book is easily readable with an English and German text, nicely furnished with photographs and allows some dreaming.
John F. Kennedy was, according to them, masterful in staging himself as the cool and relaxed, sportive guy on a boat, preferably with his wife or children (not lovers…). He had the look of a sportsman, although since the war he had a very bad back problem and needed to wear a corset. A boat can give that active impression without the photographed person doing much – just sitting or leaning somewhere, especially on a sail boat, looks busy in a positive way.
There are plenty of photographs of the young and beautiful and the rich and not so beautiful. John F. Kennedy and Gunther Sachs are of the few who fitted into the handsome, rich, and famous category, highlighted even more by their wives Jacqueline Kennedy and Brigitte Bardot who were both beautiful and stylish.
Boats have this tendency to make people look in charge, although more often the celebrities can fly a plane themselves than steer a yacht. Lounging lazily on a luxury yacht suits only top models with a perfect figure. Most of the people owning luxury yachts are men – and they tend to look out of place, like P. Diddy when handing out photographs to adoring fans from the stern of the boat. Why shouldn’t he dress casually when being on his own yacht? Somehow yachts, in the eyes of all those who do not own one, are so special that people have to dress properly, meaning elegant and chic. The Duke and the Duchess of Windsor knew that and obeyed the unspoken rules.
Those were other times, but still today it looks a bit shabby and not cool, to present oneself in a running outfit on one’s own yacht when 50 people with smartphones are taking pictures, and a few professional photographers in between as well.
It is kind of a paradox that aging playboys / rich divorcees let themselves be photographed on their boats sparsely dressed. Few owners of yachts look good. They tend to invite good looking people to their yachts, who are attracted to obvious wealth (who would say no?). Just to be invited to a private yacht means something. Not many of us can say they have been there; to be honest even to have a friend’s friend who owns a luxury yacht is more than most of us can boast about. There are those wealthy people who just holiday on a yacht with their family all in private – a stylish thing to do. It is more the showcasing of money and success that gives yachts a braggy image. It gets magnified by mainly male self-made men arriving with their yachts in St. Tropez, Cannes, Nizza, Monaco and other rich people’s party destinations.
There is a wonderful film, “Une Fille Facile”. It gives a glimpse into the lives and minds of those young ladies who cater to the yacht owner’s or his friends’ sexual needs. One of the main actresses of the film gained a certain notoriety in France through her former life as a young escort girl, including her dalliance with a famous soccer player. The nonchalance of the paying process for the night’s services was really fascinating – its not a cash exchange, but a credit line on the yacht owner the women can access in the very expensive, exclusive brand boutiques of the town. They can choose whatever they like and of course they can sell the items later, or exchange them for cheaper ones and pocket the difference in cash. That the very expensive, exclusive brand boutiques accept this procedure comes of no surprise – I have seen in my line of business the very same brand’s sales people handling big amounts of cash from foreign visitors on shopping sprees without batting an eyelid. After that experience the sales people of those very exclusive brand shops could never impressed me again with their sometimes-cool behaviour towards the normal customer.
“Une Fille Facile” is a masterpiece, very facetted and intelligently made. The main characters of the film are finely crafted and believable. The paying process gives testimony to the psychological side of human beings – both sides can pretend to be in a “normal” relationship, even if it is only for a few days.
Another award-winning film about people on a yacht, “Triangle of Sadness”, is none I would watch twice. It is a harsh portrayal about a group of very rich people making a cruise on a luxury yacht. There are mainly paying customers on the cruise, apart from a few influencers who got invited for marketing reasons. The interaction between crew and guests is the most interesting aspect in this film. To be precise, the interaction whilst the worlds are intact and everyone wants to stay in his/her space (later the ship sinks, a few people survive and the rules change). It is always fake when the rich pretend there are no differences between them and the people who serve them. That is true onshore and even more on a yacht, as the space is limited. All must accept the rules. Pretending not to is embarrassing to all and invites trouble.
To watch both films is not mandatory to enjoy the book, although I would highly recommend “Une Filce Facille”. Wolfgang Behnken and Leonard Prinz have written without exaggeration about some of the most attractive people on boats and on their motives of being there. Neither do they swoon nor do they unfairly criticize. They have found a perfect middle ground and even included some very small boats, like that of Albert Einstein. He steered the boat himself and tended to meet women other than his wife there. Somehow boats and yachts show something of our personality that sometimes should better stay away from prying eyes.
All rights to the book and the films belong to:
Behnken, Wolfgang & Prinz, Leonard: Stars On Board, Die schönste Bühne der Welt und Ihre Hauptdarsteller / The World’s most beautiful Stage and their leading Actors, 2014, Published by Delius Klasing Verlag, Siekerwall 21, D-33602, Bielefeld, Printed in Germany, ISBN: 978-3-7688-3836-8
Une fille facile / Ein leichtes Mädchen: a movie of Rebecca Zlotowski, DVD, 2020, Alamode Film
Triangle of Sadness: a movie of Ruben Östlund, DVD, 24.03.20, Alamode Film