15 and 16 January saw Christophe Harbour play host to the first ever Caribbean CrewFest in partnership with ACREW Yachting. A resounding success, the event brought 10 yachts, including M/Y Naia, S/Y Perseus^3, M/Y Galaxy, S/Y Timoneer and M/Y Seawolf, into The Marina at Christophe Harbour, with 98 crewmembers taking part in five professional development workshops, networking and a fantastic crew party with Zoom Yachting. 

The mainstay of the superyacht community, the crew are not only key influencers in the decision of where owners spend time (and return) with their yachts, but also integral to ensuring that owners crucially enjoy spending time on board. Christophe Harbour has always been committed to supporting crew and providing a welcoming place for them to spend time, as well as their owners and guests, and in January we partnered up with ACREW Yachting to host a two-day event dedicated to their career development and introducing them to the attractions of St Kitts.

Day one centred around a variety of professional development workshops, covering topics such as ropes and rigging, security, leadership and interior service. One popular workshop was led by Christophe Harbour’s new executive chef, Miles Thompson who took select interior crew on a culinary journey through Caribbean flavours, demonstrating how to use local produce, like bananas, to create superyacht-worthy dishes. Gaining a window into how Chef Miles combines flavours and the best ingredients to put together the mouth-watering menus at The Pavilion and SALT Plage, participants came away with new recipes and inspiration for how to use ingredients in fresh ways.

Day two was dedicated to a relaxed and fun tour of St Kitts, introducing crew to what this beautiful island has to offer. The day included a behind-the-scenes look at YU Lounge, the island’s luxury private jet terminal, adrenaline-fuelled zip lining through the Kittitian canopies with Sky Safari Tours, a trip to the historic Romney Manor and lunch at Nirvana Restaurant.

No crew event is complete without a good party and Zoom Yachting made sure that the inaugural Caribbean CrewFest closed with a bang. Heroes versus Villains was the theme, and the party tent was full of some truly creative costumes. Everyone dined, drank and danced the night away to the sounds of international DJs, Tanja Nevenovska and Dani L Mebius. You can see more photos from the event on Christophe Harbour's Facebook page.

We look forward to welcoming the crew of many more superyachts to Christophe Harbour and St Kitts over the course of this year and hope that Caribbean CrewFest will become an annual part of The Marina’s calendar.