Above: M/Y Va Bene built by Euroship Cees Cornelissen in 1992. The 47.80m was a custom build with a refit in 2008. Available to charter for €160,000 p/w Right: relaxing on board with Melia McEnery
on boats. It’s nothing to do with status or showing off – I’m too old for that – it’s more about privacy and a change of scenery. But mostly for me it’s time spent healing,” he adds.
And the logic follows. From addiction issues, suicidal thoughts and recognising in himself a temperament that would see him flit between hopelessly devoted and destructively absent, Clapton – Fender Stratocaster permanently strapped across his shoulder – is a complex character won over by calm.
“I think the first time I came to realise truly who was lurking inside, it made things easier, and there are some constants you need in life. I guess the sea is one of those – it’s a place that really doesn’t change and really hasn’t changed for thousands of years.”
Unsurprisingly, his purchase of the boat Va Bene in 2005 was an important moment. The vessel is over 150ft long, can carry 12 guests and was said to have cost around £9million… a mere drop in the ocean, you might clumsily say, compared to Clapton’s estimated £230million fortune.
The twin-screw diesel yacht was designed and built in the Netherlands by Richard Hein and the A Group, and underwent a full renovation in 2008, leading it to be listed a finalist for the Best Refitted Yacht award at the World Superyacht Awards in 2009.
Although Clapton has listened to offers for the yacht, and will undoubtedly relinquish it when the time – and the price – is right, what remains is his love of the water it sails in. “Just gazing into the water can be a really nice way to reset, to get away from the pressures. It is a very calming place and I guess I should count myself lucky that I can escape to a yacht; although if I didn’t have that I would doubtless find a way of getting out there anyway.
“As I say to my business manager, and my label, and all those people… mostly I just want time to be left alone.”
I do like to entertain on boats. It’s nothing to do with status or showing off – I’m too old for that – it’s more about privacy and a change of scenery.
ONBOARD | SPRING 2019 | 23
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