St David Superyacht As seen on Below Deck

A refit in 2019 renewed St David, and her 24ft Four Winns tender dates from that same year; a 15ft Ribline runs as her second tender, so two boats can head for the shore at once. She is a Benetti superyacht of 197ft (60m), built in 2008 and designed by Winch Design.

Water toys

Both her jet skis, a Seadoo and a Yamaha, seat three, room for a rider and two passengers on each, and she keeps two Seabob F5s and two Lift E-foils besides. For towing she carries O'Brien water skis and wakeboards in adult and junior sizes, a kneeboard and Jobe towables – the Airstream and the Giant each hold three – so the younger members of a family have gear cut to their size. Five paddleboards, two kayaks that each seat two, three surfboards, a windsurfing board with its sails and a Minicat 420 catamaran move under muscle or wind, and snorkelling and fishing equipment travel with her too.

Where she cruises

Her home port is St Thomas in the USVI, and she is the longest of the 15 yachts based there. From St Thomas she reaches the rest of the USVI, the British Virgin Islands, St Martin, St Barths and Antigua and Barbuda. She also works Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Lucia, the Grenadines and Grenada. Athens is her second base, which opens Greece, Italy, Malta, France and Monaco to her, and her transatlantic range is what lets a single yacht give a guest the choice of two seas.

Accommodation and crew

Six cabins sleep twelve guests – a two-level master suite, a full-beam VIP and four convertible guest cabins – with a king, three queens and two twins between them, and by day she carries the same twelve. Fifteen crew look after them, more crew than guests, and stewardess call buttons put a request straight through to them, while it is December through March, with July and August besides, that make up her high season.

Comfort under way

Twin Caterpillar main engines cruise St David at 13 knots, burning 315 litres an hour at that speed, with 16 knots in hand, and zero-speed stabilisers work whether she is under way or lying at anchor, so the roll is taken out of her in both.

On deck

A deck jacuzzi puts warm water out in the open air, a gym and a spa keep exercise and treatments aboard, and a cinema gives films a proper screen, while VSAT and 4G antennas keep her online at sea.

Charter notes

St David suits a family or two couples with divers among them, and she also takes event charters for up to 100 guests, with a three-day hire offered as well as the full week. With four sets of dive gear aboard, four of the party can go under the water together.