Dear Alex, when you and your Principal approached CdM, what was the main driver which put this shipyard in your shortlist? We saw one of your boats at a boat show which looked really purposeful and very sea worthy. It had a different look to all the other vessels around and caught the Principal's attention. Once onboard, we both understood that it wasn’t only about the look of it: it was a real Explorer Vessel with all the overengineering and the technical and building details which make a Yacht a real Explorer!

When you visited for the first time the shipyard and one of their vessels already delivered, what impressed you more when inspecting the facility, meeting the team and onboard a floating Darwin Class? Were your expectations met in full? We were very impressed by how warm and welcoming the team at CdM were and how willing they were to show us every aspect of the yard and facilities. When we looked onboard the '86 they had under construction at that time, we were amazed at how big it was for a smaller motor vessel and the detail and quality of the workmanship really stood out.

You have obviously discussed in detail with the shipyard the technical specification of your future vessel: how was the process handled by CdM’s team and what is your impression in terms of responsiveness when it comes to your (and your Principal’s) specific needs? The team at CdM have taken onboard every idea that we've given them and through a process of discussions and meetings we feel that we have, as a team, reached a precise specification to suit the Principal's criteria. This obviously gives a great comfort when starting an 18 month building process: we all know that the more detailed and adherent to the needs is the pre-engineering of the build, the better and smoother will be the building process.

We understand that the Darwin Class 107’ is a customized version which steps out of the Darwin Class Range (86’-96’-115’): can you explain which are the choices which have brought to this length? The Principal wanted to have a four cabin layout on the lower deck plus a master cabin on the main deck, but didn't want to have such a large vessel as the '115 Darwin. By increasing the '96 to '107 it gave us the possibility to include all the features that are required by the Principal and his family. Another reason for the increase in size was the importance given by him to the crew accomodations and the operational side of the design. It goes without saying that... I had no objection to these requests!

These are definitely yachts ‘Born to Explore’: can you share with us the cruising plans of your Principal, once he will get the new Dawrin Class 107’ delivered in 2015 (we know it is almost to year to go, but for sure some ideas are already on the chart table...)? The Principal has always fancied doing the North West passage so this is a possibility along with extensive cruising of the Mediterranean. We have another year and a half to tweak the plans, and it will be my pleasure to share them with you and your readers once they will have a more definitive form, indeed.

You and your wife have been both working on the same yacht for many years now: many yacht owners really like the idea but at the same time are a bit doubtful about the advantages of it. Can you share with us your thoughts about this and explain how you managed to work succesfully this way for so many years? We enjoy working together and work well as a team. There aren't necessarily any disadvantages or advantages to employing a couple, some people would say you get more stability and reliability with a couple but there are also many single crew members that have been on the same yachts for years. When you find a boat you like, with crew you like and a Principal you like, you have a winning combination, whatever it is.

Now the last usual question in all of our interviews: give us three adjectives to describe your experience with the CdM’s team up to now! Friendly, Hardworking, Enthusiastic.