Those of us who endure severe winters always look forward to summer, anticipating lazy, hazy days spent planting, hiking, biking, dining, dillydallying, beaching and boating. We imagine the world will stand still as it did (so long ago) when we were young and summer was truly endless. Americans don’t dare "close shop" for the month of August as do many Europeans, but long daylight hours allow us more after-work leisure. It’s also somewhat acceptable if you don’t answer your phone or return an e-mail on a Friday afternoon. When it’s summertime, the livin’ is definitely easier.

But why rhapsodize over summer when the cover of this magazine says "October"? Well, because this is something of an "endless summer" issue. In it you will find the last sweet fruits of summer, such as our RSVP pages on the Genoa and Poros charter shows, precursors of the Mediterranean charter season. We’re also running 10 pages of paparazzi portraits featuring our 17th annual ShowBoats International Monaco Rendezvous that took place June 22 to 25. (Now that we have established our regular October issue, you don’t have to wait five months to read about the Rendezvous in our Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show issue!) Our esteemed and ever-popular four-day event was the harbinger of summer, kicking off the Mediterranean yachting season, and had captains scurrying from sundry seas to make it to Monaco in time to please the boss.

This year, in addition to our 300-some guests, we had 15 superb megayachts on hand with owners from Australia, Cyprus, Denmark, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United States. The ShowBoats International Awards is the undeniable centerpiece of the annual Rendezvous. For the last 15 years, the SBI Awards have honored deserving yachts in 14 categories, such as Most Innovative, Best Technical Achievement, Best Refit, Best Interior and more. We were thrilled that several of our award winners—including fabulous yachts such as 226-foot Attessa, the 177-foot Perini Navi sailing yacht Parsifal III, 161-foot Zoom Zoom Zoom, 138-foot Nina J and the small but snazzy Warren S87—were present at the Quai des États-Unis for the whole event. This year we also introduced three new awards. The Trendsetter Award went to 280-foot Alysia, which was our host yacht for the entire long weekend. The winner of our new Flagship Award, SeaKeepers member Jim Moran, was doubly honored with the Heritage Award from Hublot and the Yacht Club of Monaco. And our Readers Choice Award went to Seven Sins in the motor yacht category and Parsifal III for sailing yachts.

We were pleased that Ambrous Young chose to debut his extraordinary 213-foot Benetti Ambrosia at our event, and that our friends on Ubiquitous and Magic came back for more. We were honored with the presence of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, as well as this year’s recipient of the SeaKeeper Award, acclaimed veteran journalist Walter Cronkite. Our guests were wined and dined by our ShowBoats International/Robb Report/Worth magazines’ high-styling hospitality. By all accounts, our Rendezvous was our best ever! We hope these pages will inspire you to spend more time on the water and prompt you to join us next year.

While yachting is a year-round industry, many of the new builds featured in this issue were launched with the impending summer season in mind. For example, O’Ceanos, a 164-foot motor yacht built for charter and managed by Golden Yachts in Greece, had to be completed before the start of her prebooked summer charters. Departing from its trademark sailing yachts, Royal Huisman Shipyard launched a Tony Castro–designed motor yacht, 117-foot Arcadia, so that her owner could enjoy some summer cruising. Holland Jachtbouw strove steadily to get its 141-foot sailing yacht Skylge through her sea trials. The owners of the Hatteras Khaki Blue were bent on getting their new build out of North Carolina and up to New York and Newport to enjoy the New England summer. Lürssen finished Oasis, our cover story, in record time so she could honor her multiple charter bookings and give her owners time to enjoy the Med.

Looking ahead to fall, we’re proud to present the highlights of the 16th annual Monaco Yacht Show. This signals that the fall boat show season is upon us. You, yacht owners, have relinquished your summer idyll and no doubt have resumed acquiring, selling, leveraging, manufacturing, and wheeling and dealing. Daylight hours have diminished. Weeks spent cavorting the oceans blue have turned into weekends.

Yachts that were too busy being used, and yachts that weren’t ready in time for the summer are now available for viewing at boat shows in Genoa, Monaco, Cannes and Fort Lauderdale. There is never a reason to mourn the passing of summer in the yachting world; after all, the Caribbean’s (not to mention Polynesia’s, New Zealand’s…) "endless summer" season will soon be upon us.