With space for buildings sites in Monte Carlo at a premium, the shape of the Monaco Yachts Show evolves on an almost annual basis.
This year’s shock was that the Yacht Club building we all loved so much for its quaint club like atmosphere has been raised to the ground. It has been replaced on the other side of the harbour by a multi storey glass edifice designed by Norman Foster.
While it is now a splendid venue for conferences and parties, we wonder if the members who use it as their club will cherish it in the same way as they enjoyed the intimate and very personalised service that the much smaller club house was able to offer.
Now comes news that the show is to loose some of its real estate to the rebuilding of Monte Carlo. Sections of the harbour front will be cut off so that contractors can build underground car parking. Already the cafes and bars that fronted the Darse Nord have gone, swept aside by the developers zeal for finding more space.
Work begins shortly on the underground facilities and their ongoing construction means that for the next five shows there will be no Darnse Nord Tent, often called the Builders Tent, nor a New Zealand Street. Instead our sources reveal that during the course of the five year construction these sections of the Show will be moved over to the other side of the harbour and be located close by Cafe des Artists and the Stars and Bars.