- Digital Archives
- Order a Copy
| Grande Luxe |
| Grande Luxe |
Delivery from Washington to the East Coast will most likely be by heavy-lift ship rather than on its own bottom.
By Professional Mariner Staff
Rock the Boat: Superyachts For Big-Group Soirees
A splashy new superyacht takes on-the-water fêtes to the next level in Naples and Marco Island.
by Jaynie Bartley
Sep. 26, 2022
(C) KARL ROUWHORST
SeaFair - Miami skyline
(Courtesy Seafair Yachts)
T his November, Miami-based Seafair launches a second superyacht, bringing a new, luxe experiential setting for big-group soirees to Naples and Marco Island. “Seafair looks like a big, fast yacht, but the bottom is like a flat barge,” founder David Lester says. Designed to host up to 600 people, the 165-foot superyacht—by star yacht designer Luiz de Basto—can drop its docking spuds to anchor close to shore, where guests board from a catamaran shuttle.
While the boat can easily cruise waters like Gordon Pass and into Naples City Dock, for now, David plans to keep Seafair at Rose Marina, near the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort.
The charter offers catering options from a Michelin-trained chef, and you can add planning services, entertainment and decor. A stage is set for concerts and auctions—and, if it rains, walls of windows below deck provide Gulf views. “This gives guests an experience on the water that they wouldn’t get any other way,” David says.
The best of life in paradise, directly in your mailbox.
- Newsletters
- Subscriptions
- Publications
- Terms of use
©2024 Gulfshore Life
672 Wine Club
- Motorcycles
- Car of the Month
- Destinations
- Men’s Fashion
- Watch Collector
- Art & Collectibles
- Vacation Homes
- Celebrity Homes
- New Construction
- Home Design
- Electronics
- Fine Dining
- Benchmark Wines
- Brian Fox Art
- Disneyland Resort
- Ka La’I Wakiki Beach
- Kalamazoo Grill
- Raffles Hotels & Resorts
- Sports & Leisure
- Health & Wellness
- Best of the Best
- The Ultimate Gift Guide
2006 Private Preview: SeaFair’s Grand Luxe
Sheila gibson stoodley, sheila gibson stoodley's most recent stories.
- Will This Le Mans-Winning Race Car Set a New Auction Record?
- An ‘Immaculate’ 1967 Lamborghini Will Lead Artcurial’s September Auction
- This 1929 Mercedes-Benz Could Fetch Up to $9 Million at Auction This Week
- Share This Article
After selling the Palm Beach, Fla., art and antiques fair that they cocreated in 1997 (now called Palm Beach! America’s International Fine Art & Antique Fair), David and Lee Ann Lester found themselves adrift at sea for 15 months. Actually, the couple was relaxing aboard Fortunata, their 94-foot Ferretti Custom Line motor yacht, and the time that they spent exploring the East Coast of the United States from February 2003 to May 2004 yielded a unique concept that combines their passion for art with their love of the ocean. “Everywhere we docked, we ran into all our best clients from the Palm Beach fair,” says David Lester, explaining how those encounters prompted him and his wife to establish SeaFair, a company that plans to launch a small fleet of yachts catering to art and antiques enthusiasts. The first of those vessels, the $20 million, 228-foot Grand Luxe, will be in essence a self-contained, traveling fair, accommodating as many as 26 dealers and visiting ports along the East Coast. (Dealers will rent booths on the ship and reside in hotel rooms at the ports.) The yacht, which is under construction at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wash., should be completed by August 2006 and will debut at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair in Florida in December 2006. “It is a small, intimate, and highly exclusive private environment,” says Lester, who expects to spend $40 million on operating costs in the yacht’s first five years. “It’s almost the opposite of a fair.”
Related Stories
- David Beckham’s Jersey, Diego Maradona’s Cleats, and More Soccer Memorabilia Are Heading to Auction
- Kenny Rogers’s Chateau-Style Mansion in Georgia Is Up for Grabs at $2.5 Million
- Floyd Mayweather Just Put His Knockout Beverly Hills Mansion on the Market for $48 Million
Grand Luxe’s 2007 schedule calls for it to visit Florida’s west coast in January, the Carolinas in April, the Hamptons in June, Nantucket in July, and Greenwich in September. Lester says that more than 40 dealers have made initial booking arrangements. “I have absolutely no doubt,” Lester says, “that it will be full by next year [2006] one way or another.”
SeaFair , www.expoships.com
More Art & Collectibles
Banksy’s Stolen ‘Girl With Balloon’ Artwork Was Just Recovered After a London Gallery Heist
3 New Art Galleries Opening This Fall, From Manhattan to Tokyo
Brazilian Street Artists Osgemeos Are Getting Their Own Show in Washington D.C. This Month
A Michael Jordan Card Worth Over $1 Million Will Lead Fanatics and Sotheby’s First Auction
Meet the Wine Club That Thinks Differently.
Receive editor-curated reds from boutique California producers four times a year.
Give the Gift of Luxury
Latest Galleries in Art & Collectibles
Bellerby & Co. Creates Painstakingly Detailed Globes. Here’s How They’re Made.
How Christofle Makes Its $250,000 Solid-Silver Chess Set
More from our brands, the 9 best designer coffee table books for luxury fashion lovers, philly mayor supports 76ers’ $1.3 billion downtown arena plan, abc releases trailer for joshua jackson’s ‘doctor odyssey’ (tv news roundup), report finds art sales stagnate, even as the luxury sector continues to grow, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors.
David and Lee Ann Lester, Founders, Sea Fair
Sea Fair is a unique concept — a yacht that travels to key ports and share top art venues. David Lester talks about the logistics, strategies and benefits of creating this new venue.
Interview Aired: 09/30/2007
- Share full article
Advertisement
Supported by
Dealers Go Sailing, Sale-ing on a Floating Art Gallery
By Anthony Ramirez
- Oct. 12, 2007
With a full head of hair, a toothsome smile, and the lack of a menacing eye patch, David Lester does not look at all like a villain out of a James Bond movie.
True, he does own a yacht, a $40 million pleasure craft that would beggar the Disco Volante, the superyacht used for evil by the one-eyed Emilio Largo in the 1965 Bond film “Thunderball.”
At three quarters the length of a football field and six stories in height, Mr. Lester’s yacht represents the summit of his ambition, not as a Napoleon of Crime, but as an impresario of art.
The boat, named SeaFair, resembles an enormous white porpoise. It will be moored at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan until Sunday. The city is its latest port of call after earlier stops in Greenwich, Conn., and Oyster Bay, on Long Island. Its last stop this year will be in Miami Beach on Nov. 30.
Inside the SeaFair there are carpets, tapestries, pre-Columbian figurines, rare porcelain bowls and diamond jewelry. There are also a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington circa 1795 and paintings by Winslow Homer, Jackson Pollock and Mary Cassatt. A first-edition copy of Ian Fleming’s “Dr. No” is also on display.
All of it is for sale to the great washed public, or at least that gilded segment who merit an invitation from Mr. Lester or the art dealers on Mr. Lester’s yacht.
Those invited, or their guests, can afford to pay more than $4,000 for that first-edition Ian Fleming or $3 million for that George Washington portrait.
“It’s a moving exhibition space for fine art and antiques, O.K.?” said Mr. Lester, 63. Along with his wife, Lee Ann, Mr. Lester has been a longtime organizer of art shows in Florida, where he lives, and around the world.
Mr. Lester’s art boat is “stylish and brilliant,” said Michael Goedhuis, a dealer in Asian art with offices in New York and London who is an exhibitor on the boat. “You can now bring the best art to the richest people, to put it very crudely.”
And the clientele appreciates the marketing flourish despite some initial reservations about Chelsea Piers, a sprawling redoubt of recreational sports and toddler birthday parties, and the boat itself.
“When I saw it from the pier, I thought, uh oh,” said Bob Wittekind, 73, referring to the yacht, to which he was invited. A retired chemical industry executive from Fairfield, Conn., he was accompanied by his wife and daughter.
“This might not be the quality of exhibit we might have expected,” he said. “It’s at Chelsea Piers and the boat looks like, um, like ...” Mr. Wittekind added, waving both hands. A cruise ship? “Right,” he said. “But when I started off on the lower deck, I was pleasantly surprised.”
Getting the right client up the gangplank is the biggest hurdle, dealers say. Peter Mitchell, a dealer of European paintings in London, recently sold a painting displayed on the ship to a Connecticut woman for more than $1 million by first lending it to her.
“Any gallery is artificial,” Mr. Mitchell said, gesturing around his exhibition space on the art boat. “Paintings were painted to go in homes. We can bring the picture to your home this afternoon, hang it and then you can have a look at it yourself.”
New Yorkers meeting out-of-towners on the art boat can be a revelation, too. William Siegel, a dealer of pre-Columbian art in Santa Fe, N.M., said a man had stared at him and said:
“Who are you? I’m one of the largest collectors of pre-Columbian art in the world and I have never heard of you.” The man went on to praise Mr. Siegel’s “incredible pieces.”
Mr. Lester was not always an art showman. Born in Danville, Va., he is one of two sons of parents who owned a women’s clothing store. Mr. Lester later became a criminal defense lawyer. He met his wife, Lee Ann, on a blind date 33 years ago.
Both art collectors, they organized major art shows in South Florida for years. In 2001, they sold their firm to a British company for a reported $19 million.
Sailing the world on an earlier yacht after their retirement, the couple wondered what would happen if they combined big art and a big boat. The result is the SeaFair.
One insight the Lesters had: a special pylon mechanism inside the yacht that anchors it and makes it unusually stable. “The boat is stapled to the bottom,” Mr. Lester said.
If the yacht bobbed and weaved, said Michael D. Cohen, a Chinese-porcelain dealer from Reigate, England, “all this would be impossible.”
He pointed to bowls, cups, plates and other porcelain in glass cases, but singled out a pair of Imari soldier vases, each about the size of a toddler, standing on pedestals. A single harbor wave could send porcelain crashing to the floor.
What is next for the Lesters?
More yachts, Mr. Lester said. A second, longer boat is on the drawing board. It will be 252 feet long, compared with 228 feet for the SeaFair, and will be devoted to fashion and jewelry.
Cost? “In all likelihood,” he said, “it will be more expensive” than the SeaFair.
Around the New York Region
A look at life, culture, politics and more in new york, new jersey and connecticut..
A Mayor in Turmoil: As federal investigations swirl around Mayor Eric Adams, his political influence, his agenda and his re-election effort are at risk .
Insurance Crisis Looms: The largest insurer of taxis and Ubers in New York City is insolvent. Its collapse could force thousands of cars out of service .
Where Is Happy the Elephant?: The star attraction of the Bronx Zoo hasn’t been seen since July. The zoo says she’s fine, but animal rights activists are not so sure .
Street Wars: The police have been cracking down on New York City’s street vendors over the past year, upsetting sellers who say they are just trying to earn a living. Can these vendors survive?
Sunday Routine: The 90-year-old comedian D’yan Forest spends her Sundays swimming and playing golf, then closing her day with a 10-minute set at Gotham Comedy Club.
Where Sea & Sky emerge
Destinations
Types of Events
Public Events
Your EXPERIENCE
Between sea and sky.
Embark on a journey of unparalleled luxury with Seafair Megayachts, where every event becomes an unforgettable masterpiece. Turn-key solutions, your hassle-free event.
Turn-key event solutions
Cruise, dine, dance to live music and enjoy magnificent fireworks while cruising through Biscayne Bay.
Our vessels are perfect for weddings, corporate retreats, anniversaries, or galas. We bring your vision to life, giving your guests an experience they'll remember forever. Make your event special on Seafair Megayachts. Enjoy the blend of sea and sky, with every moment filled with style and exclusivity.
Book your event today and create unforgettable memories for you and your guests.
Charity Galas
Celebrations
Bar & Bat Mitzvahs
Quinceañeras
Live Events
Social Events
The first event vessel of its kind
A one-of-a-kind event, abord a one-of-a-kind venue.
Our multi-faceted event spaces make Seafair one of the most sought-after event venues available.
With dynamic event spaces, gourmet catering and live entertainment, tailored to your needs, Seafair offers the ultimate venue where the sea and the sky converge with glamour and elegance.
GRAND RECEPTION
Seated 150 | Reception 175 Elegant Glass Walled Dining Room w/ 360 Degree Water Views, Private Bar and Private Elevator Access
.jpg)
Explore our Ships
Unrivaled Floating Elegance
Designed by internationally acclaimed yacht designer luiz de basto..
Unparalleled elegance and sophistication with 20,000 square feet of event, dinning and entertainment space on four decks.
Crystal Grandeur
Our upcoming vessel, The Crystal Grandeur, will dock at strategically convenient locations in Naples and Marco Island, welcoming up to 600 guests to indulge in its unparalleled offerings.
From East to West Florida, Seafair can provide your event venue.
Our vessels can dock in multiple locations from Miami, Palm Beach, Naples to Marco Island.
Experience Florida like never before
Fort Lauderdale
Why settle for less when you can host your next event aboard a 228-foot luxury megayacht in Fort Lauderdale?
Marco Island
A luxury cruise and private charters in south west Florida. Weddings, corporate events holiday parties, meetings, conventions social celebrations and much more.
Docked at the Bayfront Park South Dock at Chopin Plaza in downtown Miami, our flagship megayacht venue, Seafair Miami is the premiere event venue in the heart of Miami.
If you could have your next event a board a 228-foot luxury megayacht in Palm Beach, why would you have it anywhere else?
Our upcoming vessel, The Crystal Grandeur, will dock at strategically convenient locations in Naples, welcoming up to 600 guests to indulge in its unparalleled offerings.
Sail into Elegance
Your event on Seafair will not be unnoticed.
%20R%20(3).jpg)
Seafair guest
"Beautiful ship, excellent staff and absolutely amazing views of Miami!"
"Wow, what an amazing yacht! Had a business party/dinner. Beautiful ship, excellent wait staff that was very attentive and absolutely amazing views of Miami!"
It was truly a night to remember! Friends and family are still talking about it !
We selected SeaFair Yacht as a venue for my daughter's wedding reception. It was truly a night to remember! Friends and family are still talking about it. The cruise with the moon behind us and the skyline of Miami before us made this venue truly unbeatable! Seafair made my daughter and son-in-law feel like royalty.I would recommend this venue a million times over any other in Miami, believe me, I looked!"
Request a proposal today
Schedule your event date, ensuring your special occasion on the most exclusive venue in Florida.
For more information please call: +1 305 713 5030 or +1 239 272 6716
AN ULTIMATE MEGAYACHT EXPERIENCE
Explore Seafair
Book your Next Event
- Press Release Pricing
- Submit Press Release
- Press Release Distribution
- Recent News
- News by Category
- News by US Region
- News by Country
- RSS News Feeds
- Business News
- Lifestyle News
- Public Interest News
- Technology News
- Become a Publishing Partner
- For Journalists
- Business Directory
- Products & Services
- Post Your Profile
- Join Now Sign In
Art & Antiques Take to the High Seas
- ART OBSERVED
Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.
Sink or Sell For David Lester’s SeaFair?
SeaFair, David Lester’s $20 million venture into the trendy world of art fairs, is scheduled to make its maiden voyage to Greenwich, CT, arriving on September 25, 2007. The 228-foot-long yacht named the Grand Luxe , will be arriving in New York City’s Chelsea Piers on from October 9 – 14. Problems such as shortages of steel and workers have postponed their initial January 2007 date back to this fall.
Lester and his wife Lee Ann sold their successful Palm Beach International Art & Antiques Fair for $18 million a few years ago and conceived the idea for SeaFair. The 83 exhibitors will be featuring art, jewelry and antiques from around the U.S. and Europe, including Goedhuis Contemporary, Max Lang Gallery, and Fred Leighton. Reportedly, the 28 gallery spaces created in the yacht have all been rented, for prices ranging from $40,000 to $120,000 a month. According to Portfolio.com , some gallerists such as Matthew Marks and Gagosian are staying on land because of issues such as protecting the work from the salt air, as well as inventory concerns.
The yacht will make a stop in Miami Beach to coincide with Art Basel and the dozens of satellite fairs that have sprung up, such as Pulse and ~scope. But unlike these fairs with admission prices ranging around $10 per day, SeaFair’s admission is by invitation only, extended according to an individual’s wealth.
The usual lull in summertime’s art market was jumped this year by auction houses and dealers traveling to and/or opening outposts in popular vacation spots for the collecting crowd. However, with the fall approaching, is SeaFair a valid threat to gallerists and dealers not participating in it? Or will the hefty investment indeed see returns?
SeaFair [ExpoShips] “Voyage of the Art Barge” [Portfolio] “SeaFair, the Art Ark” [NYArts] “Floating Gallery Delays Its Visit” [TampaBay.com]
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Art News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
AO Art Observed Home | Advertise With Us | About | Staff | Jobs
Captain David Lester Historical Residence
The Captain David Lester Residence is owned by the Lester~Brown Foundation, whose primary focus is to maintain the residence for the purpose of architectural and educational historical awareness for the citizens and visitors to Marine City, Michigan.
Captain Lester came to Marine City, Michigan, in 1835 at the age of 12 with his brothers and parents Ascha Stimpson and Isaac Lester. Captain Lester was a prominent entrepreneur and citizen of Marine City. He was elected the first president of Marine City in 1865, when the small town was first incorporated, and during his lifetime he held other municipal offices such as trustee and Justice of the Peace. He owned and held interested in the Lester Shipyard, the Lester-Roberts Shipyard, the Toledo and Saginaw Transportation Company, Toledo Salt Company, and the Marine Transit Co, listing only a few of his business accomplishments.
Captain David Lester’s most notable contribution to the nautical history of the great lakes was the launching of the VH Ketchum which his shipyard built. On April 16th, 1874, when it was launched at Marine City, it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes at that time. Today the VH Ketchum is still the Flag Ship of the Interlake Steamship Company, Richmond, Ohio, and an oil painting of the vessel hangs in their boardroom.
In 1853 he married Laura Ann Rice, from Leslie, Michigan, and had eight children. Captain Lester died Oct 20th, 1890 at his home.
Captain Lester and his immediate family are buried in the small farm cemetery located on Belle River Road in Marine City.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMAGES
COMMENTS
The owners, David and Lee Ann Lester of Naples, intend to bring that same ultra-upscale, mega-yacht experience to this area. The setting will be a similarly sized, glass vessel they're having built that's projected to begin serving the high-end hotels of Naples and Marco in July of 2022.
Lester and his wife Lee Ann previously owned a similar land-based business called International Fine Art Expositions, which they sold in 2001. Two years later, the couple bought a 94-foot Ferretti yacht and set off on a 10,000-mile, year-and-a-half voyage that took them from the Caribbean to the Canadian Maritime Provinces.
Seafair Megayacht Experience. ·. October 19, 2015 ·. Our founders, David and Lee Ann Lester, and the Director of SeaFair Miami, Michael Kennedy, with artists Rick Ross and Nas Escobar. The two world-famous artists were on board the SeaFair this past weekend for a performance during a private event for Revolt Music Conference 2015.
T his November, Miami-based Seafair launches a second superyacht, bringing a new, luxe experiential setting for big-group soirees to Naples and Marco Island. "Seafair looks like a big, fast yacht, but the bottom is like a flat barge," founder David Lester says. Designed to host up to 600 people, the 165-foot superyacht—by star yacht designer Luiz de Basto—can drop its docking spuds to ...
America's International Fine Art & Antique Fair), David and Lee Ann Lester found themselves adrift at sea for 15 months. 2006 Private Preview: SeaFair's Grand Luxe
Smiling broadly, David Lester says: "The terms were very agreeable to all parties." The Lesters' Bonita Springs-based company, Expoships, can now cross-market the Palm Beach event with the nautical endeavor called SeaFair, a $30-million yacht designed as a floating art gallery that ferries dealers from one port to another.
David Lester talks about the logistics, strategies and benefits of creating this new venue. Interview Aired: 09/30/2007. David and Lee Ann Lester, Founders, Sea Fair ... Sea Fair is a unique concept — a yacht that travels to key ports and share top art venues. David Lester talks about the logistics, strategies and benefits of creating this ...
More yachts, Mr. Lester said. A second, longer boat is on the drawing board. It will be 252 feet long, compared with 228 feet for the SeaFair, and will be devoted to fashion and jewelry.
Shamrock V by David Lester - FINISHED - Amati - 1:80 - J Class Yacht Facebook ... However, I think this yacht needs the sails, and it's a good opportunity for me to experiment with them. As I mentioned earlier, I found the kit provided material all but impossible to work with, so I had ordered some silkspan which arrived on Monday and I spent ...
SeaFair Miami | Miami's Most Luxury Mega Yacht. The ship has 11,000 sf of exhibition and meeting space and 10,000 sf of dining and entertainment space. Completely open aired space allows for unobstructed views of Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami. InterContinental Miami, an IHG Hotel, 100 Chopin Plaza.
The inaugural SeaFair tour will commence June 2007 in Greenwich, Connecticut, announced David J. Lester, President of Expoships LLLP based in Naples, Florida.
SeaFair, David Lester's $20 million venture into the trendy world of art fairs, is scheduled to make its maiden voyage to Greenwich, CT, arriving on September 25, 2007. The 228-foot-long yacht named the Grand Luxe, will be arriving in New York City's Chelsea Piers on from October 9 - 14. Problems such as shortages of steel and workers ...
Nice boat, really pretty result, I was actually looking for paint schemes and liked the same you did, great work, I was thinking about making this boat from plans (from where that paint scheme comes) but decided I am going to wait for a kit to show up on Ebay, meanwhile I have the endeavour 1/80 and 1/35 and the rainbow is still available in 1/80 scale as well
Current Build: Royal Yacht, Duchess of Kingston-Vanguard Models ... Edited March 6 by David Lester. BenD, James G, CiscoH and 4 others; 6 1 Quote; Current Build - St. Roch, Billing Boats; HMS Agamemnon, Caldercraft (on hold) ...
Captain Lester came to Marine City, Michigan, in 1835 at the age of 12 with his brothers and parents Ascha Stimpson and Isaac Lester. Captain Lester was a prominent entrepreneur and citizen of Marine City. He was elected the first president of Marine City in 1865, when the small town was first incorporated, and during his lifetime he held other ...
David Lester Overview David Lester has been associated with nineteen companies, according to public records. The companies were formed over a forty-five year period with the most recent being incorporated three years ago in April of 2021. Two of the companies are still active while the remaining seventeen are now listed as inactive.
David J Lester is listed as a Manager with Seafair Yachts LLC in Florida. The address on file for this person is 153 E Flagler St #1760, Miami, FL 33131. The company is a Florida Domestic Limited-Liability Company, which was filed on April 6, 2021.
Edited October 14, 2022 by David Lester. mtaylor; 1 ... Unlike most yacht clubs it's in the middle of Manhattan, not on the water. I was able to schedule other business to be in NYC to attend the dinner. As Allan writes, a visit to the club's model is an opportunity not to be missed. The model collection is spectacular and I don't think ...
David Lester passed away. The obituary was featured in Yorkshire Evening Post on September 18, 2024. View their obituary at Legacy.com