EFFIE STAR

EFFIE STAR — Lagoon 51 Greece from the deck of a Lagoon 51: shallow-draft access to the coves the bigger yachts have to admire from a distance, and the kind of steady, level platform that makes a week aboard easy on everyone — including the guests who don't consider themselves sailors. Lagoon's 51 is one of the more thoughtfully resolved layouts in the modern charter catamaran fleet, and EFFIE STAR makes full use of it. Five cabins, each with a double bed, accommodate up to ten guests: four are en suite, while the fifth shares a bathroom — a sensible configuration for families travelling together, or two or three couples sharing the charter without compromising on personal space. The volume is where a catamaran of this generation earns its keep. Saloon and cockpit read as a single living area, separated by little more than a sliding door, so meals, cards and conversation drift naturally between shade and open air. The forward cockpit gives you a quieter, more private vantage point under way, and the flybridge puts you level with the horizon at anchor. The feature guests remember is the water-level balcony. Drop it and the aft of the yacht becomes a terrace just above the sea — the natural gathering point for morning swims, long lunches and the last hour of light. The swimming platform makes getting in and out of the water effortless, which is precisely what you want in the Cyclades or the Ionian, where the anchorages are the point of the itinerary. EFFIE STAR is offered fully crewed, with a team accustomed to Greek waters and to reading the rhythm of a charter — when to suggest the next bay, and when to simply leave you to it.