Exciting news this week from Atalanta Golden Yachts in Greece: Three new-build-for-2010 motoryachts have joined the charter fleet and will be available for charters in the Greek Isles this summer. Each will take 10 to 12 guests in five cabins.

The first yacht, which is shown in the rendering at right, is a 132-footer from builder Golden Yachts called Project O'Rea. She will be available at a lowest weekly base rate of €80,000. (I can't wait to see what that sunroof looks like from the inside.)

Second and shown in the top image below is a 115-foot Falcon called Helios. She will be available at a lowest weekly base rate of €63,000.

Third and shown in the bottom image below is a 104-foot Maiora called Marnaya. She will be available at a lowest weekly base rate of €60,000.

Helios and Marnaya are expected to have cruising speeds of 23 and 26 knots, respectively, while Project O'Rea is expected to cruise at a speed of 31 knots. So when you are considering why you might pay an extra €20,000 per week for Project O'Rea, include not only the boat's additional interior volume and spaciousness, but also her ability to get you from one island to the next at a faster speed.

Any reputable charter broker can help you book a week aboard any of these new-build yachts in the Greek charter fleet.

Capt. Lynn Griffiths and her partner, award-winning chef Mark Miles, dropped me an e-mail this week from aboard the 72-foot custom sailing yacht Pacific Wave to announce a pricing discount as well as a new option for 2010: free scuba diving.

First, the discount. If you book a charter before July 31 and schedule your charter dates to begin before December 31, then you can take $1,500 off the yacht's regular weekly base rates. For two guests, the rate becomes $14,500 versus $16,000. For four guests, it's $15,500 instead of $17,000, and for six guests, it's $16,500 versus $18,000. 

A significant note on those discounts: They include the holiday weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day, when rates are typically raised above the regular weekly base rates on all charter yachts.

Second, the scuba diving. Griffiths tells me that she is working in conjunction with UBS Dive Centre, which she calls "the only exclusively private diving service in the British Virgin Islands," to offer free scuba diving during charters aboard Pacific Wave. Guests can choose a pair of two-tank, half-day dives for three people, or a single two-tank, half-day dive for six people. You get to dive as a private group from boats that rendezvous with Pacific Wave wherever she is anchored in the BVI. The value of the offer is $700.

Pacific Wave is in the Virgin Islands through June. She will spend July through October in the Grenadines before returning to the Virgin Islands in November.

Nicholson Yachts is the management company. Any reputable charter broker can help you take advantage of these newly announced special offers.

On Sunday night at 6:25 p.m. Eastern time, the New Orleans Saints will take on the Indianapolis Colts in the National Football League's Super Bowl XLIV. The game will be played in Miami, Florida, where several charter yachts are still available for last-minute bookings in time for the big event.

Neptune Group Yachting tells me the 102-foot Palmer Johnson motoryacht Banyan (whose main salon is shown in the photograph at right) is being offered at a weekly base rate of $29,900 for six overnight guests. Banyan has an outdoor cinema screen, which means you can sit ondeck and watch all the gridiron action beneath the stars.

Also still available and part of the Neptune Group fleet is the 82-foot Horizon motoryacht Adriana II, which is being offered at a base rate of $4,500 per day with a four-day minimum requirement. Adriana II already has dockage confirmed at Sunset Harbor Yacht Club, putting her in the heart of the Miami Beach action. She sleeps six guests overnight.

Bradford Marine Yacht Charter says the 70-foot Johnson motoryacht Charmer is being offered at a base rate of $9,000 for three nights, including free dockage in Coconut Grove, Florida. The rate also includes fuel for an afternoon cruise on Biscayne Bay as well as "an evening cruise to see the lights of Miami." Charmer takes six overnight guests.

Voyage Yacht Share has the 52-foot Sunseeker motoryacht Aspire available with a captain and mate (no chef or stewardess). Aspire docks at Sunset Harbor Yacht Club within walking distance of parties on Miami Beach. You can charter Aspire for a daily base rate of $3,500, or a weekly base rate of $14,800 for six overnight guests.

Any reputable charter broker can help you book any of these yachts in time for Sunday's big game in Miami. 

To whet your appetite, here's a video of NBC highlights from last year's Super Bowl--which had fans like me screaming on the edge of their seats right up till the last play. (Yes, I spilled my drink amid the hysteria...)

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I received some startling news and photographs this morning from broker Gertrud Annevelink of New Zealand-based Charter Experience. She is in Valencia, Spain, in advance of the America's Cup, and says there has been an explosion at a Palma de Mallorca shipyard that destroyed the 88-foot Wally sailing yacht Tiketitan.

According to Annevelink: "It looks like the yacht is a complete loss. It was an explosion caused by contractors using spraying paint or using dissolvent, and somebody else was using a heat gun. Two people were injured but not too seriously."

I confirmed the news via the press office at Wally Yachts in Monaco a few moments ago. "We are all very sad," the press agent told me. "Thank goodness nobody was seriously hurt. It was a very important boat for Wally, and it is a total loss."

The press agent said she could not comment further because there has not yet been an official statement from the captain or a report made to insurance agencies.

Tiketitan was built in 1998 and chartered at a weekly base rate of €35,000 for 10 guests with three crew. According to CharterWorld, she was the "first large cruising yacht featuring the Wally hydraulic canting keel system and unique interior and deck layouts, together with a new system for the engine and generator exhausts."

Here is a 2008 video by The Discovery Channel explaining the features that made Tiketitan so special:

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I will pass along additional details as they come in. Until then, here is another photograph that Annevilink sent me of firefighters working to control the explosion's aftermath: