The first thing to do if you plan to visit Denise Rich on her new yacht is to get a pedicure. That’s because you’re going to have remove your shoes before stepping on board.
“It’s a rule of yachting,” Rich explains. “But I also find it spiritual. Everyone comes into the world with their bare feet.”
Spiritual probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Denise Rich: She’s a fixture on the social scene, known for her lavish parties and fund-raisers. And superstars like Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross have recorded her songs. But most people don’t know Rich has been in love with boats ever since she was a girl growing up in Massachusetts.
And NYP Home is getting an exclusive look at her newest love – the Lady Joy II, parked at North Cove Marina in Battery Park.
“I always chartered yachts,” Rich says, “and I owned an earlier Lady Joy [Joy is her middle name], but I sold it because I wanted something larger. So I went to all the shipyards until I found my dream boat. It’s a 160-foot-long semi-custom mega-yacht.”
“Mega” because it’s so big (6,000 square feet and the equivalent of four stories high) and “semi-custom” because she added many of her own touches.
“While it was being built, I was running around looking at different yachts to get ideas,” Rich recalls. “Every time I’d get another idea, they’d say: ‘Oh, no, not another change!’ It was expensive . . . but I wanted what I wanted.”
Some of her changes: Instead of the usual three decks for this particular yacht, she added a fourth, called the Portuguese deck, in the front of the boat, over the bow.
“I love it,” she says, “because you can go to the bow of the boat and look at the world as you’re coming into port.”
On another deck – called the Sky Lounge – Rich put in removable banquettes that can seat up to 50 dinner guests. She also added an extra stateroom for a total of seven (each with its own bathroom), so the boat can sleep 18. “It’s very important to me to entertain,” she says.
Lady Joy II boasts a crew of nine, a chef, TV screens “everywhere,” a film library of more than 400 DVDs, a state-of-the-art sound system, a museum-worthy collection of contemporary art, an elevator, a piano, an outdoor gym and a Jacuzzi big enough for eight.
“I’ll probably spend four, five months a year on the yacht,” Rich says. “My dream is to go around the world.”
But next on her agenda is the charity closest to her heart. It’s the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research, which she started in 1996, after her 27-year-old daughter Gabrielle died of leukemia (Rich still wears a necklace with Gabrielle’s likeness). On Oct. 29, Rich is hosting the charity’s annual Angel Ball at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. John Legend, Joss Stone, Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan are scheduled to perform.
“We’ve given away $6.4 million dollars to junior researchers who otherwise wouldn’t be funded,” she says of the charity’s success.
After the event, Rich has big plans for the yacht.
“This November I will be to the Caribbean,” she says. “Then, in December, I’m chartering it.”
For more information about the Angel Ball, visit gandp.org.
Denise Rich’s 5 favorite things
– Family photographs of daughters Gabrielle, Ilona and Daniella
– A gold coin necklace with Gabrielle’s likeness
– A sculpture by Zaha Hadid: “It represents perfection in art,” Rich says.
– Her studio where she writes her songs and runs her record label, 785 Records
– The Portuguese deck