just j's yacht owner wife

Just J’s artfully blends elegance, luxury, and modern design in a graceful 61-metre superyacht.

This remarkable yacht accommodates 14 guests and 15 crew members with ease, melding luxury with cutting-edge technology. Every aspect of her design is a testament to attention to detail, born from a harmonious collaboration with the owner’s team.

Just J’s is a triumph of design and construction

61.00 m / 200’13″ft

Bespoke luxury

Despite her significant volume and five-deck configuration, Just J’s remains streamlined and elegant with a spacious interior combining a mix of modern and classic elements.

She features guest suites and a VIP stateroom on the main deck, ensuring stunning views for every guest. The owner’s private deck comprises an impressive master suite complete with a custom skylight, two bathrooms, and a breathtaking private bar and sky lounge.

Brochure Just J’s (pdf download 4,5 MB)

Specifications Just J’s

Full Description

Just J’s, delivered in 2016, measures 61 metres with an 11-metre beam. She was designed by Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design, with Diana Yacht Design handling naval architecture and engineering.

Built for an astute yacht owner, Just J’s embodies luxurious family living at sea. JUST J’S offers an unbeatable combination of style, comfort, and cutting-edge design, with her impressive amenities matched only by her effortless blend of sophistication and practicality.

Amongst her stand-out features is a spectacular custom-designed elevator – a true testament to Hakvoort’s prowess in engineering. The lower deck also features a gym in the spacious lazarette, with a large tender and four jetskis launched from both port and starboard. Add in the sun deck with a 3×2 metre swimming pool, and it’s easy to see why Just J’s captured the attention of many upon her launch.

Just J’s attracted industry-wide recognition upon her launch as a finalist at the Showboats Design Awards 2017 in the Best Exterior Design & Styling category, as well as a nominee in the World Superyacht Awards 2017.

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An American billionaire is visiting Toronto on his fancy $75 million superyacht

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A striking display of personal wealth is turning heads on Toronto's waterfront, with an American billionaire's luxury superyacht currently moored at Harbourfront.

The personal yacht of U.S. billionaire Jay Schottenstein, who serves as chairman and CEO of Schottenstein Stores Corporation, American Eagle Outfitters and American Signature, has been spotted on the waterfront.

Schottenstein, with an estimated net worth of at least $1.5 billion USD and a family net worth of approximately $2.8 billion USD, is the owner of a 200-foot luxury superyacht called Just J's, which comes with an outlandish list of features few of us normies could dream of.

Just J’s, Jay Schottenstein, CEO of American Eagle Outfitters Yacht @ Lakeshore. August 22 2024. by u/TerryLeeee in toronto

Constructed at Dutch shipyard  Hakvoort  and delivered to Schottenstein in 2016, the luxury vessel is valued at $75 million USD and is estimated to cost roughly $7 million USD per year in maintenance costs.

The yacht is designed with a capacity for 12 guests and a crew of 16, and comes with some pretty impressive features fit for the billionaire lifestyle.

Amenities on board Just J's include a two-by-three-metre pool with a contraflow system, along with a movie room, a gym, a tender vessel, and even large gullwing doors that open on either side of the yacht, where jet skis can be launched.

The yacht's name is a play on the Schottenstein family's naming convention, where all members have names beginning with the letter 'J.' After Jay married his wife Jeanne, they went all in on the letter with three sons named Joseph, Johnathan and Jeffrey. The tradition has extended to Schottenstein's grandchildren, who are named Jacob and Jonah.

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The 200-foot Just J’s has returned to Miami

Owned by billionaire retail king Jay Schottenstein

Just J’s, a 200-foot superyacht owned by retail mogul Jay Schottenstein (CEO of Schottenstein Stores, which has ownership in American Eagle Outfitters, Cold Stone Creamery, and DSW), has returned to the Epic Marina in Downtown Miami.

The name likely comes from the fact all of Jay’s immediate family starts with the letter “J,” notes Super Yacht Fan : “All the names of Jay Schottenstein’s direct relatives start with a J: Jay is married to Jeanne, he has three sons: Joseph, Johnathan and Jeffrey and his grand children are named Jacob and Jonah.”

The majestic vessel’s fitness center is located on the stern, providing a direct water view, and she’s also outfitted with a tender and four jet skis. Just J’s can accommodate 16 guests.

More photos here .

#JustJs #EpicMarina #Brickell #MiamiCircle A photo posted by Mr. E (@highdrone) on Jun 25, 2015 at 4:28pm PDT

After the Hakvoort Dutch yard completed the 2012 expansion of its facilities and new dry dock in Monnickendam, it was able to accommodate the 61-metre superyacht, Just J’s, its largest to date. Just J’s is constructed with steel and an aluminium superstructure. Exterior design is by Sinot Yacht Design, while her naval architecture is by Diana Yacht Design. She accommodates 12 guests in a master cabin, VIP cabin, four doubles on the main deck and a double and a twin on the lower deck. Her overall length is (61m/200ft.) A photo posted by The Yachts of Newport (@yachtsofnewport) on Jul 8, 2016 at 1:22pm PDT

Big guns are at the Boat basin and Just J's is the biggest of the lot! What a beautiful yacht - love the jet ski port! #summer16 #nantucket #ack #nantucketboatbasin #justjs #jetski #massachusetts #travel #yachting #superyacht #howcoolisthat A photo posted by J. Griffin (@satedepicure) on Jul 28, 2016 at 3:04pm PDT

Love when my favorite #MegaYacht is in town #Miami #Brickell #JustJs #Motivation #YachtLife #Goals A photo posted by Jamie Rose Maniscalco (@jamie_r0se) on May 5, 2016 at 1:40pm PDT

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JUST J’S Specifications

Completed Hakvoort Yacht JUST J'S

The 200 Ft. (61m) superyacht JUST J’S features a carefully considered balance of indoor and outdoor spaces. One of the striking features is the positioning of the four guest suites and VIP stateroom on the main deck, ensuring that guests have superb views. The main deck is home to a large dining room and lounge, with the owners’ accommodation housed on a dedicated private deck above. This extra deck comprises the master stateroom forward with large skylight, two bathrooms, a master study and a bar with sky lounge.

Above is the bridge deck with wheelhouse and a range of facilities for the captain, with the rest of the crew also being very well catered for on the lower deck. In addition to seven crew cabins forward, there are two additional guest cabins on the lower deck. The lower deck also features a gym in the spacious lazarette. A large tender and four jetski’s will be launched from both port and starboard. Add in the sun deck with a 3 x 2 meter swimming pool and this is clearly a magnificent superyacht in every sense.

The exterior and interior comes from the drawing boards of Sinot Yacht Design. Naval architecture, construction and engineering design for this project is done by Diana Yacht Design with easy technical accessibility and minimum maintenance requirements.

Since her launch, JUST J’S has been a finalist at the Showboats Design Awards 2017 in the Best Exterior Design & Styling category and was also nominated for an award by the International Superyacht Society in the category ‘best power 40-65 ‘. The most recent event was the World Superyacht Awards 2017. JUST J’S had already been chosen as one of the six nominees in the category for displacement motoryachts between 500GT and 1,299GT, which is an impressive achievement in its own right.

Moran Yacht & Ship negotiated the build contract for JUST J’S, wrote the technical specifications and managed the entire build process for the vessel. Our team was by the owner’s side from concept well through completion.

JUST J’S Image Gallery

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Who Was on the Sunken Yacht? Tech Mogul Mike Lynch, His Family and Friends.

Mr. Lynch, the former chief executive of the software firm Autonomy, who was acquitted on fraud charges in June, was with friends and family when the yacht went down in a severe storm.

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By Michael J. de la Merced

Michael de la Merced reported on Mike Lynch’s career and legal battles over the course of 13 years across two continents.

A cruise on the Mediterranean Sea aboard a superyacht was supposed to be a celebratory event for the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch , who was acquitted in June of fraud charges tied to the sale of his company, Autonomy, to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard.

Instead, it turned into a disaster after the yacht, a 180-foot boat called the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily in a violent storm. Of the 22 people aboard, 15 were rescued and seven others died . Search operations ended on Friday after the final body was recovered from the site of the sunken yacht .

Here’s what we know about the passengers.

Mike Lynch and his family

Mr. Lynch, 59, is a British software entrepreneur who had once been described as his country’s Bill Gates. He founded the software firm Autonomy, which analyzed clients’ unorganized data, and turned it into one of the most prominent British technology companies of its time. He became a widely known corporate leader, who advised David Cameron, the British prime minister at the time, and joined the board of the BBC.

In 2011, Mr. Lynch sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, which was far above its market value, earning him hundreds of millions. But HP investors almost immediately soured on the transaction, and the American tech giant quickly fired its chief executive — and then Mr. Lynch.

HP later accused Mr. Lynch of misleading it about the state of Autonomy’s business, setting off a decade-long legal ordeal for the British executive, who denied the accusations. U.S. prosecutors charged him and other executives with fraud, and Autonomy’s chief financial officer was convicted in 2018.

Despite appeals to the British government, Mr. Lynch was extradited to the United States last year and was confined to a townhouse in San Francisco ahead of his criminal trial, which began in March. Facing the possibility of decades in prison if convicted, Mr. Lynch and another colleague were instead acquitted of all charges.

An official in Palermo, Sicily’s capital, said on Thursday that Mr. Lynch’s body had been recovered. His wife, Angela Bacares, 57, accompanied him on the yacht, and she was rescued on Monday when it sank. She was a consistent presence at his trial in the United States. Records show that she controlled Revtom, the company listed as the owner of the Bayesian.

The body of Hannah Lynch , Mr. Lynch and Ms. Bacares’s 18-year-old daughter, was thought to be recovered on Friday.

The other guests

Jonathan Bloomer, 70, chair of Morgan Stanley’s international arm and the chairman of Hiscox, an insurance provider that trades on the London Stock Exchange, was on the yacht when it sank, along with his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71. Their bodies are thought to be among those recovered, but Italian authorities have not identified them.

Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a New York-based partner at the international law firm Clifford Chance, was also on the yacht. A former federal prosecutor who comes from a family of prominent lawyers, Mr. Morvillo represented Mr. Lynch during his criminal trial in San Francisco. His wife, Neda, 57, was with him on the yacht. Their bodies are also assumed to be among those recovered.

“We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” a representative of Clifford Chance said in a statement.

Surviving passengers rescued from the yacht include Charlotte Golunski, a partner at Mr. Lynch’s venture firm, Invoke Capital; Ms. Golunski’s husband, James Emslie; and their one-year-old daughter Sophie. Also rescued were Ayla Ronald, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, and her partner, Matthew Fletcher.

The yacht had a crew of 10, and nine were rescued. The body of the chef, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered from the water, the Sicilian Civil Protection Department said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting, and Kitty Bennett and Susan Campbell Beachy contributed research.

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

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JUST J’S Interior & Exterior Photos

61m  /  200'2 | hakvoort | 2015.

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The human side of yacht ownership

How would you characterise the typical yacht owner? Whatever you may have been led to believe, the truth is simple: for most, it’s about using their yachts for precious family time, and for many it’s also about using their yachts for good.

There’s a theme that is repeated on countless yachts large and small the world over – superyachting, for most, is not about being seen but rather the opposite. It’s about yacht families and their friends enjoying precious, private moments away from the pressures of demanding business lives and the long hours running those businesses can entail.

“I have an extended family, and when our schedules allow we all like to gather on the yacht and spend some quality time as a family,” Douglas Barrowman , owner of the yacht Turquoise , told Superyacht Life back in 2017. “There is no place like a yacht for family togetherness.”

Douglas Barrowman with family

A love of the sea, adventure and technology

Superyachts and yacht ownership are also a way to explore the world around us, and to interact with and grow to understand extraordinarily diverse communities from remote Pacific islands to the Scandinavian Arctic. It’s something that inspired tech entrepreneur Jasper Smith to combine his love of adventure and his love of the sea with an opportunity for owners to give back while indulging their passion.

“I have always had a deep passion for the ocean,” Smith says. “I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau movies and being enthralled at the idea of being challenged by an endeavour.” When he set out to find his own perfect explorer yacht, however, he realised it didn’t yet exist. His answer was to create Arksen. “My aim with Arksen was to create the perfect machines to enable adventure,” he enthuses. “I also wanted to build sustainable boats which considered full life cycles, from material sourcing to recycling.”

That’s not all – Arksen also asks owners of its yachts to sign up to a pledge it calls 10% for the Ocean, where they will donate 10% of their vessel’s time to philanthropic activities. “A lot of people who have the money feel a responsibility to try and make sure that the oceans are well looked after,” Smith explains. “The people that are attracted to Arksen are passionate about the ocean and want to go off on slightly more advanced expeditions and trips. With that audience, there is a tremendous buy-in to the boat being for more than just their own purposes.”

Superyachts as a force for good

It speaks to the heart of the matter, which is that the superyacht industry and yacht owners in particular have a heart – they care about preserving the environment they enjoy, and they care about the communities they interact with who make them feel so welcome when they visit. It’s reflected in the smallest of gestures, such as donating materials and books to local schools, to the largest – helping with last-mile delivery of critical disaster relief. It’s about superyachts giving back.

It’s a positive-impact attitude toward humanity that is quietly typified by hundreds of superyacht owners, who often prefer to do their thing under the radar rather than take false glory for their philanthropic or humanitarian endeavours. For some it’s as straightforward as getting involved in projects with organisations like YachtAid Global . For others, their endeavours become a key reason for yachting.

American superyacht owner Carl Allen is a prime example of these philanthropic yacht owners. After selling his company, and having enjoyed chartering and owning yachts as a family for years, Allen set up Allen Explorations to deliver a full programme of projects, ranging from historical shipwreck searches and environmental research to disaster relief. Indeed, Allen’s support yacht Axis played a vital role in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian – one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the Bahamas.

“We had to drop everything and help after the hurricane,” says Allen. “ Axis delivered over £700,000 of supplies and made multiple trips to Little Grand island in the Bahamas. We’ve turned it into the epitome of how to organise hurricane relief.” The team helped get the local school back up and running, and organised for a group from Florida Power and Light to help restore power. “The island also lost their water tower,” he adds, “so we delivered four tanks on  Axis .”

Jasper Smith

Celebrating the good in the superyachting good life

From family time to time spent embracing the global family, superyacht owners have a far greater positive impact than many assume from preconceived ideas about what a superyacht is and the sort of person who owns or charters one. It’s one of the reasons The Superyacht Life Foundation, in association with the Monaco Yacht Show , has unveiled The Honours, which is a way to celebrate the people of our industry rather than the yachts which so often get sole focus. It’s about recognising the extraordinary contributions that people make, the change they inspire, the opportunities they create, and the lives they change.

On 26 September, the eve of the 2023 Monaco Yacht Show, three honourees – nominated by people from across the superyacht industry, and selected from a shortlist by an expert panel of industry judges – will be feted for their work and contribution to superyachting. These are industry professionals and yacht owners who epitomise what superyachting can do. These are people who highlight the good in the superyachting good life.

Yacht owners, impactful journeys

All around the globe, yacht owners are enjoying precious time on their yachts with family and friends, and many are also realising that their yachts can be a force for good and for change, tying in with their philanthropic works and humanitarian endeavours.

“Our yacht is a platform for much of our life,” offers Joe Anderson , co-owner of the Benovia Winery in California with his wife, Mary Dewane. “For instance, we used it at a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis in Baltimore at the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner event. The Blue Angels were flying overhead and used Bella Una [the couple’s yacht] as a GPS coordinate and performed flybys, tipping their wings at us. It was quite a thrill. Having a yacht is a way to keep the family intact, enjoy time with friends and have fun.”

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The 5 tragic minutes that sank a superyacht

PORTICELLO, Italy — Survivors of a storm that sank a superyacht off Sicily recounted their ordeal to one of the doctors who rushed to their aid, with some saying it took mere minutes for the 180-foot ship to go down. 

Dr. Fabio Genco, head of the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, told NBC News on the phone Thursday that he arrived in the seaside village of Porticello before dawn Monday, about an hour after the $40 million Bayesian sank in the violent and sudden storm.   

Of the 22 people onboard, 15 survived despite storm conditions and darkness, climbing onto a lifeboat before being rescued by a nearby sailboat. The crew members have made no public statements so far, though some have been interviewed by investigators.

“They told me that it was all dark, that the yacht hoisted itself up and then went down,” Genco said, recounting what the survivors told him. “All the objects were falling on them. That’s why I immediately made sure, by asking them questions, if they had any internal injuries,” he said. 

It appears they had just minutes to abandon the sinking ship, Genco said. 

“They told me that suddenly they found themselves catapulted into the water without even understanding how they had got there,” he said, “And that the whole thing seems to have lasted from 3 to 5 minutes.”

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini Navi, the Bayesian's shipbuilder, told Sky News that there were no flaws with the design or construction of the yacht. He said their structure and keel made boats like that “unsinkable bodies.”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he disavowed responsibility, blaming instead the actions of the crew. “Mistakes were made,” he said. 

Genco said one of his colleagues who arrived at the scene before him initially thought that only three people survived, but the coast guard reported there were other survivors and more emergency services were called in. 

When Genco arrived, he found scenes of panic and despair. 

“Unfortunately, we are used to such panic scenes because we are used to the shipwrecks that happen on Lampedusa ,” Genco said, referring to the island southwest of Sicily, where the wreckage of boats carrying migrants on the sea journey from North Africa to Italy are often found . 

Six of the passengers were declared missing Monday, and by Thursday, the bodies of five had been recovered from the wreck , some 160 feet underwater.

Among those who survived is Angela Bacares, wife of the British tech mogul Mike Lynch , whose body was recovered Thursday. 

Another survivor has been identified as Charlotte Emsley, 35. She told the Italian news agency ANSA that she had momentarily lost hold of her year-old daughter, Sofia, in the water but managed to retrieve her and hold her over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were pulled into safety.

Dr. Domenico Cipolla at the Di Cristina Children’s Hospital in Palermo is also part of a team of medical professionals treating the shipwreck survivors. He told the BBC on Wednesday that Emsley and her daughter, as well as the father of the child, who Cipolla said also survived, are continuing to receive psychological help. 

“Psychological support was constant and is constant even today, because basically it is the wounds of the soul that are the most in need of healing in these cases,” Cipolla said.

Genco also told NBC News that he was especially concerned about the child. “She did not understand anything. She was soaking wet and cold,” he said. 

Karsten Borner, the Dutch captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a yacht that was anchored near the Bayesian, said by phone Wednesday that he saw a thunderstorm come in at around 4 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) Monday, followed by what looked like a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms over water. 

The International Centre for Waterspout Research noted on X that there was a “waterspout outbreak” off Italy on Monday, the day the Bayesian sank. 

“I turned on the engine and made maneuvers so that we wouldn’t collide with the Bayesian, which was anchored about 100 meters from us,” Borner said. “Then all of a sudden it disappeared. Then the wind calmed down, we looked around and saw a red flare.”

Borner said he got into his boat’s tender and saw a life raft with 15 people on it. Members of the crew were administering first aid. 

“I don’t know why it sank so quickly, but it may have something to do with the mast which was incredibly long,” he said. Questions have been raised about whether the mast was to blame for the accident as tall masts, even with the sails down, have more surface area exposed to the wind, which can contribute to tipping a vessel in a storm.

The CCTV footage that emerged Tuesday showed the yacht’s 250-foot mast, believed to be one of the tallest aluminum sailing masts in the world, lashed by the storm as it appears to tilt to one side before disappearing.

Claudia Rizzo is an Italy based journalist.

Claudio Lavanga is Rome-based foreign correspondent for NBC News.

Yuliya Talmazan is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London.