Making a splash

For decades, they have been the ultimate mark of financial success. From small-scale gin palaces to supertanker-sized status symbols, yachts have a cachet to outstrip all other luxury goods. Richard Cree looks at the current boating boom

The world of boats is changing. In the last decade, spurred on by rising house prices and the ease of borrowing, there has been a boom in UK boat sales. Both new and second-hand boats, across all price brackets, are being snapped up as soon as they reach the market. In response, the luxury end of the market is having to work harder to maintain the cachet of luxury yacht ownership.

Put bluntly, yachts are getting bigger and more elaborate. With little (but cost) to limit their size, the contest to own the world’s biggest boat shows no sign of abating. Russian oligarchs vie with Arab princes and IT entrepreneurs to have the biggest and the best super yacht. Internationally renowned yacht designer Guido de Groot sums it up: “It’s crazy. What used to be a big yacht 10 years ago isn’t considered big anymore,” he says.

Jonathan Beckett, managing director of large yacht specialists Nigel Burgess, concurs: “When I got into this business in 1979 a very large yacht would have been 200ft, now it’s likely to be 200 metres.” Bigger also means more expensive and extravagant—Beckett says that when he started a $5m or $10m yacht was a big deal—these days to raise eyebrows you have to shell out something in the region of $300m. It’s the same story for purists, who can’t stand to see a boat without a mast. While maximum size is limited by the mast, sailing boats are still growing in size. Beckett says that while 80 per cent of high-end yachts are motor cruisers, the top-end sailing vessels now offer a standard of accommodation that used to be the preserve of motor yachts.

So what’s the appeal of a boat? “When you step on a boat, the world reduces down to the length of the boat and your troubles recede,” says Andy Middleton, director of Global Yacht Racing and a lifelong sailor. Despite his passion for racing, Middleton admits that sometimes it’s the quieter moments that mean the most. “Most sailors live for that five minutes when, having battled through a storm during the night, you wake up to a glorious sunrise with nothing around you. It gives you an enormous sense of satisfaction.” Massimo Ferragamo, brother of Leonardo Ferragamo (owner of luxury yacht-maker Nautor’s Swan) has been a sailor since the age of 14. He agrees that there is little to compare with the pleasure of sailing: “Every summer I go on holiday with my family and we always go for a sailing yacht rather than a motor yacht—it is much more relaxing and more beautiful.”

Ferragamo says that what he looks for in a yacht is “the perfect combination of great design, excellent performance and a feeling of safety”. Naturally, for Ferragamo, that can only mean a Swan.
For Jens Frees Horneman, marketing director at new yachting members club Privatsea, the thrill is being able to wake up in a different place everyday: “You get to move around and see different things, but you are also in splendid isolation. A boat is somewhere members can just be themselves, with no one around. They can be in Monaco, go to a restaurant at night and in the morning be in Corsica or Sardinia.”

Privatsea is evidence of another trend: the growing number of ocean-loving high-achievers who want to enjoy the water without the hassle of ownership. Privatsea gives them access to a fleet of yachts around the world and a “doorstep to deck” travel service.