Leap likea dolphinOnboardtoys aregrowingever moreentertaining. Rohit Jaggitakes to the waves in aspeedy example.Video at www.ft.com/seabreacher

Sun, sea and windThe drive to perfectpeak performance withalternative fuel continuesat a rate of knotsPage 4

Yachts & MarinasFT SPECIAL REPORT

www.ft.com/reports | @ftreportsWednesday September 23 2015

Inside

Yachts and yards inpush on environmentBuilders and designersare on a quest topersuade clients thatgreener is betterwww.ft.com/yachts-marinas

Classic cruisersThe UK has become acentre of excellence insaving and restoringhistoric vessels.Page 3

America’s CupBritain’s contender is itsmost credible in thehistory of the contestPage 3

A ll summer long the sealanes from Nice to the Car-ibbean have been packedwith yachts. So much sothat anyone could be for-

given for believing that yachting isenjoying a golden era. But parts of themarket are far from buoyant, strugglingto recover from the downturn thatbeganwiththefinancialcrisis in2008.

Moreover, something of a pall hangsover the Monaco Yacht Show that startstoday. It is difficult not to contrast theconcentrated wealth in billions of euros’worth of leisure craft at anchor, for theuse of a fortunate few, with the plight ofthousands of refugees and migrants notfar away on the other side of the Medi-

terranean, risking everything in leakinghulks for the chance of a better life inEurope.

But the refugee crisis will not domi-nate concerns in the bars and restau-rants around Monaco’s Port Herculesthisweek.Yardsandbrokersarehungryfor customers and, in the superyachtmarket, the focus is on a tiny percentageof the world’s billionaire elite. In spite ofthe falls in oil prices and the rouble,market nervousness over China andcontinuing strife in Syria, demand foryachtsenduresamongthesuper-rich.

“Big builds at the top end of the mar-ket,70metresandbeyond,amonghalfadozen high-quality yards, are enjoyinggood times with little spare capacity,”

says Martin Redmayne, chair of theSuperyacht Group, a stable of industrypublications. “But parts of the sectorhavefaredpoorly inthe lastyear.”

Following the closure of New Zea-land’s Fitzroy Yachts in 2014, AlloyYachts, another New Zealand builder,was forced to lay off most of its work-force this year, keeping on a skeletonstaff in the hope of orders and invest-ment. Christensen Shipyards in Van-couver, meanwhile, went into receiver-ship in the spring, and a number of Ital-ian yards are under pressure with flag-ging orders. In the Netherlands,Moonen Yachts has suspended produc-tion.

This month, Palmer Johnson Yachts,known for an eye-catching range ofsuperyachts, announced it was movingproduction from its Sturgeon Bay yardon the shores of Lake Michigan to theNetherlands before the end of the year,

with plans to focus on its compositeSuperSport series of yachts. The PalmerJohnson move is the strongest indica-tion yet that northern Europe is consoli-dating its dominance at the high end ofthe market, where shipyards such asLürssen and Abeking & Rasmussen inGermany, and Feadship, Oceanco andAmels in the Netherlands, all havestrongorderbooks.

“The top yards are doing well, butthere are a huge number of yards withstalled orders, delayed contracts, specu-lative builds and unsold boats,” says MrRedmayne. “What we see in the orderbookisoftenapoorreflectionofreality.”

This year, the annual report ofContinuedonpage2

Top yardsthrive, smallerones struggleto stay afloat

The sectormay look like it is enjoying a golden erabut the picture is not uniform, saysRichard Donkin

Superyacht deliveries vs orders(year-on-year)

11 12 13

300

250

200

150

100

2006 07 08 09 1410

Orders

Deliveries

Fleet forecast’000

18 19

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

2015 16 172014

4.0

The economics of buying a superyachtNew-build (Three-year build, two years of use)

Secondhand(Five years of use)€20m

Source: Superyacht Intelligence annual report 2015

€40m

€4m

€36m

+€3m

+€5m

= €48m

Less €28m

€20m

Purchase price

+€2m

+€15m

Refurbishment

Running costs (five years at €3m p.a.)

€25mNet cost

= €37m

Less €12mTotal costs over five years

Resale value after five years

Total contract price:

Deposit

Balance (€12m p.a. x3)

Chartering a yacht during build period(Three years at €1m p.a.)

Running costs (two years at €2.5m p.a.)

Total costs over five years

Resale value after two years of use

Net cost

Cannes Marina welcomes the world’s super-rich and their boats —Ullstein Bild / Getty

Brokers are hungry forcustomers, and the focusis on a tiny percentage oftheworld’s super-rich elite

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 23 September 2015

Yachts & Marinas

Superyacht Intelligence lists 68 yardsamong181buildersworldwidethathavedelivered just one 30-metre-plus yachteachinfiveyears.

“If someone risks building a one-offyacht at a [yard] that has only built twoyachts in the past five years, you canimagine the potential for fallout,” saysMr Redmayne. “Clients must be surerthan ever in due diligence when choos-ing a yard.” The trend in the superyachtsector, he says, is moving to about 50yardsproducingmostof the inventory.

In thehigher-volumepowerboatmar-ket, competition among builders isfierce, as relatively new owners of somebrands demand improvements in salesand profits. The Chinese owners of bothFerretti in Italy and Sunseeker in the UKhave made management changes aftertheir respective takeovers. Late lastyear, Dalian Wanda recruited PhilPopham, former Jaguar Land Rovergroup marketing director, to becomechiefexecutiveofSunseeker.

Mr Popham has already put his stampon the business, reshuffling his team toinclude seasoned professionals withinthe business, plus others brought fromoutside to tighten up governance andmanufacturingdisciplines.

“It’s a fantastic brand and great prod-uct, but longer-term planning has notlooked as far as it does in the motor oraircraft industries. We’re moving tosevento10years’productplanning,andfive to seven years’ business planning,”hesays.

After 300 job losses, the company is

Continued frompage1 recruiting again, including 38 newapprenticeships.

The company recently celebratedselling its 100th yacht of more than100ft (30m) long, emphasising its con-tribution to the superyacht sector. Itsmain British competitor, Plymouth-based Princess Yachts, has responded todifficult market conditions by extend-ing its product range after pushing out isown series of 100ft-plus yachts — the Mclass—inthreeyears.

Chris Gates, managing director, sayshe expects sales to be higher in this, thecompany’s 50th anniversary year, in adifficult market. “We’re working hard,broadening our customer base andbringingoutnewproducts.”

Italian yards and companies, mean-while, are experiencing mixed fortunes,although family-run Azimut Benetticontinues to thrive after selling a 12 percent stake to Tamburi Investment Part-ners, whose chairman Giovanni Tam-buri, himself a yacht enthusiast, hasjoinedtheAzimutBenettiboard.

Such developments point to increas-ing professionalism in an industryresponding to clients looking for a depthof experience. Traditionally, a propor-tion of new-to-market buyers are gener-ated from charter, which has performedwell this summer among the biggestyachts. “You couldn’t find anything tocharter over 70m after the end of July,”says Barry Gilmore, executive chairmanof Royale Oceanic, the superyacht serv-icescompany.

“Most of the bigger, quality yachtshave sold in the secondhand market,”hesays.“Newconstruction,ontheotherhand, is a mixed bag, still quiet acrossmany areas. But we could be on theverge of an upturn. People seem to bebecomingmore interested inyachts.”

Mr Gates at Princess Yachts, however,is less sanguine. “We have to accept thattoday’s market is the new norm,” hesays.

Top yardsthrive, smallerones struggleto stay afloat

‘Longer-termplanninghas not looked as far as itdoes in themotor oraircraft industries’

W hile most people whotravel aboard boatsworth £1m or moremight be mainly con-cerned with the size of

the sundeck, the quality of the refresh-ments and the comfort of the cabins, thedesigners of such vessels are becomingever more focused on making themlighterandmoreefficient.

In many ways, however, their task isthankless because ever greaterdemands for luxury mean more on-board equipment and greater weight,which in turn usually means increasingengine sizes — and therefore fuel con-sumption and emissions — in order tomaintainperformance.

To solve the puzzle, some designersand builders are thinking laterally inan attempt to introduce innovative —and not always obvious — solutions tomake their boats better, both in terms of

the way they move and the comfort thattheyoffer.

One such person is the celebratednaval architect Nigel Irens, who is notedfor creating the trimaran used by EllenMacArthurtobreaktherecordforasolocircumnavigation of the world back in2005.

“Our particular approach in recent

years has taken us away from planinghulls because, while they provide theobvious means of going fast, we feel thatthere is an exciting opportunity toexplore the ‘mid-ground’ speedsbetween those offered by alternativedisplacementhulls,”saysMrIrens.

“The vessels we have developed arequite slender for their length, so thattheir weight is carried on a longer-than-usual waterline length. Low displace-ment/length ratio — or LDL — is theterm we use to describe these hulls, andtheir objective is radically to reduceresistance in the chosen speed range forwhichtheyaredesigned,”hesays.

As an example, a 60-foot vessel with aplaning hull would typically have acruising speed of 20 knots, whereas aboat of the same length with a conven-tional displacement hull would berestrictedto littlemorethan10knots.

A 60ft LDL hull, however, will allow aspeed of 15 knots, with the added bene-fits of increased fuel economy, greaterrange, reduced noise and vibration, andamorecomfortableride.

“The yachts of this type produced sofar have lived up to our expectations incombining low energy use with smoothand comfortable operation at speedsthat could be described as swift ratherthanfast,”headds.

“Another benefit of low power con-sumption is that long-range cruisingunder power becomes feasible — espe-cially as levels of noise and vibration areso low.”

Indeed, the twin problems of noiseand vibration are considered so under-mining of the feeling of “luxury” that iscentral to the success of a high-end boatthat Princess Yachts, based in Devon

in south-west England, recently com-pleted a three-year, government-funded research and development pro-gramme to find ways of suppressingtheseannoyances.

One of the results is an “activelydamped” generator platform that Prin-cess will demonstrate for the first timeat January’sLondonBoatShow.

“The location and installation of thegenerator plant is really important,especially during the night when youwant as near to total silence as possible,”says JulianSpooner,whojoinedPrincess10yearsagoasheadofcomposites.

He explains: “The system we havedeveloped uses little shakers — rather likeyouwouldsee inanaudiospeaker—which sense the vibration input andproduce an anti-vibration movement tocancel it out. The reduction innoise and movement is remarkable,making the yacht considerably morecomfortable.”

Mr Spooner’s main role at the com-pany, however, is to develop new, moreefficient methods of hull construction,the latest of which is known as “resin infusion”. Rather than create a tradi-tional thick, heavy skin made from glassfibre reinforced with ribs, resin infusiontakes the form of a “sandwich” con-struction, in which layers of laminateare held apart by a foam core. “The

result is that you have a very solid struc-ture, but without the space-consumingribs that are required in traditionalopen-moulding techniques,” says MrSpooner.

That means a larger interior volumefor the same external hull size. That, inturn, means living areas can be larger, ascanspacefor theengines.

“There is also a weight reduction of upto 25 per cent, which leads to fuel sav-ings and improvements in perform-ance,”saysMrSpooner.

“One of our key aims at Princess isalways to enhance efficiency, and theresin infusion technique has proved tobe a real leap forward, so much so that itis now used across the range, from the39ft V39 model right up to our 40m,£15mflagship.”

Incredible hulls that make for a smoother rideDesign Innovationthrough lateral thinkingis providing solutionsfor boat builders, saysSimon de Burton

‘The systemuses littleshakers which sense thevibration and produce ananti-vibrationmovement;the reduction in noise andmovement is remarkable’

Niche automotive firm BAC has joinedforces with broker Camper &Nicholsons to create an on-board toyfor the fast and furiously wealthy: a170mph, single-seat sports car,supplied with a carbon fibre crane tolift it on and off ship, and a deck-mounted, temperature-controlledstorage unit to keep it in while at sea,

writes Simon de Burton. The MonoMarine features corrosion-resistantcomponents and bespoke finishes tomatch the livery of its host vessel.The car pictured is a featherweight580kg propelled by a 305hp engine,but costs a heavyweight £500,000. Astandard Mono — offering the sameperformance — costs £80,000.

Wednesday 23 September 2015 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3

Yachts & Marinas

ContributorsSimon de BurtonFT contributor

Richard DonkinFT sailing correspondent

Simon GreavesFT.com sailing correspondent

Don Hoyt GormanSuperyacht journalist and consultant

Victor MalletSouth Asia bureau chief

Will MathiesonThe Superyacht Report editor

Rohit JaggiEditor

Christina MaddenSub-editor

Steven BirdDesigner

Andy MearsPicture Editor

For advertising details, contact:Victoria Roberts, victoria.roberts@ft.com,or your usual FT representative.

All editorial content in this report isproduced by the FT. Our advertisers haveno influence over or prior sight of thearticles.

The build-up to the America’s Cup in2017 is proving that Britain is fielding itsmost credible challenge yet in the 164-year history of the oldest internationaltrophyinsport.

Skimming the waves will be the fast-estandmost technicallyadvancedboatsever, in a contest that the US has domi-nated. In 1851, members of the NewYorkYachtClubbeat14Englishwoodencutters and schooners with their yachtAmericaroundtheIsleofWight.

It was not until 1983 that Australiabroke the Americans’ 132-year winningstreak. Britain has tried and failed towinalmost20times.

The speed of these boats has tripled ineight years, through advanced hydrody-namics and aeronautics. A move todrag-reducing hydrofoils means thatspeedsofupto45mpharepossible.

Sir Ben Ainslie is charged with trans-lating the British effort into victory inthe contest. The Land Rover BAR (BenAinslie Racing) 45ft carbon-fibre cata-maran used in early rounds is complexto sail — the helmsman controls the sailswith one hand and the foils with theother. The organisation was set up 12months ago by Sir Ben with formerMcLaren F1 boss Martin Whitmarsh aschief executive. The £80m campaignsaw Land Rover providing financial andtechnical support to develop perform-ance gains on the water and a solid busi-ness model. BAE Systems provideshigh-technology engineering. Theannouncement of another commercialpartner isexpected.

Jono Macbeth, BAR sailing team man-ager and a three-time America’s Cupwinner, says: “We need to keep improv-ing if we are going to be successful.When we started this series, I didn’tthink there would be one team thatdominated,as thefleet is sostrong.”

In the opening races, fleet positionshave been clear. The British, Americanand New Zealand teams have been

faster in reading the wind and coveringthe water than those from France, JapanandSweden.

But that could change in the thirdevent, off Bermuda next month. And itremains to be seen whether advantagescan be transferred to the boats beingdevelopedtorace for thecupitself.

Sir Ben, a four-time Olympic goldmedallist as well as a past America’s Cupwinner, says: “We are in . . . an intenseperiod of development with our testboats. We want to maximise our learn-ing from the tests and make the most ofthe next year, in preparation for thefinalrace.”

British hopeto rule thewaves after166 years

America’s Cup

The latest UK entry is thestrongest to challenge for thetitle, says Simon Greaves

Sir Ben Ainslie wastactician in OracleTeam USA’scomeback victoryagainst NZ twoyears ago

Thisyear is set tobeaperiodofunprece-dented activity for the niche explorersectorof thesuperyachtmarket.

With 15 boats in the order booksscheduled to hit the water by the end of2015, according to The SuperyachtIntelligence Agency, this represents ahalcyon year for this thriving class ofvessel, with double the number ofexplorers introduced to the superyachtfleetcomparedwith lastyear.

Although rugged oceangoing boatshave been around since the 1960s, theirrecent rise to prominence has been pro-nounced, and is perhaps typified by theemergence of Ancona-based shipyardCantiere delle Marche. Established in2010, the yard has already delivered 10

explorer yachts, with four currently intheprocessofbeingbuilt.

Vasco Buonpensiere, the yard’s salesand marketing director, says it haseffectivelyannexedanicheclientpool.

“The market craved reliable, sea-worthy, low-fuel yachts, with lots of vol-ume for their length, over-engineeredandlotsofspacefortoys.”

Mr Buonpensiere places particularemphasis on the latter, with Cantiere

delle Marche’s research of 50 potentialclients’ cruising patterns indicating thatan astonishing 89 per cent of time isspentatanchor.

“This means that they need some-thing to spend their time on — havingkayaks, subs, diving stations, wake-boards, wakesurfs, fishing gear andinflatable toys is of paramount impor-tance.Andexplorersaremadefor this.”

Mr Buonpensiere believes the markethas veered away from designs based onopulence and luxury towards more util-itarianandefficientvessels.

He says: “Yachtsmen are fed up withspending so much money and findingthemselves in crowded bays with somany other yachts that are basicallyidentical. They want to reach new desti-nations and they don’t want to be lim-ited to just a few cruising grounds; andthey want to have a vessel that distin-guishesthemfromtheothers.”

This is a view shared by Sergio Cutolo,founder of Hydrotec, an Italian navalengineering company, and one of theindustry’s most respected designers ofexplorer vessels. He feels that theseyachts have evolved from converted

tugs and trawlers into customisedsuperyachts, specifically designed tocopewithchallengingwater incomfort.

Mr Cutolo says this indicates that anew generation of yacht owner wantsaccess to off-the-beaten-track locationsandtheopenocean.

Ben Lyons, whose company EyosExpeditions has emerged as one of theleading providers of such rugged adven-tures, says demand for remote cruisingitineraries isontherise forclients.

“Getting into a popular restaurant inMonaco is not nearly as important tothemasbeinganchoredalone inabay inAntarctica, kayaking near humpbackwhales,”hesays.

Previously untapped regions such asthe Northwest Passage, the polarregions or the Amazon basin are nowincreasingly accessible, thanks to com-panies such as Eyos and the support oflocal agents.

Eyos has been advising on the latestsuperyacht project from Dutch ship-building behemoth Damen Shipyards,the SeaXplorer range, which will be offi-cially unveiled at the Monaco YachtShow.

However, as with any trend, there arepretenders. Some owners are commis-sioning yachts with explorer looks butvery different capabilities. It is MrCutolo’s analogy that perhaps sums upthis element of the market best: “It isconnected to aesthetic preferencesrather than content. A client might pre-fer an ‘explorer look’ the same waysome people buy sports utility vehicleseven if [theyhaveno intention]ofcross-ingadesertordriving inthesnow.”

Despite this, the real explorer class isfar fromovercrowded.

The market “will undoubtedly con-tinue to grow”, Mr Lyons says. “Moreowners see what is possible and wanttheir yachts to be similarly capable. Inaddition, a new demographic ofyounger, more active owners is becom-ingattractedtoyachting.”

These seafarers want to exploit thepotential of their vessels and see ruggedplaces thatareaccessibleonlybysea.

“The more capable the yachtsbecome,” says Mr Lyons, “the moreexciting the places they can reach, andthe more that will generate additionaldemand.”

Vessel class reaches the parts that others cannotExplorers

Opulence is blown out of thewater in favour of rugged,fuel-sipping yachts with alot of room for toys, saysWill Mathieson

Away from it all: holiday with ice

Just back from Liverpool’s imposingwaterfront stands the former headquar-ters of Martin’s Bank, whose Art Decointerior exudes the atmosphere of the interwar years. It now houses the officesofGLWatson,whosepedigree iswithoutequal inthehistoryofyachting.

The company sales ledger is a Who’sWho of 19th-century wealth creatorsand royal households. What was goodfor Edward VII was also good for KaiserWilhelm II in those heady days beforethe first world war, when the crownedheads of Europe were content to settletheirdifferences infriendlycompetitiononthewater.

In the last quarter of the 19th century,GeorgeLennoxWatsonwasthedesignerof choice for powered yachts. His busi-ness was rivalled worldwide only byWilliam Fife, also of the UK, and Natha-naelHerreshoff intheUS.

Like Fife, GL Watson was based on theClyde in Glasgow in its heyday. Fife is nomore — although it has left a legacy of itsthree generations of designers in a fleet

of venerable classic yachts — but GLWatson survives, designing and restor-ing yachts after decamping some yearsagoto itscurrentLiverpoolbase.

William Collier, the managing direc-tor says he has the dream job for some-one who studied the history of yachtdesign and yacht building to PhD level.His interest in old boats was sparked inchildhood, touring houseboats in themudberthsofEastAnglia.

“It was surprising just how manyimportant yachts had survived,” hesays. He became involved with projectsto restore Fife yachts, helping set upHamble-based Fairlie Restorations: “Itraced and repatriated lost Fifes, as wellasundertakingresearch.”

He was still working for Camper &Nicholson when he embarked on find-ing the GL Watson-designed Nahlin.Built on the Clyde in 1930 for Lady Yule,one of the richest women in England atthe time, the vessel represented thezenith of motor yacht design, before theGreat Depression and the second worldwar put an end to the first generation ofprivatelyownedsuperyachts.

Lady Yule sailed Nahlin around theworld in the 1930s, even chartering it tothe future Edward VIII in 1936, whoused it for a Mediterranean holiday withWallis Simpson. But before the secondworldwar, theyachtwassoldtotheKingof Romania, and after the Communisttakeover it disappeared from view.

“I had a news item from 1967 saying itwasa floatingrestaurantontheDanube,so there was a good chance it stillexisted,” says Mr Collier. “I sent a telexto the shipping authority, making anoffer, and they replied the boat was notfor sale. This was the confirmation I’dbeenseekingthat it still existed.”

The next year he went to Romania tosee theNahlinandbegantoput togethera deal to buy it, but that went into abey-ance after the overthrow of NicolaeCeausescu in 1989. Later, Nick Edmis-ton, chair of yacht broker Edmiston,foundaclient for therestoration.

It took another 10 years of negotia-tions and red tape until the yacht could

be brought back to the UK and into a drydock on the Mersey. The only companythat possessed drawings of the Nahlin,crucial to its restoration, was GLWatson. “I had lunch with the managingdirector and found he wanted to sell thecompany, so Ibought it,” saysMrCollier.

Demand for original drawings, evenin the rarefied superyacht market, islimitedtoahandfulofpotentialcustom-ers who want to restore a historic yacht.This means GL Watson focuses on bigprojects. It restored the Blue Bird, builtfor Sir Malcolm Campbell, which wassitting in a Dutch canal; today it belongstoTaraGetty, theoilheir.

GL Watson’s third big restoration,completed more recently at the Fal-mouth-based shipyard Pendennis, isthat of the 50m yacht Malahne, a 1930svessel that had been rendered almostunrecognisable beneath a crude 1980srefit. Like Blue Bird, the Malahne tookpart in the evacuation of troops fromDunkirk in1940.

The success of GL Watson’s re-emer-gence in classic yacht restoration is cen-tral to the UK’s strengthening reputa-tion for such work. Several UK yardshave broadened their skills, working onitsprojects.

The next job will be another 1930srestoration. Mr Collier is also trying tosavea1920syacht,Caritas, that is sittingin a San Francisco trailer park. “I’mhopingshe’llbesaved,”hesays.

Ships fit again for royalty, billionaires and tycoonsClassic restoration

A UK company bringsmagnificent historic vesselsback to their former glory,reports Richard Donkin

Grace, beautyand elegance:the Nahlin, builtby and restoredby GL Watson

It restoredthe BlueBird, builtfor SirMalcolmCampbell,whichwassitting inaDutchcanal

A s thesizeofsuperyachtshasincreasedover thepastdec-ade, so too have the expec-tations of their owners andusersabouttheservicethey

receive,bothonboardandashore.Inresponse,marinas thatcater for the

largest yachts have stepped up theirfacilities, and now offer concierges andbusiness centres, while also managingmore closely the environmental impactof theiroperations.

One of the newest superyacht mari-nas in the Caribbean is to be found onthe island of St Kitts at Christophe Har-bour — a private island community thatwill soon have a Park Hyatt hotel andTomFaziogolfcourse.

Alongside the YU Lounge (an exclu-sive terminal for private jet charter onthe island), Christophe Harbour nowoffers a convenient way of easing thetransitionfromair towater.

Over at OneOcean Port Vell in Barce-lona, Martin Bellamy, chief executive ofSalamanca Group, which developed andoperates theport, says thepressure isonin the Mediterranean to improve allaspects of yacht ownership. His com-pany has invested $100m over the pastfiveyears.

Asidefromhavingdedicatedspaceforyachts up to 190 metres in length, themarina includes a private members’club, restaurant, cocktail bar, a 24-hourconcierge, a gymnasium, wellness cen-tre, business hub and crew lounge, in aneye-catching,high-specdesign.

It isamovetoenrichthemarinaexpe-rience in a highly competitive market,where a 21-year lease for a 180m yachtsells for a negotiable €6,000 per sqmetre (length x beam) — and typicallyincreases invalue.

The number of superyacht marinaswith the capacity to accommodate at

least a 50m vessel has now reached412 around the world, according toSuperyacht Intelligence, the industryanalyst.

Just under half of these are inEurope, with a further 9 per cent inFlorida and the Caribbean, and 9 percent in the Pacific.

A growing trend among yacht users iscruising to remote areas where few suchluxury facilities were available in thepast. But the desire to capitalise on traf-fic has driven investment in locationsfar from the well-travelled routes of theRivieraorLeewardIslands.

In the Seychelles, for instance, EdenIsland marina has evolved to serviceyacht owners and charterers. In opera-tion since 2007, the marina recentlyexpandedits facilities so that it cancaterforall sizesofvessel.

Mike King-Harman, chief executiveof Hunt, Deltel & Co, which developed

and manages the marina, says: “Of thecurrent list of the 100 largest super-yachts,26havevisitedtheSeychelles.”

But that traffic does bring potentialproblems — owners, captains and guestsmay expect more elaborate services inkeepingwiththesupersizeboats.

“We occasionally get suggestionsabout providing more facilities,” saysMr King-Harman. “But our view is thatif you want St Tropez, then go there.Seychelles has a unique and unspoiltenvironmenttooffer.”

The issue of local impact is growing inimportance. Marinas have to ensurethat they adhere to stricter marine pol-lution regulations. Several have submit-ted to the sustainable developmentstandard ISO 14001, and have pledgedto ensure that owners and guests alsohelp to protect the environment wheretheyareholidaying.

Marinas are expected to perform

better on a number of levels — withoutlosing sight of the basic services that allboats inevitablyneed.

Marinaconstruction, for instance,hasanenvironmental impact,butexamplessuch as Port Adriano on Mallorca, whichbecame operational three years ago, trytoaddressgreenissues throughout.

Along with using a 100 per centrenewable energy supplier, the port wasdesigned to use the sea to reduce reli-anceonelectricity.

“Port Adriano is the only superyachtmarina that has implemented an airconditioning system using 19-degreeseawater as a source of energy,” saysAntonio Zaforteza, head of Ocibar,whichdevelopedandoperates theport.

“It cools in the summer and warms inthe winter, and results in a reduction of30 per cent in electricity consumptionand thus in an important reduction ofCO2 emissions.”

Providers ofservices vieto exceedexpectations

MarinasGreen issues are among the areas inwhichoperators are competing, writesDonHoyt Gorman The exclusive, man-made Eden Island in the Seychelles, built to accommodate vessels of more than 50m—DPA / Alamy

4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Wednesday 23 September 2015

Yachts & Marinas

You’ve built your business empire andit’s time to enjoy the rewards. There’sthe country pile, the smart cars and awatch for every day of the week. Afriend has invited you on to his yacht,and now you want one — preferablysomething bigger and better.

But you know nothing about how tobuy a yacht. Can you knock on thedoor of a shipyard? A Lürssen or aFeadship wouldn’t turn you away, butthey might ever so gently ask you tojoin the queue.

Buying a custom-built superyacht isone of the most complex purchasesone can make.They don’tcome off theshelf, thoughyou can buyone second-hand.MonacoYacht Show is the place to come forsecondhand — and new ones, but thatcould take five years to build. Can youwait that long?

What features do you want? Is ahelipad, for example, essential?

If it’s size you’re after, something inexcess of 50 metres, say, you will needhelp, someone you can trust, whodoesn’t have something to sell. In fact,you’re going to need a team.

So where do you start? It dependswho you ask. A broker will say: “Startwith me” — and that might not be abad idea. Experienced brokers knowthe market, but how many of them aretruly independent? Sometimes, they’retaking commission from the yard onbuild cost; surely a conflict of interest?

Alternatively, you could start at adesign office. But brokers, designersand industry specialists almost allagree on one thing: try before you buy.

Matthew Chatt-Collins, director atAndrew Winch Designs, says: “Chartera few yachts to compare them. Youmight try four or five, then commissiona company. Or you could do anotheryear of charter, and while you’rethinking over designs, buy a second-hand one.”

But even buying a secondhandyacht is perilous as there are so manyduds on the market. “A buyer may lookat one that’s just five years old,” saysChris Cecil-Wright, a broker, “but if ithasn’t been looked after, there will beproblems. I’d advise not to order a newboat; best to charter first. The nextstep should be a good secondhandboat.”

So how can you find one in a marketdominated by brokers? One answer isto use another broker, independent ofthe seller, or lean on a trusted captain.

If using a broker, how can you beassured of their independence? Barry

Gilmour,chair of

Royale Oceanic, says: “It’sa good idea to ask

around for anintermediary. Youneed to know yourbroker. Some have

relationships withcertain builders and will drive businessthat way.”

If a family office represents yourinterests, it may have to seek out aknowledgeable intermediary. In fact,before you have finished, you will havedealt with a whole slew of agencies —lawyers, registration agents, navalarchitects and technical consultants.

The yacht never sleeps, generatingmooring, maintenance and staff costsevery day. These vary, but a rule ofthumb is 10 per cent of the sale priceeach year.

Mark Cavendish, marketing directorof Heesen yachts, lists four goldenrules: if the deal looks too good to betrue, it is; for new builds, you shouldask about the reliability of the yard;you should also look at its reputationon after-sales service; and think aboutsecondhand values.

“If secondhand value matters, youshould buy a boat that will appeal to awider ownership rather than individualtastes,” Mr Gilmour advises. “Moredreams have been broken in buildingluxury yachts than any other industry.”

Richard Donkin

Splashing out Should one go for brokers?

I n 2012 Acciona, the Spanish alter-native energy group, sponsoredwhat it called the world’s first zero-emission sailing yacht for the sin-gle-handed Vendée Globe race. It

was a lightweight racing machine plas-tered with solar panels, and without theusualauxiliarydieselengine.

Since then, electrical energy and pro-pulsion systems for boats, cars and evenaircraft have continued to proliferate.Hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius —which can be propelled by a battery-powered electric motor or by an inter-nal combustion engine, or both together— are routinely used by commuters andforcity taxi fleetsaroundtheworld.

Solar Impulse 2, the experimentalsun-powered aircraft created by Ber-trand Piccard and André Borschberg, ishalfway through its pioneering flightaround the world (albeit grounded fornow in Hawaii after its batteries over-heated).

Among owners of large, heavy motor-yachts, however, initial enthusiasm forhybrid propulsion systems (and for thetried and tested diesel-electric, in whicha generator powers an electric motor) iswaning in the face of complaints aboutcostandcomplexity.

While lightweight cars and aircraftcan roll along the ground or fly throughthe air with relatively little friction, ittakes a lot of energy to push a ship or alargeboat throughthewater.

Yachtmakers say that — for the timebeing, at least — the best way of doingthis for long periods at a manageablecost and with a power source ofmoderate weight remains the trustyinternal combustion engine and its die-sel fuel.

“Most power requirements for boatsare quite high,” says Perry van Oos-sanen, director of Van Oossanen navalarchitects. “Water is quite heavy —1,000timesheavier thanair.”

Among the drawbacks of hybrid

propulsion for superyachts, therefore,are the huge power requirements(500kW or even a megawatt to drive aship at 10 knots) and the cost of lithium-ion batteries, plus uncertainty over howto dispose of them at the end of their lives.

One of the supposed advantages of asystem in which a diesel engine worksconsistentlyat itsmostefficientspeedtocharge batteries has not yet been foundintherealworld.

There is only a 10-15 per centgap between the most and least efficientengine speeds, and any gain is typically

cancelled out by losses in convertingdiesel power to electricity and transmit-tingthat toanelectricmotor.

Hans Konings, head of design atAmels, sees little financial benefit froma hybrid system for a motoryacht thattravels the typical 8,000 to 10,000 seamiles a year. He says: “In the superyachtindustry, you don’t see these systemsmuchatall.Theyarenotsoefficient,”hesays. “The cost of ownership of such asystemis tremendouslyhigh.”

That isnot tosaythat there isnomeritatall inhybridpoweror inother innova-tions of the energy systems of super-

yachts — sometimes so large that theyare equivalent to floating hotels withgas-guzzling air conditioners and rollstabilisers that also use plenty of elec-tricity.

True, it is no secret that many yacht-owners are rich enough not to careabout the cost of fuel, and that only ahandful even of those who do talk aboutsustainability and environmental issueswill make a serious investment in greentechnology.

But owners do care about comfort:hybrid propulsion systems give a skip-per the option of cruising for short dis-tances without noise, at slow speed withjust theelectricmotors.

Sufficient battery power also allows ayacht to spend the night silently atanchor in a beauty spot — without theoffensive throbbing of the diesel genera-tors todisturb.

So the 50-metre Project Nova yachtsbeing launched at Monaco by HeesenYachts, advised by Van Oossanen, willnot only be of lightweight aluminiumconstruction with a fast-displacementhull form offering high fuel efficiency,but will also come with the option of ahybridpackage.

Amels offers a method of recoveringwaste heat from the engines — for swim-ming pools and hot water, for example— and what Mr Konings calls a “hybridswitchboard”.

This is essentially an electricity man-agement system including a batterypack, a small generator and a large gen-erator, to ensure that each piece ofequipment isusedasefficientlyaspossi-ble.

The hunt for innovative ways of gen-erating and saving energy is unendingonland,atseaandintheair.

The 2009 sailing yacht Ethereal, a 58-metre ketch built by Royal Huisman,can recharge its batteries from its pro-pellers when under sail, just as a ToyotaPrius car can harvest power from brak-ing in traffic, and incorporates numer-ous energy-saving appliances anddesignfeatures.

However,EtherealandAccionaare, infact, useful reminders that there existsan age-old method of propelling a vesselswiftly across the oceans, without usinga single drop of fuel. It is known as sail-ing.

Race for solar power heats upAlternative energySun, sea andwind: peakbattery performancedrives innovation,writesVictorMallet

Power from battery bankCharging batteries

Electric loadGenerated power

Source: Amels

Galley(dinner)

Galley(breakfast)

Laundry &service

6.00 12.00Time of day

18.00 24.000.00

Air conditioning

(full capacity)

Jacuzzitime

Small & biggenerator

A day in a hybrid electrical power system

Big generator

Smallgenerator

Bowthruster operation

Morning showers

At jacuzzi time, electric load peaks and the big generator kicks in —Eric Gailladd / Reuters