HANSA Yachts 01-2021

Niche on the Upswing?
Sailing, many experts agree, is experiencing an upswing. Now, already and
soon even more so. This luxury segment is sustainable anyway. Shipyards
and suppliers are upgrading
That currently, or actually since April 2020, the
brokerage market is experiencing an upswing can be
confirmed not only by shipyards and brokers, but also by
suppliers and insurers. All in all, 2020 was a good business
year, albeit mainly due to COVID-19. Social distancing
works just fine on board – on the high seas or
even in a nice bay on the Balearics.
But what happens when this pandemic is put to rest
and other megatrends, first and foremost the climate debate,
take up much more space again?
Then, and some shipyards are already preparing for
this, the sustainability issue will become a very important
one. Sailing is already experiencing an upswing; and
not only among the German owner of a 22-metre yacht
from YYachts, whom we may quote here, says something
like: »Inspired by a crossing from Mallorca to Sardinia,
to which a friend who had previously switched from a
motor yacht to a Y8 had taken me, I started looking
around for sailing boats on the web. Shortly before this
trip, I had taken my motor yacht out for a cruise in the
Adriatic. That was also nice, but we used about 40,000 l
of diesel.«
Growing shipyard market
Larry Ellison, software mogul and owner of the
87-metre motor yacht »Musashi«, is also said to have ordered
a sailing yacht from Perini Navi for around
€ 55 million. The fact that the Italian shipyard has filed
for insolvency is not exactly conducive to a quick departure.
Various competitors are already interested in a
takeover, and billionaire Ellison knows his way around
the market and is a serial offender in the purchase of
large yachts. New to the business, however, is Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos, who is said to have ordered a
127-metre sailboat from Oceanco. Leaving aside the
143 m »A«, which many experts do not consider a pure
sailing yacht, Bezos would soon own the largest sailing
yacht in the world.
If the focus is on sailing yachts, the selection of shipyards
is quite clear. Of the approximately 820 yacht projects
over 24 m in length currently under construction,
about 60 carry a mast – that is a seven per cent market
share, perhaps a good dozen of the 180 active shipyards
in superyacht construction deal with this. Since 2017/18,
however, the segment has been growing slowly but
steadily and, as various experts agree, will increase again
more strongly in the medium term; some even say it will
go through the roof in the Fridays-for-future maelstrom.
The owners are getting younger, or the customers’
children are getting older, and thus the sensitivity for sustainable
luxury is growing. Richard Hadida, CEO of
Oyster Yachts, said at a recent conference: »Young people
today are growing up with a different awareness. The oldest
form of transport is about to make a big comeback.«
»Sailing does not have to be complicated«
YYachts founder Michael Schmidt, one of Europe‘s most
accomplished yard managers and sailors, is also aiming
in this direction: »We have already motivated three
motor yacht owners to buy a sailing yacht. Sailing does
not have to be complicated. We have designed our models
in such a way that you can sail them virtually on your
own, even in very little wind, because we build from carbon.
But the comfort on board is of course luxurious according
to the clientele.« Schmidt has already sold ten of
his entry-level model, the 22m »Y7«, since 2016. The
first »Y7« owner has already bought an upgrade and will
soon take delivery of a »Y9«.
Baltic Yachts from Finland, the shipyard of Duderstadt
entrepreneur Hans-Georg Näder, is now also active in a
similar length category. Known for complex constructions
– such as »Canova«, the first super-sailer with
foiling technology, or the ultra-light 67-metre ketch
»Hetairos«, the company is currently building a socalled
café racer, 20 m long, with a hull made of 50 %
fast-growing flax. A 30-kilowatt electric motor is to
36 HANSA YACHTS | 2021