Superyacht toys keep billionaire morale up in the face of recession
What do today’s seafaring billionaires want most from their yachts? “NATO military technology integrated with NASA satellite tracking to create an invisible offensive security bubble with underwater sonic cannons and surface lasers that evaluate and take out anyone who lays siege to the vessel,” says Pascal Wiscour-Counter, CEO of Equisea Yacht Management in Monte Carlo. “This gear knows the difference between a malicious scuba diver and a curious dolphin.”
Yachts are glamorous, but in the USA “new-build” yacht sales have sunk to 573,520 last year from 912,130 in 2006, according to the US National Marine Manufacturers Association. Globally, sales of new superyachts with 50 million-euro-plus price tags have dropped to a dozen a year. In better times, the market can absorb 100 vessels a year.
“Thirty-four percent of yachts over 130 ft are now for sale and most of them were built in 1998,” calculates Fraser Yacht CEO Hein Velema. “This year we’ve only built four new yachts. Now it’s about upgrading, customising and caring for what you have.”
“The days of frippery are over,” says George Fortune, director of Monte Carlo Luxury Yachts. “Buyers want to go green, travel further and consume less energy.” Fortune’s future is Gattopardo VI, a 132 ft, four-deck vessel powered by two 1,700 hp diesel engines that can do a non-stop 7,000 nautical-mile trip at a speed of 7 knots. “It also comes with an elevator and, for fun, some fast speedboats,” Fortune says. The price? “It’s not for sale.”
Yet everything else in the world of superyachts is up for grabs in 2011. Gilles Dyan, director of the Opera Gallery in Monaco, advises superyacht owners on which Picasso to buy and hang on the poop deck. Part of his job is to “make sure the air-conditioning doesn’t blow right into the painting”.
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Maykel Hop says his 700,000 euro superyacht accoutrement offers the ideal environment for anything from an Old Master to a large Damien Hirst. Hop is director general of the Dutch luxury-submarine company U-Boat Worx. “All electric battery power, no fumes,” he says, as the boat dives. “Hey, if you want a wine cellar, we can install one.”
Can it be a coincidence that the periscope detects corks popping on a nearby deck?
“Our ultimate fine-wine service is now available for the ultimate superyacht,” says Bertrand Faure Beaulieu, a principal at Sarment Yacht Services. Sarment’s chief wine steward, Christopher Delalonde, says that “The slight rocking of the yacht tends to make the oldest wines evolve faster.”
Vanessa Troillard grasps the importance of stability, particularly in the shore-to-ship transport of wine, art and passengers. That’s where Lisa fits in. She’s the 300,000 euro single-prop airplane designed to float into any superyacht’s internal docking cocoon. “The price includes 20 hours of flight training,” says Troillard, a marketing manager at the French-based aeronautical firm Lisa Airplanes SA.
Back at sea and flying through the chop at 45 knots aboard the J Craft Torpedo Boat, Swedish marine designer Johan Attvik says his 750,000-euro retro wood speedster can do everything Lisa does except land on snow and dirt. “The King of Sweden has one,” Attvik says. “Next year, we start selling Torpedo Boats in art galleries and at film festivals.”
But cash shortages are leading owners to sidestep marine taxes. “The length to which someone who has spent a few hundred million on a superyacht will go to elude value added tax is remarkable,” Fortune says.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has 75 superyachts in its VAT-free “merchant navy”. Luxembourg is a landlocked country. “The trick is to wrap the vessel’s ownership in a maze of companies no government has the time or money to untangle and then charter it to yourself,” Fortune says. “It’s likely more expensive than just paying the VAT, but such is superyacht life in the 21st century.”