File this one under “things are tough all over”… I know a guy whose booty from the 1990s bubble includes a mid-sized yacht in the Mediterranean, complete with full-time captain and crew. It hasn’t been a major cash drain during the past 8 or so years because he has chartered it out much of the time. With fuel and other prices going up and the number of people with the means to splurge going down, the boat has become a serious cash drain and, as I learned yesterday, he is planning to sell it.
2 thoughts on “Yacht charter market downturn”
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I would be interested to know exactly how big this yacht is, whether it is power or sail, how much money he has invested in refit and crew since buying it two decades ago, and which management company is overseeing its charter program–because this story doesn’t sound right to me.
As the editor of http://www.CharterWave.com and the charter/cruising editor for Power & Motoryacht (the largest-circulation U.S. consumer boating magazine), I have just returned from the annual, industry-only charter show in Genoa, Italy. The buzz on the docks is that the charter market is still thriving in the Med. While there has been a reduction in the number of U.S. charter clients because of the weak dollar, demand remains strong from all of Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The 100- to 130-foot boats, which comprise the heart of the crewed charter market, seem to have taken a surmountable hit in terms of demand, but in general the Mediterranean charter market is still growing. Witness the newly launched Lurssen “Martha Ann,” which entered the market nearly fully booked this summer at a weekly rate of 600,000 euro for just 12 guests. The same kind of demand is being seen for the new CRN “Maraya,” the new Palmer Johnson “Hokulani,” and the new Benetti “Latinou.”
Perhaps your friend has had a downturn in his personal business, but there are many reasons that could be true. To generalize his individual boat’s problems to the entire market is simply illogical and, to my knowledge, untrue.
Kim: I’m not important enough to have been invited onto this “stinkpot” (i.e., it is a power boat). I think it is just over 100′ long, thus consistent with your theory that 100-130′ has been hit. I’m not sure about the other details. I will email when I have 600,000 euro to spend on my 11 best friends (first need to make 10 more friends (am counting my dog as 1) and a story for why we’re not spending the money on earthquake relief in China…