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Icon will deliver its first custom 62.5-meter (203-foot),
steel-hulled motor yacht in 2008, and two more 62.5-meter projects are
already in the pipeline. A 37-year yachting industry veteran, Koersvelt is part
of the superyacht owners’ inner circle, but he believes there is room to expand
the market beyond this elite group by offering a top-quality product that
reflects ultra-efficient design and engineering concepts.
 "If you look at affluence in general, at the number of people
who can afford a yacht at that level in the world, only four percent of them own
a yacht, according to the statistics I have seen," Koersvelt said. (Click image to enlarge)
"The guy who buys our type of boat isn’t affected by the
economy," said Felix Sabates Jr., chairman of Trinity Yachts, the leading
American megayacht builder.
Trinity currently has 19 new projects on order, including a
74-meter (242-foot) project called New Horizon, scheduled
for delivery in early 2011. Sabates attributes the rise in LOA, in part, to
economies of scale. "It takes as long to build a 160-footer as a 140-footer," he
said, pointing out that the two yachts require nearly the same amount of
wiring, electronics and other equipment.
 Another incentive for affluent owners to go up in size is the
excellent resale market for custom yachts with a proven pedigree. According to
Sabates, Trinity owners regularly get 10 to 25 percent more than their original
purchase price when they resell their yacht. Even the shipyard’s first hull,
115-foot M/Y Leda, recently sold for
the same price she commanded on delivery in 1990. (Click image to enlarge)
While the upper end of the luxury yacht market is experiencing
meteoric growth, there are industry-wide fears that sales for the smaller luxury
yachts, particularly the 24.4- to 27.1-meter (80- to 89-foot) range, may soften
in the wake of the current downturn in the recreational sportboat market.
Top: Sanlorenzo 40 Alloy. Bottom: Sunreef 102. (Click images to enlarge)
"The smaller boats under fifty feet are not selling well,"
reports Robert Braithwaite, managing director of Sunseeker International in
England.
The results of the 2008 Global Order Book survey actually found
a 22 percent increase in yacht orders since 2007 in this range. The next segment
up, the 27.4 to 30.2 meter (90- to 99-foot) range, also showed an increase
in orders from 2007, but at 4.5 percent, it was the smallest annual gain across
all categories.
Top: Fincantieri 134. Bottom: Feadship SL39. (Click images to enlarge)
Even though the lower end of the market may be holding steady
for the moment, it’s clear that the real growth in the yachting industry is in
the larger superyacht segments. Even traditional production-boat builders are
gearing up to accommodate the increased demand. Sunseeker, the leading
yachtbuilder in the United Kingdom, is a prime example. Last January, the
shipyard, which is known for its sleek, high-performance production yachts,
launched its first semi-custom tri-deck motor yacht, the 37-meter project called
The Snapper. The yacht was so successful that four additional 37-meters are listed in Sunseeker’s current order
book.
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