"Our average size is now sixty feet, when ten years ago, a
sixty-footer was the biggest boat we built," Braithwaite said. "It just shows
how the world has moved."
Top: Alloy Kokomo III. Bottom: Benetti Annaeva. (Click images to enlarge)
Managing a broad portfolio of yacht types and sizes is a lesson
not lost on Paolo Vitelli, president of Italian yachtbuilding conglomerate
Azimut-Benetti. His company continues to be the world’s leading large luxury
yachtbuilder—a position it has held since ShowBoats’ 1999 Global Order Book was published nearly a
decade ago. This year, Azimut-Benetti increased its order book build total by
just five projects compared to 2007, but saw an 8.8 percent increase in the
total length of its projects.
Vitelli attributed his group’s success to three factors.
"First, we cover as many segments as possible of the megayacht world," he said.
"Second, we are becoming more and more international." For example, he reported
having delivered the largest yacht ever sold to a Chinese national at 31 meters.
"Third is to always be at the top in innovation," he continued. "We are
designing the biggest yacht ever built in GRP." The 165-footer, Hull No. BV101,
is in the works at Benetti. The delivery date has yet to be announced.
Top: Wally Essence. Bottom: Horizon 107. (Click images to enlarge)
Spurred by a spirit of innovation, a strong shipbuilding
tradition and a trendsetting sense of style, Italy remains the most prolific
yachtbuilding country in the world, with four times as many yachts on its
shipyards’ collective order books as its largest competitor nation, the United
States. The dominant country in the industry since 2001, Italy reports 427 yacht
orders this year, a 23 percent gain since 2007. However, several other
nations made significant jumps this year as well. Australia returned to the
Global Order Book list of Top 10 Builder Nations in the No. 8 spot after a
three-year absence. Turkey tripled both its new yacht orders and the new-yacht
footage in build since 2007, rising from ninth to seventh place.
Taiwan’s new yacht orders increased more than 60 percent since
2007. "The Asian yachtbuilding market is booming," said John Lu, president of
Taiwan’s leading megayacht builder, Horizon Yachts. But he said he hasn’t
felt the competition yet. "The newcomers are focused on cheaper yachtbuilding,
so the market is naturally differentiated."
Top: Horizon Miss Rose. Photograph courtesy of Horizon Group. Bottom: Wally 50m. (Click images to enlarge)
Horizon, for its part, has made a substantial investment in its
staff, employing and educating more than 1,100 workers, most of whom have
benefited from the country’s strong apprentice tradition. The company also has
10 in-house designers with master’s degrees in naval architecture.
"Horizon has reached its position in the megayacht market today by spending
ten years striving to reach it, step by step," Lu said. In this, his company
mirrors the global luxury yacht market, which has spent the past decade striving
toward higher quality and finding innovative ways to accommodate ever-increasing
demand. It’s evident in the robust listings of the ShowBoats International 2008 Global Order Book that their effort
hasn’t been in vain.
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