Knight Frank Wealth Report: Super Yacht Sales Up 40%
The rich and super-rich are buying bigger and more elegant yachts according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report, which determined that super yacht sales were up 40% from Y 2014 to Y 2015.
The report, conducted with Wealth-X, surveyed around 45,000 high and super high net-worth individuals whose collective wealth is more than $500-B.
Defined as yachts longer than 24 mtrs (75 ft) by Knight Frank, super yachts are most popular in the Pacific.
These ships are very expensive buy, own and operate.
The United States Superyacht Association estimates the annual cost for operating a 180-ft yacht in Y 2015 was $4.75-M.
Yacht manufactures, brokers and individual sellers experienced sales increases well more than 40% during the study frame.
Y.Co, Monte Carlo focuses on yacht sales, management, and charters, said the company sold 16 super yachts inY 2015, with an average length of 154 ft, for a collective sales value of $350-M. That is 2X as many as Y.Co sold in Y 2014, the company’s CEO, Charlie Birkett, said.
He expects that by the end of Y 2016, there will be 48 super yachts longer than 100 mtr, or 328 ft, sailing the high seas.
According to market data compiled by Boat International,only 16 super yachts over 60 mtrs were sold in Y 2015.
Boat International’s market report, which looked at the number of supe ryachts sold rather than dollars spent, found that 20 fewer such ships were sold in Y 2015 than in Y 2014, with 392 and 412 on the brokerage market, respectively.
The latest data shows how the super rich use their super yachts is shifting: Once used primarily for leisurely travel around the Caribbean and Mediterranean, the Knight Frank report noted that travel destinations are changing “to more adventurous locations such as the Antarctic and Asia.”
With the change in locale comes boat redesigns.
“People are looking at beach-house, single-deck living, like a loft apartment, as opposed to a conventional several-deck yacht, like a wedding cake,” Mr. Birkett says. “The clients are younger, more adventurous, more into water sports, not just sticking to the normal cruising grounds.”
More outgoing super yacht shoppers demand a highly trained crew that can navigate and manage a ship of this size 500 to 1,000 miles away from the Mainland, Mr. Birkett said. Y.Co’s super yacht crew members now include paramedics and water sport instructors.
Super yachts are not the only passion of the super rich.
Knight Frank’s report also determined that plenty is spent on classic cars and collectibles, primarily fine art.
The most collected car over a $1-M during the frame was the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, best known for its Gull Wing doors, the car is coming into its own as the classic and vintage Ferrari prices reach in to the 10’s of millions of dollars.
“People are prepared to pay for their passions,” Andrew Shirley, editor of the report, said.
Have a terrific weekend.
Paul Ebeling
HeffX-LTN
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