Current state and trend of the large yachting market

Superyacht Nero, largest yacht sold in 2014

After the financial crisis of 2008 and a further decline in orders and sales in 2013, the large yachting market has now recovered stability. While 2015 confirmed the recovery in orders and sales, 2016 should be an even better year.

Chloé Torterat Published on September 29, 2016

Who are the superyacht owners?

Today, only a handful of privileged can afford a superyacht - a unit of more than 24 m sailing or motor, see the two whose average value is 10 million euros. To own a boat of this type, you must belong to the UHNW category (211,955 people and 0.003% of the world population) and have a personal fortune exceeding 30 million euros. Yacht owners make either exclusive use or partial use with charter (charter).

The superyacht fleet

In 2016, the superyacht fleet is 4476 yachts, divided between motoryachts (3 740) and sailingyachts (736), with an average length of 41 m and built by 887 yards in 53 countries. Moreover, European shipyards remain the largest producers in terms of number and length of construction, with Italy in the foreground, which occupies 31% of the global market share in 2015 with 1402 yachts built. This is followed by the United States (17%) or the Netherlands (13%).

	2015	2014
Number of yachts delivered	146	156
Motoryachts	134	139
Sailingyachts	12	17
Total length	6 461 m	6 784 m
Average length	44 m	44 m
Shipyards	76	76
Country	22	20

Superyacht order book

At the end of 2015, 455 yachts - with an average length of 50 m - were under construction in 145 yards in 27 different countries. An increasing figure, since the financial crisis - the year 2009 was catastrophic in terms of orders with approximately 80 units requested against 250 in 2008. In 2015, orders amounted to 166 units against 152 in 2014.

Superyacht sales notebook

In 2015, 268 superyachts over 30 m were sold, compared to 271 in 2014 and 242 in 2013. Stability has now returned to a landscape reshaped by the global financial crisis, as evidenced by the number of sales in 2011 (205 sales), well below today.

In contrast, the total value of superyachts sold has declined 34.5% since 2011. This figure is explained by the favourable exchange rates for buying in dollars from European yards that sell in euros. In 2015, the fleet (sail and motor) over 30 m is estimated at $2.68 billion with an average value per yacht of $10,002,689.

Red Dragon, largest sailing yacht sold in 2015

In 2015, the number of yachts sold is down with 19 sales (against 259 for MY). A figure that decreases from year to year, while the number of MY sales remains stable. The sailboat market remains difficult to predict since the quantities are relatively small, even if it is certain that 2015 was not that of sailing. However, two beautiful orders in late 2015 and early 2015 show the confidence of buyers in the largest units: the Red Dragon (52 m) and Twizzle (57.5 m).

In 2015, the average length of motoryachts (40 m) remained the same as in 2014, while the average length of sailing boats decreased by 2.3 m over the same period, from 39.3 m in 2014 to 37 m in 2015.

The charter

Like sales, charter was also affected by the 2008 financial crisis. Today, it is stabilizing even if there is still a shortage of quality yachts available for charter, which should improve with new construction.

In 2015, the number of charters increased compared to the previous year, even catching up with 2007, when bookings had reached a peak. Over the past 10 years, the average value of a week's rental was $115,500 to $190,000 per week. The highest value corresponding to the most profitable years in the industry.

What trend for 2016?

The number of boat sales is up for the year 2016, compared to 2015, with 20 units sold in January (compared to 17 the previous year). The market for 2016 should be strong and prices adapted to demand.