Mega-rich sail away from the pandemic

How do the mega-wealthy carry on spending all that money when lockdown renders leisure pursuits impossible? They buy a superyacht.

First-time buyers, who have not been able to jet off on holidays because of the pandemic, are fuelling the market in superyachts. Sales rose by 46 per cent compared with last year. Picture: Supplied

For the mega-rich, it was one of the great challenges of lockdown: how to carry on spending all that money when most leisure pursuits, from expensive holidays to fine dining, are next to impossible.

As coronavirus restrictions slowly end, one of their solutions has become evident: buy a superyacht. Sales for the first quarter of this year rose by 46 per cent compared with the same time last year, according to Boat International.

Stewart Campbell, of Boat International, said: “They (ultra high net worth individuals) have been looking to escape in any way they can, and that has led them to the superyacht market.

“There have been a lot of new buyers, people who have never owned superyachts before. These might be people who have chartered a superyacht, but never thought to buy one.

“For some reason this pandemic has triggered something in these people that said, ‘Right, now is the time. I want to buy a superyacht.’ It could be a consequence of being locked down, and how being on the water gives a sense of freedom they have been yearning for and the fact that they have not been able to spend their money on anything else.

Combined sales for January, February and March this year showed a 46% increase in brokerage sales compared to the same period last year, ending the first quarter of 2021 with 133 sales versus 91 in 2020. #superyachthttps://t.co/HYNnDVK8nY

— Boat International (@boatint) May 2, 2021

“I heard of a guy who had never set foot in a superyacht before but went out and bought a 67m boat. That’s a huge superyacht to buy as a first-time purchase.”

The biggest demand is for more modest superyachts between 24m and 40m, suggesting that the market is being fuelled by first-time buyers. “That market is incredibly active right now.” A 40m yacht could cost about $39m, Campbell said.

Paolo Casani, chief executive of the yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, told the magazine: “People have become even more committed to invest in yachting as it offers an escape from the pandemic. There was, and is, money available.”

Ian Sherwood, a sales broker at Burgess Yachts, said: “There’s an awful lot of first-time buyers approaching the market and that’s people who have maybe chartered in the past and are frustrated that availability is different this year, because there are boats in the wrong parts of the world and boats booked. But owning your own means there’s no problem with availability.”

The Times