New sailing superyacht market stabilizes

New sailing superyacht market stabilizes

After a significant decline between 2012 and 2013, the average number of sailing superyachts delivered to customers over the past five years was 12.2 per year... And although in 2018 the figure was slightly below this average level (at the end of the year, 11 deliveries were made), for the market it is positive that the numbers have generally stabilized.

New Sailing Superyacht Deliveries Data

Planned 19 deliveries for 2019 look more than good when comparing the situation with the past years. And if that number is reached, it will be the highest since 2012, when orders made before the global financial crisis entered the market. This can be explained increased demand in the market for used sailing superyachts over the past two to three years. That led to the “washing out” of the worthwhile offers and made the clients who want to buy a sailing vessel to pay attention to new vessels.

Delivery of the super-schooner Dream Symphony is scheduled for 2021, although it was originally announced in 2019.

Nevertheless, it will be correct to evaluate the planned indicators with a somewhat critical eye. If we take a closer look at the individual deliveries planned for 2019, we see that a significant number of yachts are being built in all sorts of random, "handicraft" shipyards. And this raises doubts that all 19 units will actually be made by the end of the year. Traditionally, such shipyards have experienced financial or operational problems with the delivery of orders on time, and even with delivery in general. For example, one of the orders for 2021 is 141 meter Dream symphony, under construction at the shipyard Dream ship victory in Turkish Bozburun. However, when the project was first announced, the launch date was scheduled for 2019. Thus, such phenomena can distort the data.

Dynamics of the sailing superyacht market since 2006

In the last analysis The Superyacht Annual Report: New Build 2017 it was predicted, based on the growth of previous years, that the fleet of sailing superyachts will show annual increase of 1.9 percent... That is, 986 yachts in 2018, 1,015 in 2019, and 1,025 by the end of 2020... Looking at the current number of orders, it can be said that the large sailing yacht market is on track to achieve these targets. Which indicates, albeit modestly, a growing trend. And it gives reason to expect an increase in the number of orders in 2019, which will strengthen the indicators for 2020, 2021 and beyond.

Yacht Nikata, Baltic Yachts shipyard. Launched in 2015, belongs to the segment of 30-40 meter sailing superyachts

After years of studying the fluctuations of the superyacht sailing market, it became clear that the further, the more difficult it is to analyze. More and more custom motor yacht manufacturers are building large custom sailing yachts like Black pearlwhich shipyard Oceanco handed over to the customer in 2018. And such irregular orders can affect the numbers and form a misconception about the market.

Sailing 350-foot (106.7 meters) superyacht Black Pearl from Oceanco shipyard

If we look at the list of orders based on the size, we will see that the segment 30-40 meter yachts, that traditionally moved the market, is gradually giving way 40-60 meters, for which more orders have been received in the past years. However, 2019 shows significant increases in both segments. Also in 2021 will be launched 81 meter boat from Royal Huisman - the first delivery of a yacht in the segment 60-90 meters since 2016.

Project of a three-masted 81-meter schooner being built at the Royal Huisman shipyard for a client from Asia

The large sailing yacht market is still dominated by a small group of regular shipbuilders. The only shipyards to have made more than five shipments in the past five years are Southern Wind, Royal Huisman and Baltic Yachts... In contrast, 22 other shipyards launched only one superyacht each during the same period. Although the number of “artisan” shipyards is gradually decreasing as the market consolidates (the 2017 report showed 28 shipbuilders making one delivery in the last five years), such statistics still pose challenges for manufacturers trying to maintain a steady flow of orders from a small number of prospective customers.

Distribution of orders for sailing superyachts by shipyards

By Briony McCub SuperyachtNews

Translation: Dmitry Bushuev, Interparus

17.04.2019