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Superyachts have always been a haven, a floating private island where you can escape from the world and all it’s worries.
Never has this been truer than during the COVID-19 pandemic, now in its third year. Superyacht sales have boomed during the pandemic, both of newbuilds and pre-loved yacht sales, with 2021 seeing the strongest sales since before the Global Financial Crisis. Year on year, purchases of yachts over 30m increased by over 8% in 2021, compared to the same nine months in 2019, according to data collated by The Superacht Group.
The COVID Effect
A superyacht is the ultimate vessel for escaping the effects of the pandemic (assuming Musk doesn’t have a spare spaceship handy). Yacht owners have been able to ‘dodge’ lockdowns and outbreaks to a considerable extent, moving their yachts to destinations where they are able to continue an idyllic onboard lifestyle while avoiding crowds and risky environments. Life is hard for much of the world right now, and to be able to start your day with a dive off the swim platform in a beautiful anchorage is a true tonic for our times.
What makes a yacht the perfect pandemic escape is that the vessel is largely self-sufficient for long periods, with large fuel tanks for both cruising and power generation. Superyachts have an onboard watermaker, water treatment plant, and quite extensive cold and dry storage. Guests are looked after by a private crew who largely stay aboard and are tested for COVID regularly, and the yacht can be restocked through deliveries left by yacht provisioners, thereby decreasing the risk of coronavirus getting on board. The yacht is also kept exceptionally clean, drastically decreasing the already small risk of picking up the virus on surfaces.
As Omicron rages, there is peace and safety to be found at sea.
Whether the yacht’s owner has already had COVID or not, fears catching it or not, yacht vacations provide an escape that brings back the pleasures of life — time spent with family and friends, making happy memories, eating magnificent food, and being ‘cured’ of stress by that magical combination of golden sunshine and sparkling sea. There is no safer nor more pleasant vacation option in the time of COVID than to escape on a private yacht.
The Billionaire Boom
Yet COVID is not the only factor causing superyacht sales to soar. The boom is also being fuelled by the fact that there are more billionaires than ever before, with 660 people joining the ranks of the billionaires in 2021 alone. There are now 2,755 billionaires worldwide, of whom 86% are richer than the year before, according to Forbes.
And UHNWIs like these are buying superyachts. More than 200 new superyachts were launched in the first 9 months of 2021, with 330 more to be launched before 2023. There’s also exceptional interest in pre-loved yachts for sale, whereby owners don’t have to wait for the yacht to be built. Overall, over 600 superyachts were sold in 2021. How many of these yacht purchases were influenced in some way by the pandemic it’s impossible to know. But it is fair to speculate that it played some considerable part.
A yacht is a luxury floating island with its very own drawbridge. It makes sense that in a time of crisis, people will want to find ways to enjoy their lives, and to escape potential danger for themselves and their loved ones. A yacht provides both of those requirements in abundance.
The ocean covers more than 70% of the planet which gives a wealth of water to explore and with more expedition capable yachts to choose from than ever before… The world is still your oyster onboard a yacht.
