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Posted on Thursday, 25 September 2008 |
 The 2008 Monaco yacht show got off to a bit of a stormy start in a cruel reflection of the current financial market that is at the top of everyone's conversation agenda. With several of the glamourous Superyachts failing to hit their mark as they attempted to tie up in Monaco's Port Hercules for the 18th Monaco Yacht Show due to strong cross winds and inclement weather.
Three yachts aborted their attempts and fled to the open sea for safety. Who can fail to ignore the symbolism of these stormy seas and failure to 'seal the deal' at a time when everyone is worrying if it will be business as usual at this usually busy yacht show?
Previous years have seen this luxury private sector grow year on year beyond anything anyone could have predicted with record numbers of orders filling the books of all the major constructors. The privacy, luxury and freedom afforded by your own yacht has proved to be the ultimate desirable recreational vehicle for the world's wealthiest people.
Why limit your comfort, your security, your movement or your pleasure when you can showcase your wealth and success across the globe in all the worlds hottest destinations and in the most ultimate of luxury settings?
Representing millions of Euro worth of business to this region one can understand the worry. 'Credit Crunch', 'recession', 'financial meltdown', no matter which way you look at it these are not good phrases to be listening to. The question remains is it going to hit the industry and if so, when and how hard?
Well the reality is that the answer is more than likely 'probably not'. There are some things that remain the same, the grass is always green, the sky is always blue and the rich are always rich. They might be slightly less rich...briefly...on paper, but in a financial downturn the people most poised to make a killing are the very people who can weather the storm in the first place.
If you can afford to spend €20,000,000, (count the zero's) per year on your pleasure pursuits then you are not going to worry too much about the mortgage markets or whether or not you can get a loan. That is the reality of the people who move in these circles and breathe this rarefied air.
The fact is that the market for the largest, newly named 'Gigayachts', super just not being superlative enough, has grown by 20% this year. The extravagance of these yachts is only hindered by the imagination of the people who order them and the people who design them. It seems that the demanding of original works of art, Picasso's or Van Goghs, is just the starting point in terms of décor.
One of the grandest of these floating palaces is simply named 'A'. Owned by Russian gazillionaire Andrei Melichenko it is attention seeking not just because it is one of the largest and most luxurious but also because it is very unique to see with an inverted steel hull that gives the impression of a submarine.
Designed by Philippe Starck rumours abound of the luxury on board from a loft style owners suite to Baccarat crystal bar and a translucent swimming pool that serves as the ceiling to the disco and none of which leaves much change from €200,000,000.
It remained, however, at the top of the pile for the briefest moments as the super rich race to out do each other. Roman Abromovich is pushing ahead with his €350,000,000, 175metre build called, fittingly, Eclipse. With 2 helipads, cinema's and swimming pools added to the more odious requests for bullet proof glass, submarine and missile detection system. One wonders is this some kind of private joke between the two?
One thing is for sure, neither of them are worried to much about the collapse of the odd bank or two. Recession? Could be a good name for a yacht.
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