Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show - Day Three

Late in the afternoon we climbed to the top of the Bahia Mar Hotel to get the bird’s eye photograph above that encompasses just some of the yachts and super yachts at the show.

The day started surprisingly quietly as the traffic on the road as we drove towards the show was particularly light for Saturday a traditional family day at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. But maybe it was because we were an hour before the Show opened as we had a nine o’clock meeting aboard Allure Shadow the latest in the line of Shadow Boats from Shadow Marine.

Available for both sale and charter through the International Yacht Collection this yacht is somewhat different in style and concept to the traditional super yacht. Nicknamed the SUV of the sea where the meaning has been changed to signify Sports Utility Vessel we might perhaps call her the Range Rover of the Seas. She is defiantly going to be included in a feature we are crafting.

Once we got to the Show we saw our earlier impression was wrong, the crowds were out despite the heat and humidity. It was a yacht hoping day for us and amongst the beauties we visited were Odessa now available for charter through The Sacks Group and Blind Date the brand new Trinity now available for charter through Peter Insull. We were particularly fortunate to have Patrick Knowles the designer responsible for her interior show us around and no doubt you will read all about Blind Date when we write her up for SuperYacht World magazine.

We made a quick visit to the Trinity yacht Mine Games whose on board submarine is going to feature in another article we are writing for SuperYacht World in which we look at special things to be enjoyed while sailing on a super yacht. Watch out for this exciting feature in our next issue.

The show closes each night at 7pm but if you think that hard working journalists get to go home and rest the weary feet you would be so wrong. Parties are an important part of show life and last night’s sampling included the Lurssen Party, The International Superyachts Society Awards Gala and over at Pier 66 the theme of a party hosted by MedAire was Somewhere beyond the Sea an evening of cocktails, music light dining and friends.

Tonight however all over the USA is Halloween another great excuse to party in costume and we have been included in a the very especially exclusive list of attendees at a Buccaneer’s Bash to be held on board Allure Shadow that has been decoratively transformed into a Caribbean Pirates lair.

If they do not make us walk the plank we should be back to give you the low down on the events.

If you could chose your ultimate go anywhere do anything discovery yacht what yacht would you nominate as your number one? If you could choose the ultimate spot on earth to cruise to where would that be?

Day 2 at Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

From Aqualibrium ©Frances Howorth

Day Two at FLIBS was, weatherise, as hot as day one. Crowds of people were again walking the docks looking at the superb super yachts and everyone was clutching their water bottles.

The buzz around the show centres on charter and refits, buyers it seems are happy enough to consider both. There is even talk of buying older tonnage with a view to refitting but it is the builders who seem to be having the toughest time at this show.

Equipment manufacturers are reporting good sales and certainly showgoers seem to be buying T shirts and boat shoes with the same gusto they have demonstrated for years. Hats to alleviate sunstroke are popular too.

It was a day when crew seminars had been scheduled with a full programme of events open to all prepared to pay the nominal cost of registration. We did not attend many but those we looked in on seemed well attended.

Top Lawyer Michael Moore whose American practise specialises in marine law was the facilitator for a lively session on Piracy and the use of Guns as a means of crew protection. Views as you can imagine with the far right former Navy types wanting to kill anything approaching a super yacht in a small boat while others where happy to assume the on coming fishing boat might just be trying to sell the purser his catch of the day. It was a session that was only just warming up after an hour but sadly that was all the time allocated to the topic.

What are your views? Should super yacht crews carry arms? If so when should they use them?

Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is a Super Yacht Show

Positive Vibes See Day 1 of Superyacht Show Start Off Well

On the Dock © Frances Howorth

There is defiantly an air of positivity about day one here at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that opened today.

It has been a very hot day on the docks and we have spent our time moving from yacht to yacht gathering news and views for future features.

Dealers, brokers and exhibitors are putting a positive spin on to the event, which kicked off with a press briefing at breakfast which started a full two hours before the show opened to the public.

There, among other interesting facts, we learned that for the first time, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, the show's owners, are hosting a formal trade mission of 73 representatives from eight foreign countries including Brazil, Mexico, Panama, China and Sweden.

Online ticket sales are up 20 percent over last year," said Efrem "Skip" Zimbalist, president and CEO of Show Management, the event's organiser yet just one month ago the situation did not quite so look so promising with online sales were down 15 percent."Ticket sales have been coming in at the last minute with 50 percent more than at the same time last year.

This is good news for the American boating industry, were super yacht sales slumped a year ago, but in recent months sales have been showing a slight upturn with many brokers forecasting brighter days ahead.

The first day of any yacht show is a flurry of press conferences and today was no exception. First off was Vicem Yachts with new CEO Alberto Perronne Da Zara introducing Dirk Boehmer as the new President of Vicem Yachts USA a role he has held for just four days. Dirk joins Vicem from Bertram Yachts which is a division of Italy’ Ferretti group and the fact that two top executives from the Italian group have so recently joined the Turks must be seen as a clear indicator of who sees who as competition when it comes to this type of yacht.

Next up was Ferritti themselves with an announcement that the group has positioned itself in the Northeast of the USA by opening a seasonal office in Sag Harbor, New York, where passionate boaters flock during the summer months.

Fellow Italian boat builders chose to call 2009 the annus horribilis describing the economy in general, and particularly that of the yachting industry, the company claims that it represents something of a “white crow” (their words not ours) as they endeavour to limit contraction to 6%, a figure that amounts to an estimated sales volume of 170 m Euros, with an EBITDA passing from 24 to 18 million, equivalent to a reduction that manages to stay within the 25% mark.

Relying strongly on its perceived competitive edge and the solidity of its brand, San Lorenzo forecasts a 2010 turnover for the company of 200 million Euros, amounting to an increase of 18% over the figures for 2009.

They described 2009 crisis as devastating declaring that it has affected the entire world, but they believe that the post-crisis will generate a remarkable and epoch-making change in habits and lifestyles, giving way and consistency to new indicators, which will create a situation of no-return to the old habits of the pre-crisis years.

Non American owners are expected to dominate sales that do occur here at the show with foreign buyers said to be flocking to this year's show, to take advantage of the strong euro to dollar exchange rates.

Spread across six sites: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club, Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel & Marina, Hall of Fame Marina and Las Olas Marina, all in South Florida this show is huge and trust us it takes some getting around.

It was a welcome conclusion to a busy day to take drinks aboard Mea Culpa a facinating sports fishing boat built by McMullen and Wing and now available for the first time for charter through Camper & Nicholsons. Now where did we put those rods?

More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the Fort Lauderdale show over its five-day run which ends next Monday, with many attendees patronising local hotels and restaurants who are all making hay while the sunshines. As is often the case at shows such as these prices have a habit of creeping up in the hope that he who can afford to at least look at a super yacht will not notice the extra 15% or so price hike in just about everything.

Countdown to Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, said by many to be the world's biggest boat show, is about to open and we are here in sunny Florida to report on its happening. Big it certainly is! In terms of exhibition space sold there is more than 280,00 square metres of show space spread across both the shore exhibits land and those in the water.

The annual show, held here at the end of each October, is spread across six sites: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club, Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel & Marina, Hall of Fame Marina and Las Olas Marina, all in South Florida.

The show, now its 50th year, is known as a place to see both new and used super yachts, with more than 200 on display this year.

The yacht builders and designers tent along with the international yacht builders pavilion are both of interest to those with an association with the super yacht world. Owners, brokers, managers and yacht crew alike mingle at the show which brings together all those involved with super yacht business.

Also expected at the show are hundreds of exhibitors displaying diesel engines, outboard motors, generators, electronics, clothing, artwork, jewellery, fishing tackle and other accessories.

The value of the products on display is said by PR agents for the show to exceed US$3 billion and they claim that the economic impact of the show on the South Florida area is more than $550 million.

This later fact is easy to understand by anyone trying to buy a lemonade in the show ground or seeking to park a car nearby where prices can exceed $60 per day for a compact car!

We hope to publish a short blog at the end of each day in which we will describe the highlights as we see them. Join us in our writing and do feel free to comment or ask questions.

Super Yacht Chartering during 2009

It was the great American writer, Mark Twain who said: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

He could have been talking about the chartering of superyachts. Rewind to January 2009 and remember the pessimism and negativity expressed by the world at large from bus drivers to businessmen. So grim were the forecasts that even buying organic fruit felt forbidden.

As she pondered over her January spirit-lifting mail-out along the lines of book early to avoid disappointment, Rebecca Pattinson, a top charter broker with Ocean Independence came to the realisation that her charter clients would most likely fall into one of three categories:

• Those who would be hit hard by the ‘crash’ and not in a position to commit to the luxury yacht chartering.
• Those hit less hard, still keen to charter and hoping to negotiate a good price, happy to wait until the last minute to make the decision
• Those less affected and ready to commit but who suddenly became aware that dropping a deposit on a summer holiday costing double a bus-driver’s annual income might not be the trendy thing to do.

So like most providers of luxury products she faced the prospect of challenging times ahead. She quickly realised that the challenge would be both refreshing and exciting, and would also open doors to some very interesting opportunities.

It was, she thought, time to shift gear, not pull up on the hard shoulder.

Looking back, she can honestly report that the summer of 2009 was one of the busiest and most demanding summers, but it was also one of the most rewarding proving completely that the actual facts and figures told a different story to the gloomy forecasts of January past.

Pattinson believes the end result was a combination of factors. Most obviously was the opportunity for potential discounted charter fees (or at least well worth asking!) but, she says, “Perhaps values have changed so that it has become harder than ever to put a price on the experience of time spend in privacy with family and friends.”

What ever the causes she booked a total of 265 charter days an increase of 10 days over figures for last year and while total revenue was not quite so significantly increased she was witness first hand to lots of satisfied clients who were happy they had heeded the words of Mr Twain.

None of this would have been possible without the invaluable support of the Ocean Independence team of which she is a part. With 17 offices worldwide and brokers in every port from Antibes to Antigua, she is seldom short of a friendly colleague to call upon for support or advice. She might not know the current weather in Mykonos or the fuel prices in Mexico, but she knows someone who does!

It was the singer Bryan Adams who sang Summer of 69 in which the lyrics read: when I look back now, the summer seemed to last forever. Perhaps he had Mark Twain in mind when he used those words.