The Monaco Yacht Show 2009, the 19th edition of the show, is already fully booked up. That is quite stunning considering the economic slowdown. But it constitutes that the Monaco Yacht Show is still the leading high-luxury yachting show in the world. As told by show speakers, demand from the yachting industry has been higher than last year. Lots of companies wanted to book larger stands, so the number of double-decker pavilions was doubled, but that still wasn’t enough. There is a long waiting list for the exhibitors wanting larger exhibition areas as of this writing.
The show continues to concentrate on luxury yachts, but it also wants to make sure the yachting industry recognizes its social responsibility. Therefore, the show and its exhibitors have committed themselves to protecting the environment by paying eco-taxes to the carbon neutral initiative. The payments will be used to finance environmental projects all around the globe. In addition to that, the Monaco Yacht Show has announced it will print all of its documents on recycled paper.
The MYS 2009 will be held from September 23 to 26, 2009.
Despite the doom and gloom in today’s economy, it seems that at the London International Boat Show the situation is very different. As it seems, the world’s rich are still able and willing to fork over millions for a high-class luxury yacht:
This year there are more large yachts on display than last year. For example, there is a 111-foot Sunseeker yacht priced at more than $10,000,000. But the highlight of the show is another Sunseeker, namely the 121-foot Sunseeker tri-deck luxury yacht valued at around $17 million.
It is kind of strange that everybody seems to be complaining about today’s economic situation being bad, and yet it is more profitable than ever for the ship builders to build and sell their high-priced mega yachts to their customers. Those customers might not be as affected by the credit crunch as you would have thought. At the very least, they still enjoy a high-class lifestyle, and that is what makes this year’s International Boat Show in London a big success, which will hopefully pay off for the ship yards and designers in the end, so that they will have even more nice yachts for us next year!
It has been reported that Saddam Hussein’s yacht Basra Breeze (Ocean Breeze) has been put on the market by the Iraqi government, which was awarded the yacht earlier this year. The Iraqi government is seeking offers in the range of $30 million.
Basra Breeze is a 269-ft. motor yacht, but its interior is outdated, according to the London Times. This means the buyer will have to invest millions more to get the 1981 yacht fully back in shape. Still, the interior is pure luxury:
The Mad Summer superyacht started sea trials in the Baltic Sea a few weeks ago in August 2008. Mad Summer is a 79m yacht built by Lürssen. It will be delivered to its owners late this year, and it will also be available for charter. Charter prices are not known as of today.
Lürssen is going to deliver a total of 5 superyachts in 2008. Inter alia: Martha Ann (70m), Bounty Hunter (60m), Bermuda (77m) and, of course, Mad Summer (79m). Lürssen is also planning to deliver a 150m yacht this year.
BMW Group’s DesignWorks will be launching its new Zeydon Z60 luxury sailing yacht at the Geneva Boat Show this week. The boat, which has been designed with Belgian boat maker Zeydon, is an elegant sailing yacht that shall not only have a sporty design inspired by some of BMW’s vehicles but also offer a minimalist luxurious interior amongst a bunch of other high-end features.
The Zeydon Z60 is a 60-ft. offshore yacht that combines the effectiveness of sports cruisers with some of the comfort of bigger luxury yachts.
BMW and Zeydon plan to build up to 10 Z60 yachts per year. Production is set to begin this fall.
