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Expedition motoryachts are a tantalizing new niche in worldwide luxury charter though not all of them are actually going anywhere. |
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| The 247-foot Giant is, on the inside, as luscious as any megayacht in the world. Instead of a master suite, the IHC Holland build has an entire master deck; her $300,000-per-week charter rate bespeaks the elegance of her mahogany and marble. From the outside, though, Giant's bright red ice-breaking hull stands out like a warning flag on the Italian coastline. Anyone could mistake her for a military vessel towering stern-to along the storied Mediterranean docks. |
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In this and other classic charter destinations, Giant and the handful of expedition yachts like her are decidedly couture: a style drawing buzz and brava, but still coming into its own. Just as you would expect with any type of boat, more expedition yachts being built has led to a fraction of them entering the charter market in the past five years—with the promise of taking guests to places that sleek white speedsters simply aren't made to go. There's the 184-foot Halter Marine Pangaea, the 195-foot Amels/Vosper Thornycroft Intuition II, the 228-foot Oceanfast Aussie Rules (soon to be rechristened Floridian by her new owner), the 194-foot Schweers Senses and, brand-new this year, the 163-foot converted hydrographic naval ship Flinders. There are even one or two private yachts, such as the 207-foot Royal Denship Big Roi, that offer occasional charters to select clients. The trend is akin to the handful of first-generation SUVs that eventually multiplied exponentially across so many highways, bought by a growing number of people longing for the ability to actually go wherever their minds wander. |
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Yet just like all those Jeeps and Hummers that now sit full of plastic grocery bags in supermarket parking lots, the majority of these go-everywhere charter yachts aren't going anywhere. Even the dozen or so charter boats that emulate true expedition vessels in styling (but not in substance) offer guests access to destinations like Alaska, Fiji, and Vancouver. Revelation, a 180-foot expedition-style Zeigler Marine offered by Venture Pacific Marine, spent the summer as the first non-Ecuadorian flagged motoryacht in at least 15 years to charter in Galapagos. “From the day, actually from the hour the permit was in place, we had charters for the boat,” said Dan Stabbert, Revelation's owner. “One or two of our clients said, ‘We've been waiting for years for a proper boat to go there.' There was a lot of interest, and there continues to be a lot of interest.” |
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Such success stories make you wonder why most of the big boys are still sitting in the Caribbean and the Med. Each glimpse of Giant's strong, proud bow in Italy—or of Senses along the same shoreline, or of Aussie Rules heading for the States—is an acknowledgement of untapped potential. |
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To understand why, you first have to understand what. An expedition yacht is a different breed of boat, one whose construction allows extraordinary worldwide cruising capability. Many yachts call themselves “expedition style,” but that's usually a nod to a husky profile and a navy-blue paint job on a boat built for fairly standard use in commonly cruised waters. Most true expedition yachts are made of steel and can break through ice. Fuel tanks and stowage areas are massive to allow for months in remote seas. Some of these yachts are new construction; some are former military or commercial craft that have been gutted and restyled (saving their owners tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention years of waiting time, over new construction). All are meant to be self-sufficient no matter where in the world they end up. An expedition yacht is a workhorse in every sense, but one that looks—from all angles except the exterior—like a lady of leisure. Staterooms are plush. Saloons are spacious. Carpets and sofas are meant to be sunken into. |
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In fact, interiors are often more voluminous on these wide-beam boats than they are on sleeker yachts. The owner's deck aboard Giant has a bar the size of many found in 150-foot motoryacht saloons. The surround-sound flat-screen entertainment system that greets Pangaea's guests is as sensational as any other on the water. In the interior aesthetic sense, expedition yachts are quite similar to their more traditionally styled competitors. What makes them different is their ability to offer such luxury in ports afar, and often with a more fuel-efficient range. |
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“A lot of these look like freighters,” says Tim Nelson, a broker with Florida-based Seven Seas Yacht Charters who specializes in the 100-foot-plus market. Their growing appeal is rooted in that very look—they afford privacy, since their styling draws fewer gawkers on the quay—and in their construction, which can literally make worldwide cruising dreams come true. They're especially popular right now in the Russian market. “They're keyed for people who want to get out and do stuff,” Nelson says, “but with high-quality food and luxurious accommodations at the same time.” |
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In other words, expedition yachts are ideal for people who want to see instead of being seen. Yet the need to “be seen” is one of the main reasons many of these boats are still close to familiar shores. With the exception of Pangaea, which is en route to a season of charter in the South Pacific, and Flinders, which just began a two-year circumnavigation from her owners' native New Zealand, true expedition yachts in the charter market are sticking to the Caribbean and Mediterranean—where brokers can get to know them and take tours with potential clients. |
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| “It is very hard to sell,” explains Jenni Monds, a charter marketer from New Zealand. “A lot of brokers won't book a boat they haven't seen.” Add to that the idea that brokers will have to send their clients to a remote location they also haven't explored firsthand, and many brokers simply refuse to take a chance. All an adventure-bound yacht can do to build up charter business is sitting in well-known ports where brokers can visit, or have the brokers ly to see the boat in an exotic place. The latter is far less effective—maybe a dozen brokers get aboard versus a hundred—and much more difficult to arrange. That's why expedition yachts start out anchored in places like Antigua and Antibes.Why those yachts don't move on after a fair amount of time is another question entirely.One answer is that, in general, people tend to be followers. They like to go where their friends have been, and with charter, that often means the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. |
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It's especially true with women: Jan Henry, a broker, says the handful of requests that come in for expedition charters are from thrill-seeking 30- to 50-year-old men whose wives need to be talked into the style of yacht, let alone the exotic itineraries. “They know the Feadship look,” she explains. “The women have to be convinced that they really are good boats.” |
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And so yachts like Senses stick with what's working. She's expected to continue chartering year-round in the Western Med, pulling in $240,000 per week. The new owner of Aussie Rules (a k a Floridian when her refit is complete) will offer her this winter for $320,000 a week in the Caribbean. Giant, after being introduced in America last fall and premiered in Europe this past spring, is scheduled to be on her way back across the Atlantic to the Caribbean as you read this. The owner, sitting aboard in Genoa, Italy, a few months ago, said he was focusing on converting two more ice breakers like Giant instead of actually getting aboard her to go see the world. |
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Owners' wishes, of course, are key to the itineraries of these boats: Flinders has owners who simply don't want to do the traditional milk runs. They're skipping St. Barth's and St. Tropez in favor of Cuba and Croatia. To make up for the lack of exposure to the charter community, they invited ten brokers for a familiarization trip in Tahiti in October. “We'll try to do one in the Caribbean [as well] because it's close to America,” Monds says. The boat is heading for East Asia and Indonesia later in 2005 and early in 2006. “The owners have planned this circumnavigation,” she adds. “This is the way they want to go.” Only time will tell whether they can have their dream and enough charter clientele to help support it financially. |
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Pangaea, after an extensive introduction to brokers at boat shows, is being put to her intended use by an owner in his early 40s. He is well-traveled, has a young family and is itching to explore new horizons—a reflection of his typical charter clientele. They're the type of people whose primary concern is going someplace new and exciting. |
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They're willing to be flexible in their schedules, to meet the boat whenever it crosses a certain longitude, to accept the challenges of coordinating a vacation in such a remote destination. |
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They're also aware of one of these boats' best attributes: sprawling deck space that allows for more toys than virtually any traditionally styled motoryacht could hold. Giant's arsenal of fun includes a pair of 40-foot sportfishing boats, a helicopter pad and a garage sized to hold a Bentley and a Durango. Senses reportedly carry a 42-footer along with a 28-foot classic sloop, a 14-foot catamaran and more. Pangaea's spec sheet lists a 36-foot sportfish with tuna tower and fighting chair, along with a deck that doubles as a half-court basketball venue. Flinders has a small swimming pool with water resistance, in case guests want to do laps in a colder clime. Most potential charter guests don't know about such features, Henry says, which translates into less demand for these yachts and leaves anyone wanting to use them in exotic locales simply praying to catch a week somewhere—anywhere. |
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As more people become aware, she says, demand is sure to grow. “Quite frankly, I don't know of any expedition yachts that were out there even five years ago,” she says.
“The general public hasn't really been educated about the many aspects of these boats that would be so attractive on charter.” |
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If you're the type of person who actually takes an SUV off-road once in awhile, you'd be wise to closely watch—or to call a broker and help to boost—the number of charter bookings that Pangaea receives during her world tour and that Flinders garners during her circumnavigation. The owners of other expedition yachts in the charter market are certainly watching, and the paths they and their boats will take during the next few years may depend quite a bit on the demand they see outside of the Caribbean and the Med. Charter is, after all, a business. You, the consumer, have the power to help define the market. |
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Kim Kavin, editor of www.CharterWave.com
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