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Fraser Yachts Appoints a New Marketing Executive

Yachting Intelligence — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 07:13:22 +0000

Fraser Yachts, has appointed Kari Webber as its new Marketing Executive for the U.S.

Webber will report directly to Patrick Coote, Marketing Director of Fraser Yachts.

“We are very pleased to have Kari joining our team,” stated Patrick Coote. “She has an outstanding marketing background, with extensive experience in the yachting industry. She is a quality driven marketing executive who will contribute significantly to the reinforcement of Fraser Yachts’ position as the world’s leading full-service yachting company”.

Kari began her career in yachting in the marketing department of Azimut Yachts at their headquarters in Avigliana, Italy; and has also worked as Marketing Communications Manager for Ferretti Group USA and Bertram Yacht in Miami, Florida. She speaks fluent Italian and holds degrees in Marketing and International Business from Florida State University, as well as an International MBA with a Focus in Marketing from Italy’s prestigious Bocconi University in Milan. Kari officially joined the marketing team at Fraser Yachts on November 1st, 2010, in its U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I am very enthusiastic and honored to be working with such an esteemed brand as Fraser Yachts, a brand which enjoys a worldwide reputation for excellence in yachting services. I am also thrilled to be returning to the Azimut-Benetti family,” stated Webber. “It is the largest private group in the yachting sector, thanks to its continuous commitment to innovation, manufacturing excellence and service excellence. I’m proud to be part of such a team.”

Fraser Yachts Announce New Central Agency Listings

Yachting Intelligence — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:41:11 +0000

Fraser Yachts is happy to announce the addition of two new charter vessels to its fleet of luxury charter yachts, both of which will be available for luxury yacht charter in time for the winter-season.

S/Y Phocea will be available for Caribbean yacht charter at a high-season rate of EUR221,200/week and a low-season rate of EUR175,000/week, while S/Y Philanderer will be based in the Balearics and will available for mediterranean yacht charter at a rate of $56,000/week. Meanwhile M/Y Exuma will be available for charter in the Caribbean at a special rate of EUR196,000/week.

Built in 1976 at the Toulon Naval Dockyard, Phocea was originally designed as a racing yacht for the single-handed yachtsmen Alain Colas. Shortly after competing in the Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, she was converted into a charter yacht. With a length of 75m (246’07″) and a beam of 9.58m (31’05″), Phocea is truly an imposing vessel and it comes as little surprise to learn that until the launch of S/Y Athena in 2004, she held the distinction of being the world’s largest sailing yacht.

Phocea was given her last refit in 2006, during which both her interiors and exteriors were subject to a major upgrade. Nevertheless, she has retained her unmistakable character, her elegant interiors defined by their elegant wood panelling, tasteful decor and some exquisite David Linley furniture. Given her size, it is somewhat surprising to learn that Phocea is only able to accommodate 12 overnight guests. Fortunately this gives ample space for some luxurious shared facilities including a gymnasium, a sauna and a hairdressing salon.

At a length of 40m (131’03″) S/Y Philanderer is something of a minnow when compared to Phocea. However, what she lacks in size she more than makes up for in terms of style and performance. Thanks to her modern hull design, which ensures maximum stability and maneuverability, Philanderer is able to reach sailing speeds of over 16 knots without compromising the comfort of her 9 guests.

Built by Concorde Yachts, with naval architecture by Bruce Farr and interior design by Derek Frost, Philanderer was first launched in 1992 and was refitted in 2005. Her accommodation includes four staterooms, two interior lounges, three dining areas, two bars as well as a spacious exterior area, which is perfect for entertaining. If that’s not impressive enough she also comes equipped with a gym, a sauna, and a range of water-sports equipment, including a sailing dinghy, windsurfer and water-skis.

Fresh from her success at the Monaco Yacht Show, where she was awarded the ‘Green Plus Platinum Certificate’, the 50m (164’01″) Motor Yacht Exuma is the first of a new generation of ‘Green’ yachts from the Perini Navi Group. Launched earlier this year she has been designed with maximum efficiency in mind and has a range of 5,500nm, while cruising at a speed of 12 knots. This, coupled with the fact that she is able to carry a large amount of equipment, makes her perfectly suited to exploration.

Exuma’s accommodation includes 5 cabins and she is able to accommodate 9 overnight guests served by a crew of 9. Her interiors, which were designed by Navi’s in-house interior design team, have been styled to invoke a classic maritime feel with the use of oak, teak and Italian marble. Exuma also comes equipped with an extensive range of exploration vehicles and ‘toys’ including a 16′ amphibious vehicle, a 12′ hovercraft , two tenders, two land scooter, two Seabobs and a jet-ski.

Fraser Yachts is a full service yachting company offering super yacht charter and mega yacht charter, luxury yacht sales and construction, as well as yacht management and crew-placement services.

For further information, please visit the Fraser Yachts website at www.fraseryachts.com

Fraser Yachts Has Mixed News for the Yachting Industry

Yachting Intelligence — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:45:46 +0000

With the summer season, a sense of normality has finally returned to the luxury yacht market.

Although we may be some way short of the heady days of 2008, the last few months have seen a gradual increase in yacht sales, yacht management and crew placements. Unfortunately the uptake of yacht charters and new-build projects has continued to suffer, but while this represents bad news for owners, charter brokers and construction yards, those looking for cut-price charters and new-builds will be rewarded as long as they act quickly.

During the month of June we experienced a very active market with an average of one yacht (over 24m) being sold each day. This represented a continuation of the steady sales that we have so far experienced this year. Although this is undoubtedly positive news it continues to be a buyer’s market and although the majority of the yachts that were recently sold were competitively priced, the owners generally had to accept much lower offers than they had hoped for. Although we are expecting to see a dip in the yacht brokerage market during the summer we are expecting it to recover when the boat show season starts in September.

As we predicted last month bookings for luxury yacht charters have been coming in very late this summer and as a result a good number of charter brokers are offering very attractive deals in order to tempt last minute clients. While most owners began by adding value, such as relocation fees or other on-board services, to charter packages, the last few weeks have seen an increasing number of price reductions, with discounts of as much as 35% being offered. In order to form a more complete picture of how the market has performed in comparison with 2009, we will have to wait until the end of July when the majority of bookings for Mediterranean yacht charters have been completed.

Thankfully there is more positive news for the yacht management market, which has experienced a steady increase in demand over the last 6 months. This trend reflects an increasing appreciation of the complex demands of yacht ownership and the fact that the additional cost of using a professional yacht management service is generally rewarded by significant savings in operating costs. Given that the yacht industry has changed dramatically in recent years, with increasingly complex legal, financial, safety, recruitment and employment regulations coming into effect, we are expecting the demand for more professional services to spread to other yacht services including charter crew placement and brokerage.

Unfortunately there continues to be a lack of new-build yacht construction projects and consequently shipyards are still suffering from a lack of demand. Interestingly a large proportion of the new-build projects that are going ahead are for speculative projects, with their investors reasoning that by the time the yachts are finished the market would have recovered to such a degree that their value would have risen in line with renewed demand. Given the speculative nature of these projects it is somewhat unsurprising that the majority of their designs are relatively traditional, which is in contrast to recent projects with specific clients that have tended to be far more groundbreaking in terms of their design.

Finally, there is positive news for crew as after a two-year period that experienced high fluctuations, we are finally beginning to see more stability in this sector of the yachting industry. Naturally these fluctuations have greatly impacted on the CVs of huge numbers of crew candidates and we are advising captains and owners not to judge applicants on their experience (or lack of experience) over the past 18 months. 2009 was a tough year for the majority of people and even some of the most qualified and experienced crew members would have experienced short periods of unemployment.

Fraser Yachts is a full service yachting company offering super yacht charter and mega yacht charter, luxury yacht sales and construction, as well as yacht management and crew-placement services. For further information, please visit www.fraseryachts.com.

Source: 24-7

Fraser Yachts Launches New Russian Web Site

Yachting Intelligence — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:06:18 +0000

Today, Fraser Yachts announced the launch of a comprehensive new web site, www.fraseryachts.ru, developed exclusively for their Russian clients around the world.

The site constitutes the first Russian web portal in the world to be developed by a major, international luxury yacht brokerage company.

Hein Velema, Fraser Yachts’ CEO stated that he’s delighted to be leading the market in this important region and announced “Our Russian clients have been increasingly active in recent years and it’s essential that they are able to access current and comprehensive information on the luxury yacht market. Whilst our clients are international by nature and often multi-lingual, it’s entirely appropriate to offer our services and information in Russian”.

Fraser Yachts has offered Russian versions of it’s brochures for a number of years and has recruited a number of Russian-speaking brokers and staff to look after the growing business from the region. Hein Velema added “A company that puts its clients first should at least be able to speak to them in their own language. Our clients from Russia have yachts under construction, under management and for sale and charter; we’re now in an even better position to meet their needs”.

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Fraser Yachts is the largest luxury yacht service provider in the world, with over 130 employees and 10 international offices. Services include yacht sales, charter, management, crew and construction, specialising in yachts over 30m.

For further information, please contact Fraser Yachts

Fraser Yachts Report of Improvements This Spring in the Yacht Brokerage & Charter Markets Giving Hope That the Recession is Ending

Yachting Intelligence — Sat, 15 May 2010 10:48:56 +0000

New yacht sale enquiries are up and early bookings for Mediterranean Charters show clear signs of recovery. With many of the world’s leading shipyards in crisis, Fraser Yachts have found that a perfect opportunity is created for new super yacht construction projects.

Following a difficult year, the opening weeks of 2010 have presented encouraging signs of recovery in the luxury yacht market. Early interest from prospective buyers is showing signs of improvement for the yacht brokerage market, while a number of early bookings for Mediterranean yacht charters has given hope of a more widespread and long term recovery for the luxury yacht charter market. Although the yacht construction market is still in a state of crisis, the recent completion of a number of new-build contracts is an early sign that a long awaited recovery may be on the horizon.

Early Enquiries Raise Hopes for the Yacht Brokerage Market

Fraser Yachts are reporting that they have been handling an unusually high number of enquiries into yacht sales, many of which have been followed up with yacht viewings. This is particularly surprising given the continuing plight of the world financial markets and the level of interest is also unusually high for the winter months. It is normally during that the months of March and April that most serious buyers tend to appear, with the majority of transactions taking place in time for the summer season. Given the state of the market it is unsurprising that the majority of potential are looking for significant discounts, but nevertheless the increase in general interest is more than welcome!

Early Bookings for Mediterranean Yacht Charters Give Hope for Widespread Recovery

Following a disappointing winter for the luxury yacht charter market, during which the uptake of Caribbean yacht charters was particularly low, there are early signs that a recovery might be on the way. January and February have seen a number of bookings for Mediterranean yacht charters and there is widespread confidence that this years summer season will be far busier than that of last year. Following a difficult 12 months that saw charter prices tumble for all but the most sought after yachts, charter rates have begun to level off and although there are likely to be certain discounts on offer, they are unlikely to be as common as they were last year. Fraser Yachts are well prepared for the summer season and have several new yachts available for charter while a number of their older vessels are receiving refits in ready for the season.

Empty Slips at Several Major Shipyards Despite Encouraging Signs of Recovery

As a result the yacht construction market is still in crisis and this will soon be reflected by an increasing number of empty slips appearing at the world’s leading shipyards. As a result, Clients looking to build new yachts are in a strong position to negotiate favourable rates. However, although prices have fallen significantly, most shipyards will still face high production costs and so will not be able to reduce their prices as much as some clients might be hoping. Fortunately the news is not all bad and Fraser Yachts have experienced some positive signs of recovery. December saw a number of large construction contracts signed and this trend has continued into the New Year as two of the company’s brokers oversaw the signing of a very significant construction contract.

While it seems unlikely that 2010 will be a lucrative year for the luxury yacht market, the fact that Fraser Yachts has experienced a relatively successful start to the year should give the industry as a whole reason to be hopeful for the coming year. Recent activity in the yacht charter and brokerage markets has been particularly encouraging and offers strong hope that the yacht construction market will soon be picking up in turn.

For further information on yachts and yachting services available from Fraser Yachts, please contact their staff at their Monaco offices.

Source : Fraser Yachts

Billionaires Buy Bragging Rights With Giant Super Yachts

Yachting Intelligence — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:43:41 +0000

The $3 billion worth of vessels anchored for sale in the Monaco harbor draw a grin from Monte Carlo Luxury Yachts broker George Fortune.

“Super yachts are a particularly male-driven thing”, he says, surveying the principality annual super-yacht show.

“Somebody always has one bigger than yours”, the 55-year- old salesman explains from the bow of the $20 million jet- propelled Art Deco speedboat Musa. “This business is based on clients who care little about economic recessions and are passionate about proving that they have more money than you”.

There might be a load of statistics to prove the global economy is floundering on the shoals of catastrophe. Just don’t come spouting them aboard the 118-foot Musa, where all countertops are fossilized Carrera marble and the main salon is trimmed in snakeskin leather.

The only number that matters here is a top speed of 100 miles per hour, allowing thermo-billionaires to breakfast in Italy, lunch in Corsica and order supper in Monte Carlo.

“There’s no blood in this water”, Fortune says.

Jeff Flood, president of Balearic International Yachts in Palma, Majorca, says the super-yacht crowd begins calculating in multiples of $10 million.

“Big-buck shakers and movers want gigantic boats and are not afraid of what it will cost them”, Flood says. “But you’d better be selling something that’s less than five years old and with a fuel range of at least 3,000 miles”.

All of which should make the 7,800-horsepower Musa — with a range of 500 miles — a boat for the impoverished billionaire.

Low-Key Luxury

“Not really”, Fortune says. “Musa is low-key luxury for clients who actually have tankers waiting at predetermined locations at sea to pump fuel on board so they can continue traveling at top speed”.

Super-yacht owners keep their vessels for no more than three years before buying up, according to a Monte Carlo Luxury Yachts study. Mexican cell-phone billionaire Carlos Peralta wants something bigger.

Peralta, the former chairman of wireless-service provider Grupo Iusacell SA, has instructed Fraser Yachts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to strap his 257-foot Princess Mariana to Monaco’s biggest pier. Frasers asking $143 million for the vessel, down from $182 million a year ago, according to the yachts broker. It’s seeking someone who wants a starter boat to buy the six-deck yacht, which has a seven-passenger helicopter, indoor swimming pool and a range of 7,000 nautical miles.

Marianas teak deck is big enough to stage a motorcycle race that could be broadcast by the ships 17 security cameras.

“There are about 50 people in the world interested in Mariana”, says Fraser broker Rob Newton. “Folks who already have big boats sell them to buy even bigger boats because they come with more stuff”.

Chilled Mist

Aboard the Mariana, that stuff includes a 28-man crew, six cabins that hold 12 passengers, six jet skis, a 35-foot tender and a ship-wide outdoor sprinkling system that sprays guests with chilled mist. There’s a beauty shop, a massage parlor and a 13-seat movie theater. The master cabin comes with a waterfall and a beach club, an ersatz shore that electronically rolls out of the hull.

“The super yacht”, Fortune says, “is a city state”.

Pascal Wiscour-Conters job is to ensure it doesn’t sink. He’s the 42-year-old chief executive officer of Equisea Yacht Management, whose corporate motto is: “If you need a private banker, you need a private anchor”.

Worries Removed

Standing on Equisea’s balcony above Monaco’s harbor at last months show, observing his realm below through a pair of military binoculars, the former Dexia SA banker says his work takes the worry out of owning a super yacht.

“We manage the entire operation”, says Wiscour-Conter, whose services can cost more than $200,000 a year. Fuel, supplies, insurance, charter, crews, you name it. We are the public face and the owner stays in the background.

As for those owners, they are not coming ashore to talk and are taking extraordinary measures to remain out of sight. Consider the “anti-pap system”, a network of light guns that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich installed on his 550-foot- long Eclipse, the world’s biggest private yacht.

“It’s designed to blind digital cameras with laser bursts”, Fortune explains. “The captain activates it whenever he’s at anchor near shore or sees an approaching ship that might have paparazzi on board”.

Expensive Indulgence

Despite the publicity of going to the sea in a really big ship, Flood says the super yacht remains the preferred way for someone to display their wealth. It’s an expensive indulgence that refreshes the cliche that you can’t afford the price if you have to ask how much it costs.

Flood says that Mariana’s annual berthing fee, for instance, orbits at around $200,000 and that the owner is looking at annually spending a minimum 10 percent of the boat’s initial cost on insurance, crew, fuel and upkeep that includes polishing Mariana’s miles of stainless-steel railings eight times each day.

“Since Lehman collapsed, 30 percent of my clients liquidated their yachts and plowed the money back into the stock market to buy something bigger”, Fortune says. “The other 70 percent wanted to sell, but couldn’t. That might sound contradictory to the bullishness of the market, but it isn’t: Not one of my clients has ever told me that they’re desperate to sell. The boat is all important to their lives and businesses”

Fortune calculates that demand for super yachts over the past year is down 30 percent, with prices dropping about 25 percent. One of the difficulties I face is selling any super yacht that doesn’t come with its own crew, he says.

As Fortune tells it, the recession has dried up the market of millionaires who once bought yachts to sail the globe in search of sun and fun. “Nowadays, it’s all about billionaires needing a secret place to conduct meetings and host events they can’t have on shore”, Flood says. “Dry land is crazy”.

For more information on the yacht market, see http://www.equisea.mc or http://www.fraseryachts.com.

Source: Bloomberg