YACHTS DESIGNED and built to an owner’s exact specifications can take years to build.

“Some people really love designing their own yachts, and start thinking about the next boat before the current one is launched,” says James R. Gilbert, editor of ShowBoats International magazine. “For them, it is an endless process. Others want the pleasure of a boat—and want it as soon as they can get their hands on it.”

TASTEFUL, CONSERVATIVE interiors are standard in many semi-custom yachts.

Renaissance at Sea
Owners of custom superyachts are a breed apart, says David Darwent, president of Marine Construction Services in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Darwent, who has managed a half-dozen new megayacht projects in the last 10 years, divides the yacht world into creators and consumers. Creators, he says, are similar to Renaissance cathedral builders. “These big yachts have everything to do with passion and personal expression, and not much to do with utility. I used to see them the way the popular press paints them—as extreme indulgences. But I don’t anymore. They really are works of art.”

Clients who commission their own yachts sit at the pinnacle of the boat-buying pyramid, a small minority who revel in the design and construction processes without worrying about the added expense. “The custom project can end up being 10- to 15-percent higher than the contract price,” notes Gilbert. “The owner is paying for his own interior designers, naval architect and captain to oversee the project, beyond what he’s paying the shipyard. It’s a small cottage industry to build a large custom yacht.”

Joe Vittoria does not see himself as a cathedral builder (although he designed his head-turning sailboats, all named Mirabella, to be as graceful as they were dramatic), but rather a sailor in a world of motor yachts. In the mid-1990s, the then-chairman of Avis wanted to build a 100-foot single-masted sloop—which would be the world’s largest—but there were no yards willing to take on such a radical design. So Vittoria turned to a friend of his, the founder of sailing yacht builder Nautor Swan in Finland, who had begun building boats in Thailand. “The original design was called the Concorde 100, but by the time we built her, she measured 131 feet,” says Vittoria.

“THESE BIG yachts have everything to do with passion and personal expression, and not much to do with utility.”

Since completion of the Concorde 100, Vittoria has continued designing record-smashing yachts. This year, his 247-foot Mirabella V, the largest single-mast sloop to date, was launched from the U.K.’s Vosper Thornycroft shipyard. It was slated to make its debut at the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo this year.

There are only a handful of yards like Lürssen and Vosper Thornycroft that fully customize huge yachts like Octopus and Mirabella V, and certainly a handful of customers who can not only afford these yachts, but want to spend three years building them. More commonly, says Phil Friedman, president of Port Royal Group, a consulting firm in Fort Lauderdale, custom builders tend to rely on proven designs that are not too extreme. “Many custom yards like to repeat hull forms,” he says. “The hull is usually seaworthy, and will save them on engineering costs. For the yard, more customization equals a greater degree of risk. They often have to eat cost overruns for new designs that may not go according to schedule.” Typically, these yards incorporate custom interiors and specially shaped superstructures to set the yacht apart from any other on the water.

A yacht's pedigree, including yard of origin and designer, is also important in determining the ultimate return on investment. U.S. custom yards like Burger, Delta and Trinity report that every one of their yachts to come on the secondary market has sold for more than the owner paid for it. “You’re more likely to get top dollar if it’s part of a brand that has been successful,” says Friedman. “Its design should also be a variation of a repeated theme—rather than too personalized.” The trick is to make the vessel unique, without looking too eccentric.

VALUE JUDGEMENT Some of us see a yacht’s blueprint as a blank canvas upon which we may create great art, although the process may take years. Others prefer less elaborately customized vessels that can be built within a few months. Both options have their advantages, and each has the potential to perform strongly as an investment.

Bruce Schattenberg, of the Sacks Group in Fort Lauderdale, says that the market for yachts from 120 feet to 150 feet remains strong, by virtue of the fact that there are significantly more buyers in this size range. According to ShowBoats’ 2004 Order Book, there are twice as many builds under way from 100 feet to 150 feet than there are for those over 150 feet. “Many used models are priced close to what a new yacht from the same yard might cost,” he says. “Some people would rather have a boat that’s only a few years old—which is generally perceived as ‘new’ on the market—than wait two or three years.”

Semi-Revival
That is clearly the case with semi-custom series yachts, say some experts, particularly because there has been a resurgence in this field over the past five years. “They are building beautiful boats now—boats that could only have been custom yachts a few years ago,” says Gilbert. “They satisfy the section of the market that isn’t project-oriented, or doesn’t want to wait for three years for the yacht.”

In fact, a handful of semi-custom builders are promising 12-month delivery times, and others are offering extensive customization options to owners who want to make a nautical fashion statement. That’s no surprise to Gilbert. “Yachts are much more of a representation of who you are than your car or plane,” he says. “It’s an intimate reflection of how your family lives.”

Much of the trend toward semi-custom building has come from consumer demand. In 1998, ShowBoats’ Order Book shows 279 yacht builds over 80 feet around the world. This year, the number is 507.

The Italian builder CRN’s 134-foot Magnifica series represents a fine example of customizing a series-built yacht. Dan Lenard, who designed the three yachts in the series, says that they are easily recognizable from one another. “The hulls and superstructures are the same,” he says. “But styling-wise, there are many differences to distinguish them. A client would not see it as a repetition of an existing project.”  Lenard says the interiors all have “wild card” spaces that can be altered to suit the owner’s desires. He also notes that cost savings accrue for the owner because Lenard is the in-house designer, and CRN’s engineering and naval architects are also built into the series’ price.

Gilbert believes that Benetti began the turnkey approach to semi-custom yachts when it launched its 115-foot Classic series in 1997. “They were intelligent about it, creating a yacht with all the bells and whistles the typical owner would want in that size range,” he says. “Instead of a stripped-down version where you’d have to rip stuff out and replace it, everything was beautiful. It was same approach Lexus took to the luxury car market.”

Benetti’s Mark Cavendish says that the Italian yard has sold 26 yachts in the Classic series, “exceeding even our own expectations.” The turnkey aspect is indeed crucial to the series’ success, he adds, but having a Francois Zuretti-designed interior has added more than just beauty to the vessels. “Having a top designer’s name on your yacht gives it extra value,” says Cavendish, “especially when the design is included in the price.”

If Benetti defines one end of the semi-custom continuum, Westport Shipyard lies at the opposite. This Pacific Northwest yard, which builds a series of 98-, 112- and 130-foot composite motor yachts, has injected the discipline of a volume production boat-builder into its manufacturing process to increase efficiency and shorten delivery time.

SUCCESSFUL BRAND names with moderately customized interiors draw top dollar on the secondary market.

Westport builds its yachts on a fixed schedule, whether or not it has a buyer for them. Structurally, the vessels have identical hulls, superstructures and engines, and owners have some choice in the “soft goods,” or nonstructural interior decor, if they buy in early enough in the build process. Westport President David Jones says the interior is designed with subtlety in mind. “We call it ‘enduring,’” he says. “We don’t use faddish colors or designs. We’re more interested in the resale value of these yachts.”

“Our rule of thumb is that a yacht can be delivered in about a year,” adds Jones. “The competition likes to use the fact that we’re not a custom builder against us, but we believe the series build is by far the better value. We live in an era when buyers like to get products quickly, and not wait two or three years.” 

Photo by Julian Hickman