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| Boats & Yachts |
Bespoke Customization
Michael Verdon
06/01/2004
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Late last year, the fabled Lürssen shipyards in Germany launched the world’s
largest superyacht, the 413-foot Octopus, custom designed by its owner,
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. With its seven decks, two helicopter pads and a
rumored in-hull docking space for a 65-foot submarine, the Octopus is considered
a tour de force of design and engineering.
 | | YACHTS DESIGNED and built to an owner’s exact specifications can take years to
build. |
Lürssen, historically a builder of
warships, has launched 15 yachts in the past 16 years. Each one is as unique as
its owner. “We’re the last of the bespoke builders,” says Michael Breneman,
Lürssen’s sales director. “We build the boat the way the client wants it, not
the way the yard wants it.”
The distinction between vessels built to a
client’s specifications and those built “the way the yard wants them” is the
subject of heated debate among aficionados of great private
seacraft—particularly when the discussion turns to their performance as
investments. Will a custom yacht of an imaginative design like Allen’s Octopus
command more on the resale market than a semi-custom model featuring a standard
hull design and limited customization? Furthermore, does a wholly unique vessel
that reflects the vision of its designer or owner justify the increased cost and
significantly longer construction time required to build it?
Clear answers to
these questions can prove elusive. A yacht’s resale value quotient is complex,
linked to many interconnected variables such as pedigree, degree of
customization, build time and the strength of the secondary market. The debate
also pushes beyond purely financial issues into the realm of emotion. Acquiring
a yacht has as much to do with an owner’s personality and artistic revelations
as it does with annual maintenance costs. After all, a yacht is the ultimate
toy, not a mutual fund or real estate investment. Any discussion of custom
versus semi-custom must therefore recognize both tangible and intangible values,
and how yacht owners weigh each.
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