Yacht.com Blog

A lot of Boston sports enthusiasts have much excitement in their lives right now with the Celtics game 7 playoff win, the Bruins providing some post season action with a bid for the Stanley Cup, Patriots speculation for heading into a strong football season and of course, the devotees beloved Red Sox already bringing in late nights with extra innings and gripping 3-game early season series.  This all while the most publicized 2 minutes of horse racing is also taking place as people everywhere were gripping their mint juleps and watching in amazement while MINE THAT BIRD charged ahead at the 16-pole and took the Kentucky Derby win in one of the better 2 minutes of horse racing I’ve ever seen.

All of this is going on, but what about the 8 thouroughbreds right there in Boston Harbor?  I’m talking about the Volvo Ocean Race Maxis currently docked at Fan Pier in Boston.  Ericsson 4 led the fleet completing Leg 6 from a long, but fast leg up from Rio de Janiero.  Telefonica Blue came in second, but only holds a .5 point lead over USA TEAM PUMA, the local favorites in unmistakable bright red.  Team PUMA has been getting some good press with a bit on the Today Show in NY last Friday.  Its not oftent hat a world sailing event comes to the US, espceially Boston, sot eh organizers have gone all out at Fan Pier.  If you have missed it so far, there is still plenty of daily action with some collegiate inshore racing and night events on Fan Pier.  The fleet departs on Saturday, May 16 at 3:00 for Leg 7 to Gallway, Ireland.  You can bet there will be a big spectator group to see them off.

The spinnakers of the 2009 St Barths Bucket on the final round island race day.

I have just returned from one of the more fun yachting events in the world – the St. Barths Bucket.  The participants racing on the  34 superyachts were treated to 3 perfect days of 15-20 kt winds, Caribbean blue water and the spirit of taking a 100′+ boat and racing it like a 36′ club champion.   Typically, these yachts live in sailors worlds as the lovely ladies gracing calendar pictures on the walls of our homes and offices, or the screensavers of people wanting the distraction to dream of luxury cruising in million dollar style.  That’s what makes a Bucket Regatta so unique – these boats not built for racing dominate courses and maneuver around marks like their smaller cousins.

This years fleet ranged from the massive 289′ tri-masted MALTESE FALCON to the 76′ W-Class boat Wild Horses.  There were 9 Perini Navi’s, including the new BARRACUDA, unmistakable with its purple sails outfitting the massive ketch rig.  After 3 days of racing, the 2 year old 170′ Huisman-built schooner, METEOR won with a 1-13-4 record.  The race committee was busy as on the final day of racing, the complex handicapping of the fleet paid off having 12 boats cross the finish line within 3 minutes of one another.  That’s an incredibly close finish considering the course was around St. Barths, a 2+ hr trip and piling 12 boats next to each other across the line takes some communication to finish safely.

Look for photos coming to a marine photographers calendar near you and certainly stay tuned for next year.  Much of the industry may be suffering from downturns but this fleet does not seem to be disappearing anytime soon.

Today marked the opening of the 17th Annual Dubai International Boat Show.  This largest yacht event in the Middle East has been gaining popularity among the super yacht crowd as well as some international manufacturers who recognize the wealth available and natural market demand due to all of the marine amenities being developed in the region and the amount of waterfront property that has been built and snatched up by the worlds richest.  There are major partnerships between the event organizers and the New Zealand marine trades exhibitors to help boost the island-nations critical and struggling export market.  The DIBS website states that the show has grown in exhibitors again this year and that all of the marina dockspace has been filled with boats for sale and on exhibit – a statement organizers of every other boat show in the world have not been able to make in 2009.

Still, it seems some of the news coming from the region is that incentives are required – with Island Global Yachting Group offering an incentive for any yacht purchased at the show to be guaranteed one of their exclusive slips at the newly opening Anchor Marina, a pretigious high profile dockspace in Dubai.  Furthermore, any visitor to their booth who fills out an enquiry card is given a free weeks dockage.  We’ve seen some creative and aggressive incentive packages to help move inventory and keep the flow of sales moving with shows in the US this year.  Is it accurate to say that even in one of the wealthiest luxury-goods buying regions of the world – the buyers are still needing incentive to pull out their checkbooks?  We’ll see the reports on attendance and sales after the show closes next week and see how 2009 has stacked up for DIBS.

Since leaving Miami, I have flown back and forth to the Caribbean, up to New England and then drove down the East Coast to spend a few days with the 120 members of the Yacht Broker Association of America this week in Baltimore before landing again in Charlottesville to continue the development of the site.  I enjoyed spending 2 days with this group talking bout how they are using the web to connect to their clients.  During their Annual International Conference predictably many of the conversations about the business of yacht brokerage were colored by the climate of our down-turned economy.  The interesting thing is that for the most part, this group remains positive and understands that there are still great opportunities to have a good year of sales.  Good brokers are finding ways to provide value, customer service and opportunity through creativity, outreach, utilizing new tools on the web and good old fashioned hard work.  Dawn Speros of The Gowrie Group which provides insurance, gave a great talk where she highlighted that economy aside, people love boating, it’s an emotional connection not found in other aspects of their lives and they will always find a way to incorporate it into their life.  It is a true statement.

We know manufacturers are still building new boats, listings are still being posted and boats bought and sold and I can assure you as the temperatures begin to climb, boats are getting geared up to go back in the water.  Remember this time last year?  We were all talking about how many boats would be tied to the dock because of rising fuel costs.  Its always something, but this year we know boaters can take off, leave the stress on land and get back to the activity which bonds us all together.  We’re busy building the full yacht.com site for you and its easier knowing there is one common bond and activity we can surely support as a resource to connect you all.

We’re not superstitious… we’re hungry.  It’s been a busy couple of months developing the Yacht.com site in places much colder than sunny Florida.  We have a lot to show for what is coming up next and would love feedback, so if you are in the Miami area from 12 PM – 2 PM on Friday, Feb 13, please join us at the Marriott Biscayne Bay for a sandwich and some screenshots of where the site is headed.

Planning on stopping by?  Let us know: support@yacht.com will make sure we have enough food.  If you can’t make it and would like to leave a comment here for us – I’ll be sure to get back to you (but I can’t promise sending lunch over).

The United States largest boat show has already been underway for the hundreds of industry professionals who have set up their booths and staged their yachts to welcome the VIPs today at the 3 major locations that comprise the 2009 Miami Boat Show.  Just like in every industry hosting shows this year, there is a lot of positive outlook on the new products being rolled out, and a lot of speculation about who is showing up to buy.

We at Yacht.com  are here to talk to everyone, from boaters checking out new products on the dock, to dealers hoping to generate strong leads and sales in a challenging economic year for boating.  We want to find out what the manufacturers are saying about their new models, what’s the hottest new development we are seeing with engineers and what kinds of deals are out there right now – when we all are looking for the best deals.

In our own web world, we are enthusiastic that in this time, it seems we all need a place to gather, virtually as it may be.  Some great experts within their fields will be contributing to this blog on topics like marine finance, buying and selling your boat and the vast topics of marine insurance.  We’re talking to service mangers who will be offering tips as we roll into spring and we all begin to draw the boats out of winter storage.

If you are attending the Miami Boat Show this year – let us know how you are finding it.  Anything we should check out before the show closes on Monday?  With multiple locations, everyone needs a direct link to the good stuff. (pun intended)