NEWS

Stuart is pleased to announce the sale of the 40m I 130’ SCOUT II built by the British shipyard Brooke Yachts in 1993. Stuart acted for the seller. SCOUT II is his fourth sale in 2022 and brings his total LOA of yacht’s sold this year to over 200m or 656’.

While the war in Ukraine and consequential sanctions on Russian owners has shaken up the market with fewer large yachts now available for sale or charter, Stuart says demand from the US market has remained upbeat and inventory is still low.

Scout II is one of the first purpose-built exploration yachts. Built to a tough specification and only used privately, her interior, exterior and equipment underwent multi-million-dollar upgrades over the past four years. She was extended by 5m aft and 1m forward. A new mast was installed and the bow was reshaped. All key machinery and systems were either replaced or remanufactured including new zero speed stabilizers, generators and air conditioning. Some interior fabrics and furnishing were replaced with an eye to maintaining the original Disdale style and blue and white color-scheme.

SCOUT II feels larger than her 397 GT.  Thanks to her 9.2m (almost 30’) beam, she has huge outside deck spaces and large interior volume. Her well-laid out interior offers a high degree of privacy with crew and guest areas cleverly separated. There are two Owner’s staterooms on the lower deck, the ideal location for reduced motion, both with showers and tubs. Overall, SCOUT can accommodate nine guests in four ensuite staterooms and can carry up to 9 crew members.

Remarkably stable and seaworthy, SCOUT II has cruised extensively around the globe. Powered by two 507 HP Caterpillar engines, she has a max speed of 11knots and at 9knots her range is 4.200 nm. Scout II was asking USD 9.900,000.

 

Stuart is pleased to announce the sale of tintin the 34 m (112’) first offered for sale at PBIBS. Her rapid sale confirms the ongoing enthusiasm for quality inventory in the 30m to 40m market segment.  This is Stuart’s third sale in 2022.

tintin is the newest of the new W 112’ series. Her exterior design and styling are by Westport that also completed the naval architecture and interior layout.  Delivered in 2021, tintin is literally better than new.

In addition to interesting design features including the fiberglass composite hull, superstructure and shallow draft which make for increased speed, fuel-efficiency and low maintenance, tintin has a crisp, retro-minimalist interior custom designed by the in-house Westport Design team with detailed input from very knowledgeable owners.

At 207 GT she is larger than most yachts of similar length and offers excellent living space and outside decks, thanks to her wide beam 23’9” (7.2m).
The décor and layout are enhanced by the natural light from large windows along the superstructure and hull. The white palette with splashes of color includes new surfaces and materials successfully melding interior and exterior areas. Purposely designed for informal living on the water, tintin has an open galley with comfortable seating, a Westport hallmark.

tintin accommodates up to 8 guests in 4 staterooms including the full beam Master and VIP Staterooms on the lower deck and two guest staterooms (one currently equipped as a gym). All have en suite bathrooms.  tintin can carry 5 crew including the captain in crew accommodations in 3 cabins.
Cayman flagged, tintin is powered by twin C32 Acert Caterpillar engines and reaches an impressive top speed of 23.5 knots and cruises at 21.0 knots.
tintin was asking US$17,500,000.
 

Stuart is pleased to announce the sale of the 43m I 142’ tri-deck Playpen delivered by the Canadian shipyard Richmond Yachts in 2007. Richmond Yachts is known for its high quality semi-custom fiberglass superyachts, with recognizable classical silhouettes and traditional nautical interiors.

Built entirely in GRP, the naval architecture and exterior design are by Setzer Design known for their ocean-going and "bluewater-ready” yachts with good sea-keeping ability. A proven world cruiser – she recently completed a world circumnavigation, PLAYPEN’s shallow draft allows her to cruise in almost any location.

The design is a careful balance between contemporary and classic style ensuring PLAYPEN continues to be appealing more than a decade after her launch. The spacious interior is by Sean Pavlik who maximized interior volumes making PLAYPEN feel more like a 50m yacht.

PLAYPEN has been maintained in pristine condition thanks to recent upgrades to the electronics, engineering systems and furnishings. She was fully repainted in 2019 and completed her ABS 15-year survey in 2021 including the generators rebuild.

PLAYPEN features five generously-sized staterooms including a full-beam master suite on the main deck, two doubles and two twins comfortably accommodating up to 12 guests. All staterooms are finished with high-gloss wood and burl paneling. PLAYPEN can carry 8 crew accommodated in four cabins.

Powered by twin Caterpillar C32 engines, Playpen cruises at 12 knots with a max. speed of 17 knots. At 11 knots she has a range of 3,000 nautical miles. She is also fitted with Quantum zero speed stabilizers for comfort at sea and in port.
PLAYPEN was asking USD 13,500,000.
 

Stuart Larsen of Fraser Yachts has had a record year by anyones standards, with some of the most expensive superyacht sales having his name sealing the deal. SYT's Francesca Webster caught up with Stuart to find out a little more about his predictions for 2022, his life as a yacht broker and his recipe for success

How did you enter the world of yacht brokerage, can you give a bit of an overview of your career?
I fell into yachting by chance, like most of my peers. After graduating from law school in New Zealand, I took a year off to travel. I had a scholarship to Harvard University but I wanted to see a bit more of the world before getting serious about what I thought would be a legal career.  The era of cheap travel hadn’t arrived yet and Kiwis didn’t travel as much as they can now but, regardless, off I went.

After spending a brutally cold Christmas in New York, I travelled to Florida in search of the sun, something more like Christmas at home. Funds were running low and having done a lot of competitive sailing in New Zealand, I easily got work and accommodation on a boat in Fort Lauderdale.

Of course, with my Kiwi accent I met many people in the yachting business and made friends with a well-established yacht broker who had just started his own company. He decided he wanted to take me under his wing and offered me a sales position in his company. I didn’t know anything about brokerage, let alone that it could be a viable business, but I wanted to find out more. It certainly seemed more exciting than more law books. It was – and I  have never looked back.

I joined Fraser Yachts in 1980 and have been with the company for my entire career, through five different ownerships. My parents, of course, were horrified. I do not think my father forgave me until I sold the new build project for Octopus almost twenty years later! He still wanted me to be a lawyer………….. 

How do you see the industry has changed during your years as a broker?
Apart from the obvious - the size, length and number of yachts and cruising grounds have increased significantly – the more interesting changes are less evident.  

It was the early days of the internet and I was lucky to count among my many clients a number of first-generation IT and tech entrepreneurs whose innovations literally changed the way we live. They were curious, creative, technically minded and fascinated by the natural world. Communications and IT meant that they were no longer tied to their desks. Now it was possible to travel and explore while still keeping tabs on business. The yachts they bought and built reflected their spirit of innovation and technical boldness. For example, Octopus with her integrated dock, dual helicopter landing pads and submarine, the tender capability of Tatoosh – Senses, Skat and many others, all come to mind. At the time, barring ships for warfare and rockets for space, yachts were the most sophisticated and complex craft man could devise.

The industry as a whole is just catching up now: helicopters, large tenders, spas and beach clubs, even submarines on the larger yachts, are more commonplace. But there is a key difference. The design used to be driven by the function, today most yachts are designer yachts, where design for design’s sake overshadows the functionality. There are a few recent, glorious exceptions - Artefact springs to mind, a rare combination of a visionary project, managed by a talented captain supported by a creative, design team and a yard willing and able to innovate technically.
 
The past twenty years has also seen the rise of production and semi-production yachts. They are more standardised since they need to appeal to a larger market segment. They take less time to build and the yard can manage the projects more efficiently – there are fewer problems to solve, less issues to go wrong. While the demand for custom yachts continues, only a handful of yards have the know-how or interest to build anything custom, bigger than 80 metres. But now we see the market maturing with yards focused on guiding demand and creating, rather than following, trends.

What are the biggest challenges brokers face in such a competitive market?
I don’t think the key challenges have changed over the years. Numbers have increased so there is more inventory to get to grips with. New yards have sprung up globally so it’s more difficult to track every new project. The internet has helped manage the overload and tools like the MLS systems have become invaluable but they are no substitutes for hard earned knowledge and experience. There are too many brokers who think it’s an easy and glamorous business. Everyone is ready to talk the talk but much fewer are willing to walk the walk. There are only a handful of companies that can offer clients proper advice, service and guidance and I am astounded at the lack of knowledge some brokers have when dealing with yachts over $20 million. I sometimes ask myself if I was a buyer or a seller, would I entrust my $20 million business to that person………….

But, essentially the role of a broker hasn’t changed over the years. The challenge is doing it right. We all talk about so-so having sold this or that yacht. A broker doesn’t sell a yacht; his (or her) job is to make the sale happen. This is achieved by smoothing out all the snags, hitches (and ruffled feathers and egos) that are part and parcel of every sale. Personalities are large, the stakes are larger and all parties want to be the winner. The aim is to enable the parties to reach an agreement that all can live with. This means having a clear idea of the outcome you need to reach and managing each step of the process. It is time consuming, requires a lot of thought, idea tossing, fine tuning and creativity. It’s a long-haul journey. Interestingly, while we have a lot more tools, they don’t necessarily make the job of a dealmaker easier. Like building a yacht - you can’t compress the process, it requires time, attention, a good blueprint, a shared road map and a thorough understanding of the yacht sale process in order to arrive at a closing.

You have had an exceptional year, with some major sales. What do you think are the secrets to success in the big boat market?
I am still surprised when I look at the numbers. I sold 14 yachts in 2021 which translates into more than three quarters of a billion dollars and over 800 metres (2,624’) in length. In terms of gross tonnage, the total volume of yachts I have sold is equivalent to the gross tonnage of forty-five 50 metre yachts!
More importantly, I have acted for young, first-time buyers as well as for clients I first dealt with 30 years ago. It has also been a great privilege to be asked to represent yachts Iike Skat and Octopus which I originally sold as new build projects, in addition to the other 12 sales this year. 

The secret? Well, experience and business acumen are essential. Working with a well-respected company with an international presence is also important since our clientele is global. Marketing plays an increasingly central role, all the more so during the pandemic when buyers were not always able to visit a yacht in person.  Really it still all boils down to knowing your business, saying it how it is and building up trust.

What do you think 2022 holds for the yachting industry?
The 2021 boom was unexpected. I think most companies were bracing for a downturn, even as bad as the GFC. The onset of the pandemic was so fast there was no time to think things through and certainly no historical map to guide us.

Then, all of a sudden business picked up rather than falling off a cliff like we anticipated. It was an eye opener until we realised that yachting provided an escape from the constraints of social distancing and lockdowns. Coupled with a booming stock market and the availability of cheap money, the yachting market simply exploded. However, the sheer size of the surge in demand was astonishing, both in brokerage and new construction. I don’t think 2022 can be such an extraordinary year.

Good brokerage inventory is short, shipyards are full and, in many cases, over-extended. Some are not even contemplating discussions, let alone commitments with clients for new builds until their backlogs subside. A repeat of 2021 in sales is not feasible but, overall, the yachting market will remain upbeat as the inventory works its way through the various stages of ownership.  Interest in yachting will almost certainly remain high since the impact of the pandemic is going to be with us for a long time. Barring, of course, an increase in the cost of money or a significant slow-down of economic recovery impacting asset markets, yacht sales and prices should hold steady or firm up some more.

To date, the surge in numbers and asking prices should provide a springboard for new investment in greener, more sustainable solutions. Younger owners are more attuned to environmental issues and likely more willing to pay a premium for effective solutions, but green has a long way to go to become mainstream.

On the downside, there has been a lot of over-promising from many builders. We need to be ready for some disappointing and late deliveries from some yards, driven by not only Covid slowdowns but ongoing supply chain issues and some shipyards’ inabilities to scale-up fast enough and reorganise workforces to the new levels that are now needed.

Stuart is pleased to announce the sale of SKAT, his 13^th sale in 2021. Stuart acted for the buyer and the seller.
“In my view SKAT was one of the most exciting yachts on the market this year. – said Stuart – “She was extraordinarily well built, impeccably maintained, and her layout and design are innovative and elegant. Her enduring appeal was confirmed by the extraordinary interest shown by buyers during the Monaco Yacht Show”.

What makes SKAT so unique is the seamless continuity between her exterior and interior in terms of design, layout and décor. Functionality sets the tone since living in comfort at sea, in hot and cold climates, was a key priority. The exterior is essentially a succession of flat surfaces, the only curve is the striking sweep of the bow. The grey paintwork highlights SKAT’s uncompromising lines.

The interior is as essential as the exterior. Built for comfort rather than show, the elegant, minimalistic interior by Marco Zanini looks as modern today as when SKAT was built. There are no superfluous lines or decoration. The construction brief called for as much natural light as possible. The glass conservatory on the bridge deck allows natural light to come in from above and below so one really has the feeling of living on the water. In order to optimize space, and cater for work and play, the layout is designed to be flexible: the dining room doubles as a meeting room, the main salon as a cinema, even the elevator can be used as a dumb waiter, with custom shelving popping out for dinner plates, when guests are seated for dinner.
In terms of performance, SKAT sets equally high standards.  She is one of the quietest yachts afloat. The floating floors are fixed on shock mounts to eliminate all vibration and, while cruising at 14.3 knots, 45dbA was recorded in the salons and 34dbA in the Owner’s stateroom. Two big, stainless steel-encapsulated exhaust systems reduce exhaust noise to barely audible levels.

SKAT is heli capable and can land and carry an EC135 or Agusta 109 in private use. The equipment to refuel and maintain the helicopter is located in the raised helipad which can be made ready for landing or departures in minutes.
Three years into the project, her naval architect, Espen Øino summed up the entire build team’s feelings by saying “SKAT is a yacht like no other”. This continues to be true almost 20 years later.
SKAT was asking Euro 49.5m.
 

Stuart is pleased to announce the sale of Ocean Z the 33-meter (108’) Custom Line Navetta series built by Ferretti in 2018. This is Stuart’s 12^th sale in 2021.
The ideal family yacht, Ocean Z’s elegant but aggressive exterior lines were designed by Zuccon International Project while the naval architecture is by Custom Line Spa.

Built entirely in GRP, the Navetta 33 series embodies Italian style and flair. Known for her large interior volumes with lots of natural light, Ocean Z makes excellent use of here 262 GT. In addition, her exterior spaces rival a 40-meter vessel.

The beautiful, contemporary interior designed by Giuseppina Arena is both comfortable and welcoming. The neutral tones and large windows create a relaxed holiday atmosphere. A starboard side balcony in the main salon is ideal for inside/outside living.  

Ocean Z can accommodate up to 11 guests in five well-appointed cabins, including a master suite on the main deck. Lower deck staterooms include three queen bed cabins and one double with a Pullman bunk. All cabins have a full en suite bathroom. The staterooms are quite large and very comfortable for a yacht in this size range. Ocean Z also has accommodation for 5 crew members including the captain.

OCEAN Z’s large outdoor living spaces perfectly complement her interior. Elegant and well-laid out, she has different areas for relaxing and socializing. Her sundeck showcases a forward whirlpool with sunbathing area, a wet bar, alfresco dining and a lounge seating area.

Ocean Z is powered by two Caterpillar C32 12V 1600 hp engines giving her a maximum speed of 17 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots. Her maximum range at cruising speed is 1,500 nautical miles.
Ocean Z he was asking $ 8,350,000.