The Damen Xplorer 105, an expedition-sized explorer superyacht.
There is a new “hot” destination for superyachts, and it might surprise you. It’s not the South of France, Caribbean or the Seychelles. But, Norway.
“People are talking about Norway a lot, which is dramatic in winter but also beautifully green in summer,” says Caroline White, editor of BOAT International, the magazine sometimes referred to as the “superyacht bible".
“A crew-member I spoke to last week said four of her friends were on four different superyachts in Norway at that moment.”
White says demand for trips to Norway is being driven by growth in explorer class superyachts, which are built to be autonomous in more extreme environments like the polar ice caps while maintaining high-end luxury standards.
“Explorer superyachts are a trend that has endured and strengthened over the past few years,” White says. “Their popularity chimes with the wider societal value shift towards experiences over possessions and signals that an increasing number of people are viewing their yachts as tools with which to access incredible experiences – in the Arctic, or South Pacific perhaps – rather than as prizes to keep on show in San Tropez.
“These yachts are built to be tough, and are sometimes converted from commercial or military ships. The irony is that with their powerful lines and promise of adventure, they often steal the limelight from more polished, traditional yachts when they turn up in a Mediterranean port.”
Caroline White, editor of BOAT International.
Many of these explorer superyachts will be on display at the Monaco Yacht Show later this month. These include the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s 126-meter Octopus, which is equipped with two helipads and submarine, and New Zealand’s richest man Graeme Hart’s 116-meter Multiverse, which features a swimming pool, cinema and a spa as well as a hanger for a Bell 429 helicopter.
White, who has traveled to every edition of this marquee annual superyacht event for more than a decade, says this year’s event (which starts on 23 September) will be one of the most exciting to date, with some of the most impressive and interesting explorer yachts.
“Leviathan, Gabe Newell’s 111m will be there - it has a gaming lounge and basketball court - as well as the 102m Nixie, with a six-metre glass swimming pool suspended above its swim platform.”
However, the industry is slowing down from “a post-Covid boom” when “new clients saw the value of private, isolatable, but moveable environments”.
A total of 1,093 superyachts are in build or ordered this year, according to BOAT International’s annual global order book report, and, White says, the number of these boats built annually will settle at about 950-1,000.
The biggest buyers are from the US, accounting for about 50% of all buyers. The rest are mostly from Europe, despite the industry trying hard to convince the Chinese superrich to take to the seas.
“Over the years I’ve heard a few brokers talk about why that's difficult – that they don’t have the leisure boating culture that Europe or the US does, they don't love the sun or swimming,” White says.
“Also in China, luxury is still understood through the lens of brands - and the most exclusive yachts are custom-made and don’t have any obvious branding.”
White, who has worked at BOAT International since 2011, admits to having rather an exciting job.
“I’ve seen the Northern Lights from a classic 35m yacht (converted from a CIA spy ship) in far western Canada; then there was the night we went to Buddha Bar in Monte-Carlo with David Gandy after the Monaco Yacht Show; or the time a kindly (but possibly foolish) helicopter pilot let me control a six-person chopper as we flew towards its mothership.”
This year’s Monaco Yacht Show could provide White with several more stories to tell.
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