During the 2017 Monaco Yacht Show, the sale of 67m Icon was announced on the final day and it was rumoured – correctly so in the end – that 107m Ulysses had also sold.

However, since the show, the 50m+ brokerage market had been noticeably sluggish, until significantly picking up in December with six 50m+ sales and 18.8 per cent of this year’s 50m+ sales thus far.

The yachts that have sold this month are: 66m Natita (Oceanco), 59.4m Oasis (Lürssen), 56m Ulysses (Benetti), 55m Huntress II (Feadship), 54.3m Step One (Amels) and 50m Wabi Sabi (Westport).

All the yachts made appearances at either the Monaco Yacht Show or the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, except Natita, which was seized by Goldman Sachs in August after owner William Kallop defaulted on a loan repayment.

December’s strong performance is more of a recovery than a progression for Q4.

Y.CO, Camper & Nicholsons and Burgess were the brokerage houses with the largest contribution, with involvement in two sales apiece.

From 2012 to 2016, Q4 averaged 9.4 50m+ yacht sales each year. With only one sale in October and November this year (107m Ulysses), December’s strong performance is more of a recovery than a progression for Q4.

Over the same five-year period, Q4 had the second highest output of 50m+ brokerage sales, after Q2, which averaged 11.6 sales.

With just one 50m+ yacht listed for sale in December so far – the 60.6m Feadship, Sanoo, which last sold in September 2016 – there has been little to replace this loss of inventory, which is a problem this sector is prone to battling.

In terms of its total output of 50m+ brokerage sales, Q1 has been the least productive quarter of the year since 2012, so a smaller fleet of yachts for sale certainly won’t support the brokerage houses as we move into 2018. That said, in Q1 2017, there were 10 50m+ brokerage sales, which was a marked improvement on years gone by.

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