Materialising superyacht concepts
Why is the materialisation of superyacht concepts such a rare occurrence?
Despite the overabundance of innovative superyacht concepts incessantly emerging on market, it’s rare that we actually see any materialise. In the next issue of The Superyacht Report - Issue 178 – we zone in on a discussion with BMT Nigel Gee about materialising concepts and the primary obstructions associated with it.
There are plenty of fantastic ideas available on the market, a number of which are actually feasible projects, but a lot of the time the market isn’t willing to take the substantial risk for such a project to move to the next stage of development. As Alex Meredith Hardy of BMT Nigel Gee explains, “The majority of clients are actually quite conservative.”Therefore, it’s not surprising that concepts intended to push boundaries and toy with future ideas are not immediately swept up by existing superyacht owners.
This outlook doesn’t devalue the importance of superyacht concepts in the market, they are unequivocally a vital part of the development of superyacht design and, as an industry, we’re lucky that so many designers are willing to devote a large proportion of their time and effort towards them, despite the commercial pressures that arise as a result. The reality of our industry is that new ideas take a long time to be embraced by the market, and unfortunately most of the new concepts we see won’t see the inside of a shipyard.
As Richie Blake, director at Döhle Yachts explains, “It’s not until someone has the will, the financial backing and the time that it will happen,” which again is a very rare combination of factors to find in a person – a niche within a niche.
But, if there was a case where an individual was prepared to take the risk, and opt to build a futuristic concept, what are the main barriers preventing the materialisation? Naval architects and designers such as BMT Nigel Gee swear by the ethos ‘the only thing that cannot be changed are the laws of physics’ but there are a number of major factors which make the difference between a successful project and a disaster.
Find this discussion in greater detail, including a thorough analysis on three different conceptual explorer designs, in issue 178 of The Superyacht Report. Subscribe and receive your copy here.
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