TSF: Connect 2023 in partnership with METSTRADE saw over 800 guests join us at the RAI Amsterdam for the 31st edition of The Superyacht Forum for three days packed with insightful discussions, the exchanging of ideas and the cultivation of fresh connections. The 2023 edition offered a more streamlined event, with each day built around this year’s themes of Owner, Ocean and Open.

Day Three centred around opening your mind to the new possibilities tantalisingly within the superyacht industry’s reach. Some of the key moments that took place on the centre stage, workshops and networking sessions can be found in our Day Three highlight reel below.

The opening keynote saw three brilliant minds take to the stage and share their visions, ideas and applications poised to not only shape the future of our industry but also open our minds to intelligent initiatives.

Holger-Schulte-Hillen, Chief Operating Officer of Innovation at Al Seer Marine presented findings from the largest 3D printing project in the world and detailed how it has the protentional to minimise the carbon impact of new build projects. Dr Frank Rattey of Planeteers discussed his positive carbon capture project and Jérome Vollet from Planete Industrie pitched his plans for a a low-impact superyacht service eco-system.

“Everyone needs to look at their own businesses to see where it's appropriate to use these [AI] tools,” Bill Edwards, Head of Research and Development at Bernard Olesinski tells delegates in a comprehensive discussion on the advent of AI in yachting. “[You should investigate] whether anyone else in that same space is leveraging them in a way that gives them an advantage or not. The power of these machine learning algorithms is what's allowed us to make such large variations in the hull form [design] and still map them to coherent models.”

The afternoon discussion centred around the next frontier of superyachting – the Middle East. Over the next 20 years, we anticipate a migration East from the Mediterranean, into the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf Region. This open debate explored the impact incredible projects such as NEOM and vast investments across the UAE and the Red Sea will have on the future of yachting, from a cruising, ownership, operations and infrastructure perspective. Martin Redmayne was joined on stage by Billy Cañellas Vears of NEOM, Camper & Nicholsons CEO Paolo Casani, Gunther Alvarado from Al Seer Marine, Deloitte’s Tommaso Nastasi and Jeff Houlgrave of Marina Projects.

The bittersweet final address signalled the curtain call for the incredible three-day forum. And as the industry around us evolves, so too is The Superyacht Group. “I want to make sure we are your platform for credible quality serious information,” says Redmayne. “We had a session about owner education where Daniel Chatterjee from [Rolls-Royce] mtu said we have to educate and inspire owners. A part of the process we have to get into is working with you and say we have a platform. We have a mission to become the central source of real insights, intelligence and opinions.”

Shortly after, delegates flocked to the METSTRADE halls to join the festivities as the lights dimmed on the forum’s main stage for the final time this year. We thank you all for joining us and making your voices heard in what was the best TSF: Connect to date. We will be back in 2024, sooner than you think, and we can’t wait till we meet again. Until next time. 

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