The prestige passion projects

60-metre Feadship motoryacht Lady Beatrice, on the market for €15 million. Image © Francisco Martinez

An owner once said to me, “I’ve always wanted to own a Feadship”, so he started looking at building and designing what he wanted; however, it became clear that, in reality, maybe he couldn’t really afford it. The next step was to look at second-hand Feadships to see what was available, but after scouring the market, he wasn’t ready to buy something that had a dated interior or needed so much work doing.

Perhaps this is a common theme in the brokerage market where dreams divert clients and they start exploring opportunities, only to get confused and distracted, never really deciding.

What was interesting throughout this exercise was the number of classic styled yachts that were available. A quick review of the brokerage sites and listings pages shows there are still a good range on the market today, yet I wonder if clients are looking at them in the right way. Are they thinking ‘old boat, too much hassle, tired interior and aged systems’, or do they have the vision to see beyond the current state and think about how they could upgrade and rebuild them to be iconic and a true classic?

In order to explore the topic further, I had a good chat with Feargus Bryan, one of my trusted industry experts who’s delivered a good variation of classic and contemporary rebuilds and restorations, to gain some insights and ideas.

Essentially, we agreed that pre-Second World War projects, the real classics, are very interesting but have their limitations, mainly due to design and naval architecture, without enough volume to upgrade and improve systems. They’re mainly passion projects and are an investment for life, with the prestige of owning something beautiful and not to make money because the cost of restoration can be prohibitively expensive, and this is the domain of collectors who just want to have the asset as part of a collection.

Yet post-war projects from the 1960s through to the late 1980s, where there’s design pedigree, such as a Bannenberg, Diana Yacht Design or De Voogt, providing there’s a good steel or aluminium hull, will provide some interesting options. Bryan explains that some owners who go through the process and invest in a modern classic and bring them back to their former glory, with some unique twists and future-proofing, can enjoy the cachet and status of sitting in a marina full of typical predictable yachts, where theirs stands out and gets all the attention.

Having done a quick review of the older fleet, built post-war but before the mid-1990s, there’s a significant number of yachts that are now in their fourth or fifth decade, with very attractive values on the second-hand market.

It’s fair to say that these projects are not for the faint-hearted because issues can be uncovered or discovered, and the key is to refer to them as rebuilds not refits.

There are stunning projects such as M/Y Lady Beatrice, a pedigree 60-metre Feadship on the market for €15 million; M/Y Sheergold, a 42-metre classic Amels from the late 1980s at €4.5 million; the 36-metre M/Y Secret Love from the 1990s, built by Amels, at €4.2 million; M/Y Koru, the 50-metre Bannenberg-designed Feadship, on the market at €8.95 million; and M/Y Monaco, a 37-metre pocket Feadship on the market for €5.6 million, both from the early 1980s.

This list goes on and if you consider the lines, the profile and the brand value of these stunning vintage projects, it needs some intelligent conversations with yards, designers and project teams to map out how to bring these vessels into the modern era.

Perfect for the Mediterranean, these 35 to 60-metre classic projects are on the market to sell at between €5 million and €15 million. With a clear upgrade plan, where the interior, the systems and the engineering are brought up to date, it’s easy to see how much pride will flow through a project that sits elegantly in a marina, with silent energy systems, upgraded hotel systems and new AV/IT … but also with the classic lines of the original superyacht category.

Once a good surveyor has given one of these projects a clean bill of health, structurally and integrity-wise, you end up with a great footprint and volume to add new cleaner engines and generators, smarter air-con systems and various other technologies that will ensure the yacht operates as efficiently as possible.

With the €10 million investment in the classic project, along with a budget of potentially another €10 million and a project timeline of 18 to 24 months, an owner can bring to the market a beautiful yacht that will attract admiration from all walks of our industry. At anchor or pottering from marina to marina at 12 knots, it will be also admired by those owners who have spent €50 million-plus on superyachts that all look the same across the marina.

Masquerade of Sole – arrived at Pendennis in 2011 and relaunched in 2012 as M/Y A2. Image: © Pendennis/Andrew Wright

It’s fair to say that these projects are not for the faint-hearted because issues can be uncovered or discovered, and the key is to refer to them as rebuilds not refits, for the simple reason that you may end up taking out all systems, pipework, wiring, engines and the interior. Once you’ve taken everything out and have the steel and aluminium shell, you’ll know what you’re dealing with.

However, as Bryant clarifies, it’s wise to take time to plan, design and engineer the project and create a scope of work that will bring the yacht into the 21st century. In essence, it’s the same as buying a classic farmhouse, old renaissance villa or a small chateau or castle, but without the restrictions on restoration style or provenance retention. Yet, the regulations and Class rules will obviously make sure you end up with a yacht that is both safe and seaworthy.

One final consideration that’s worth exploring is the fact that with a rebuild of this scale, bringing a classic pedigree yacht back to life, while integrating cleaner energy systems and putting efficiency and clean tech at the core of the project, combined with batteries, smart air con and maybe looking at seakeeping, you end up with a modern result but, more importantly, you have basically upcycled a superyacht in a super-sustainable way.

The bygone days of the 70s and 80s, when ladies and gentlemen would elegantly potter along the Med coast lines, can return with owners who appreciate this form of ‘quiet luxury’ – the new buzzword of wealth sectors. Imagine a pedigree classic superyacht, gently cruising at comfortable speeds, stopping for lunch in a small bay, having a swim from the aft platform and then snoozing out of the sun on the aft deck in a comfortable armchair, with the gentle fuel-efficient rumble of modern gensets or complete silence of a new battery pack.

Meanwhile other modern yachts are drinking litres of fuel, keeping their vast interior super-chilled while being the centre of attention due to the size and Googleable value of their floating palace. It’s comparable to being the owner of a LWB Range Rover or Bentley Bentayaga SUV in one of the world’s major cities, where it seems as if everyone has one. The car owner or collector who has the restored 1970s Jensen Interceptor or Aston Martin DB5 is the one who gets all the admiration and smiles.

This article first appeared in The Superyacht Report – Refit Focus. With our open-source policy, it is available to all for a limited period by following this link, so read and download the latest issue and any of the previous issues in our library. Look out for the New Build issue coming in February!

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