Superyachts are on a roll with bankers, CEOs, and other high flyers. Blame it on liberation from the pandemic and its many restrictions or the importance this mode of recreation has received from celebs, millionaires, and deep-pocketed billionaires; luxury vessels are quite the rage among the rich. They are more than willing to pay millions for week-long luxury cruises.
Fortune shared that bookings for superyachts through Fischer Travel Enterprises (membership charges $150,000 to charter superyachts worldwide) have spiked 20% this year from high levels in 2021, a trend also seen by other companies chartering out luxury vessels. “Yacht charters are very popular because our clients want the privacy, security, and flexibility that it gives them. They want to have a luxurious experience,” Fischer-Rosenthal said.
The Americans come as saviors as the really-rich Russians are no longer sailing the same way. Sanctions against Russia deterred the large group of superyacht enthusiasts from hopping on these pleasure crafts, some of which charge no less than $ 3.4 million weekly.
One of the world’s most expensive superyachts, available for charter through Camper & Nicholsons, is Paul Allen’s Octopus yacht, which costs a whopping $2.2 million a week to rent. 414-feet Octopus is a world explorer known for its escapades to Antarctica. The Lürssen ship displays eight mighty decks, two helipads, a dive center with a hyperbaric chamber, and an underwater observation lounge.
If, on the one hand, money is no constraint for affluent Americans, nor is age. Yacht-chartering customers are getting younger, breaking the stereotype that wealthy people in their 60s chose to spend time aboard a luxury boat. The scenario is different today, with 50-something millionaires eager to hop on to a superyacht and experience a luxurious sailing experience. The demand for massive motor yachts is at an all-time high, with millionaires looking to spend at least a week or more with family and friends. Having said that, most of these massive superyachts are Russian-owned and unavailable, keeping moneyed Americans from experiencing the best of the lot.
Coveted Russian yachts are out of the market-
With most grand Russian yachts impounded, there aren’t many superyachts available for charter, making the luxury sailing experience even rarer and more coveted. This includes the world-famous Flying Fox, Russian billionaire Dmitry Kamenshchik’s 446-foot vessel that Beyonce and Jay-Z skipped the Met Gala for. The $455 million megayacht has a two-story spa, a massive dance floor, a helipad, and even a cryo chamber. To spend a week relaxing on it in the lap of ultimate luxury sets you back by at least $3.4 million.
Blue-hulled Axioma superyacht, a $75 million cruiser, was preferred by millionaires for its avant-garde interiors and luxurious cabins. Not to mention the striking infinity pool, fitness center, movie theater, and massage rooms. However, all that was a thing of the past as Steel billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky’s arrested superyacht Axioma was among the first few impounded Russian luxury vessels to be seized and auctioned. The same goes for the $120 million Alfa Nero luxury yacht belonging to sanctioned oligarch Andrey Guryev that was traced and raided by the FBI.
