Record Breaking Year at Monaco Yacht Show

Raising funds and awareness to preserve our oceans.

BY OLIVIA DECKER

The Monaco Yacht Show is renowned as the world’s most prestigious yacht show for luxury yachting. This annual event has showcased the finest superyacht lifestyle at Port Hercules in glamorous Monaco since 1991. This year, Monaco Yacht Show featured the most impressive fleet of superyachts in its history and attracted a record-breaking number of 600 companies from the leading superyacht builders, suppliers, designers, top brokers of yacht sales and charters, the most sought-after tenders and water toys, luxury cars, and helicopter and private jet manufacturers, each drawing their clients to the exhibits and contributing to the 31,565 visitors to the show.

The 29th Monaco Yacht Show showcased 125 superyachts with an estimated total value of around 4 billion euros, the highest in the show’s history. The superyacht exhibition included 44 new models and 14 mega yachts over 70 meters in length, including two over 100 meters: the 111.5-meter TIS and 106.1-meter Amadea, both built by Lürssen. The 2019 MYS boasted yachts that were bigger and more amazing than ever, as well as a tendency towards “greener” yachts and enhanced performance in terms of technology, speed, and design. Each year, many newly delivered yachts launch at the show, many yachts for sale are unveiled at the event, and the world’s most respected shipyards display extraordinary one-off superyachts. For four days, yacht owners, yacht brokers, superyacht purchasers, or charterers—decision-makers in the yachting and luxury industries—mingled and networked at the Monaco Yacht Show on a global scale. This year, I visited TIS and Amadea, designed by Espen Oino, plus two elegant yachts for sale: Aurora Borealis (67.6 meters) and Sirona (56.4 meters).

The sixth Monaco Yacht Show Superyacht Awards ceremony awarded four prizes. The 64-meter Attila by San Lorenzo received the MYS/RINA Award for its design, which complies with the environmental standards established by RINA, the Italian company in charge of classifying superyachts. The TIS, a brand new, 111.5-meter yacht built by Lürssen, received the MYS Interior Design Award. The 80-meter Excellence by Abeking & Rasmussen won the MYS Exterior Design Award and the MYS Finest New Superyacht Award. Immediately before the ceremony, the MYS hosted the fourth edition of the Monaco Yacht Summit, during which a variety of yachting related subjects were discussed by some 40 participants interested in purchasing or chartering a yacht soon. Also, the MYS private concierge service invited 211 visitors, linking them up with the show’s exhibitors and triggering over 50 yacht visits. The majority of these potential clients came from the United States, Russia, England, China, and India. Exhibitors noted a definite trend in visitor profile: a broader range of countries, a wider age bracket, and serious intentions to buy or charter.

The Monaco Yacht Show is an event with the recognition and the support of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. In 2010, the Monaco Yacht Show joined forces with the Prince Albert Foundation to support environmental initiatives like the Wood Forever Pact within the framework of the action, “Monaco makes a commitment against deforestation.” In the last three years, Prince Albert Foundation’s Monte-Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean has been positioned as the momentum behind the Monaco Yacht Show program. The gala was hosted on the Lürssen-built yacht Amadea, where Peter Lürssen revealed his donation of 2 million euros to the Foundation. The Intergovernmental Panel on the Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report on the ocean and climate change was announced. The report brings attention to the urgency of preserving our ocean.

The Monaco Yacht Show will celebrate its 30th anniversary on September 23-26, 2020, where Prince Albert Foundation will host its fourth Monte-Carlo Gala for Global Ocean. For details, visit www.monacoyachtshow.com and www.fpa2.org.