understand by reduction.’ The coronavirus crisis has severely tested the resilience of many marine businesses but YYachts has thrived despite the constraints and challenges imposed by the pandemic. ‘We are getting a lot of enquiries,’ says chief executive Dirk Zademack. ‘Customers currently seem to be much more interested in owning a home on the water and separating themselves somewhat from the environment. Our philosophy of building light, fast, luxurious and sustainable yachts also strikes a chord with them. It goes hand in hand with the current neo-luxury trend of authenticity and self-determination.’
The cancellation of so many boat shows over the last 18 months has forced a change in YYachts’ sales and marketing strategy. ‘When this opportunity to generate leads was taken away by the pandemic, we focused even more on the digitalisation of our activities,’ Zademack says. ‘We conducted viewings via video call and Facetime, installed a new website with many new features and drew attention to ourselves with other digital activities. That has worked well.’
Post Covid, are the boat shows likely to regain the pivotal importance that they used to have for the yachting industry? Schmidt has his doubts. ‘I do believe that boat shows will no longer have the status they had before the pandemic,’ he says. ‘This culture that you must have a stand everywhere will disappear. Perhaps it took this phase to make many people in the industry aware of this.’ Even so, YYachts will still be at a few key events. ‘We will certainly exhibit in Palma and Cannes,’ Zademack says. ‘We are also taking a closer look at the Monaco Yacht Show. At the moment I can't imagine that we will still be exhibiting at indoor fairs but it's still a bit early to judge. We'll just have to observe the overall situation.’ The strong design aesthetic of YYachts is an important aspect of the boats’ appeal. ‘What unites all of our customers is that they are very design-oriented,’ Schmidt says. ‘They like our styling, inside and out. It's not for nothing that we work with people like Sir David Chipperfield, Lorenzo Argento, Bill Tripp, Javier Jaudenes, Norm Architects or Design Unlimited. We always work directly with the owners themselves. The geographical range is relatively wide, from the USA to Russia. Many enquiries come from Europe, but we are very interested in further expanding our preferred partner network.’
YYachts’ smallest model, the Y7, is proving especially popular, which
Above: the Y8 Vegas Baby was the first of four yachts delivered to their owners this year. It was followed by two Y7s and a Tripp- designed 90-footer. Right: the yachtʼs interior design is minimalist and can be customised extensively. All furniture and fittings are weight- optimised and the hulls are built entirely of carbon fibre. The weight saved – about 30 per cent of total dis- placement – is put into the keel bulb to boost sailing performance
Schmidt says is partly because it can be sailed by just two people and also because it’s been exhibited at so many boat shows and has had more magazine coverage than the other two models. ‘However, the Y8 and the Y9 are also generating a lot of interest,’ he says. ‘With the Y9 we have entered the superyacht segment. It is the ideal size to compete in world class regattas like St Barths Bucket or the Superyacht Cup, but still have a spacious yacht for the family with a small crew.’ Right from the start, YYachts has been keen to emphasise the sustainability of its yachts, beyond the inherently sustainable nature of sailing. ‘Our concept only begins with that principle,’ Schmidt explains. ‘For example, we cover the deck with wood from sustainable sources, we install vertical windows to minimise the use of air conditioning and we consistently focus on lightweight construction. YYachts are made entirely of carbon, the interior fittings are weight-optimised and they include parts made with material obtained from recycled PET bottles. You will soon see many more ideas on our yachts but in the interest of our customers, we will only implement things we believe in.’ The shipyard has already delivered four yachts this year. First, launched in April, was the Y8 Vegas Baby, a
Lorenzo Argento design with interior styling by Design Unlimited. Next were two Y7s, one of which has extensive design input from its owner. ‘Then we handed over our current flagship, a Tripp 90, to its American owner,’ Zademack says. ‘Here we worked with Winch Design on the interior.’ Even larger build projects may soon be in the pipeline. ‘Up to 105ft would be possible,’ Schmidt says. ‘Our competence lies in sailing and with interesting models we believe we can convince many owners of motor boats that sailing is more exciting.’
Covid-19 has not slowed down production. ‘We are very proud that we were able to keep our delivery dates,’ Zademack says. ‘The fact that we rely heavily on regional suppliers is not only sustainable, but also had the positive aspect during the pandemic that our supply chains were hardly interrupted.’ YYachts’ goal is to become a global player in the market for full- carbon sailing yachts up to 100ft LOA within the next five years. ‘Already in our first five years we have built up a very good image and satisfied our customers,’ Zademack says. ‘We’d like to continue this and convince some motor yacht owners to buy a sailing yacht. We have already succeeded with three of them.’
www.yyachts.de
q SEAHORSE 81
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120
