Boat International – August 2019

LYBRA’s

Superyacht

Show takes

on a life

of its own

hirtyof theworld’smost spectacular

superyachtsgracedOneOceanPortVellin

BarcelonathisMayforthesecondannual

editionofTheSuperyachtShow.Thefour-

dayevent,launchedbytheLargeYachtBrokersAssociation

(LYBRA),welcomed55-metrePhilippeBriand-designed

PeriniNaviGalileoG,56.5-metreFeadshipHampshireIand

theiconic88-metreMalteseFalcon,amongmanyothers.

Theshowwasdesignedtohaveaclear-cutclientfocus,

eschewingtheancillary,industry-orientedproductsthat

dominateothershows,tocreatethe bestpossible

experienceforclients.Thisyear,thecarefullycuratedlist

ofpartnersincludedprestigiouscompaniessuchasAston

Martin, BoutsenDesign,BWAYachting,Mandarin

Oriental,Bulgari,theFinancialTimes,BOATInternational

MediaandBreedMedia.

With 10 moresuperyachtsinattendancethanlastyear,

theapproachseemstobeworking.“Wehaveincreasedthe

numberofboatsandvisitors,whichisarareachievement

withinayear,”saidLYBRApresidentandFraserchief

executiveRaphaelSauleau.“That’sapositivesignand

Ithinkweareontherighttrack.”

Sauleaualsorevealedthat“theaimistohavebetween

40 and 45 yachtsnextyear”,butthattherelaxedand

exclusivenatureoftheshowwouldbepreserved.“Wedon’t

wanttoomanyboatsbecausethenitbecomestoobig.”

HighlightsthisyearincludedthethirdannualRichard

EarpAwardforexemplaryconductandfairnegotiations,

whichwenttoFrasersalesbrokerVassilisFotilas.Founded

in 2016 andorganisedbyMYBAandLYBRA,theprize

recognisestheoutstandingworkethicofwell-respected

brokers.Fotilaswaspresentedwithanawardsculpture

namedOcean’s 9 ,whichwascraftedbyCanadianartistand

residentofSouthofFrance,CarolBruton.“Itdoesn’t

happenveryoften,butI’mspeechlessandhumbled–thank

youverymuch,”saidFotilasattheevent.

FrédéricDormeuil,directorofbrandpartnershipsfor

TheSuperyachtShow,hintedthatbigplanslieaheadforthe

show,whichcouldseereplicatedeventstakeplaceglobally

toservegrowingmarketsintheUSandAsia.Asmanyas

fiveSuperyachtShowscouldtakeplaceannually,hesaid.

“Thenameoftheeventmeansyou’renotlimitingyourself

toonespecificlocation,soyouhaveflexibility.Wecould

potentiallymovewithoutaproblem,butmoreimportantly

itallowsusonedaytoreplicatetheshow.

“TheUSandAsiaarebigmarkets–Icouldevenenvision

havingfiveshowsacrosstheworldwiththesamethemeand

thesameinternationalpartners,”hesays.

T

NOWINITSSECONDYEAR,THE

EXCLUSIVEEVENTTHATPUTS

OWNERSFIRSTHASEVEN

BIGGERPLANSFORTHEFUTURE

PHOTOGRAPHY:

JONATHAN

GLYNN-SMITH;

BREED

MEDIA

boatinternational.com
I