A
lthough it’s not unheard of, it is still rare for
a client to buy a superyacht sight unseen.
Laurentia, a 55 metre Heesen started on
spec and resold in the late stages of
construction, is a great example of how this
can happen, and with happy results.
“In all my years as a broker this is the
first time when everything was done via
WhatsApp messaging,” says Barin Cardenas, founder and president
of The New Yachts Company. “The buyer never once visited the yard
or visited the boat in person.”
The future owner, a fiercely private person, was not uninterested in
the outcome; quite the opposite. He had a lot of knowledge and
contributed many of his ideas, Cardenas says. He had narrowed down
the search to a new, finished (or nearly so) yacht built at a northern
European yard.
As the new yacht market recovered after years of sluggish growth,
it was not an easy task. Cardenas and the principal of Miami-based
design firm Radyca, who acted as owner’s rep, searched for good
options for about 30 months until an “Aha” moment at the Fort
Lauderdale International Boat Show in 2016. Heesen’s 70 metre
Galactica Super Novacaught the client’s attention. Unfortunately, she
was not for sale and there were no projects of that size available within
a short delivery window at Heesen.
The owner’s team began discussing other options with Heesen’s
commercial team. The yard’s new 55 metre series ofered some of the
features the client wanted – room for toys, six cabins and long-range
capability among them. So when Project Alida (hull No 2 of Heesen’s
55 metre series) became available, somewhat unexpectedly, the
owner’s team went to the shipyard in Oss, the Netherlands, to
investigate. “Within an hour our client was reviewing a properly edited
film on a private link,” Cardenas says.
The yacht was still in dry dock but nearly finished. All that was
needed from the builder’s point of view was to open the water valves
and float the yacht out. But it was not to be – at least not right away.
“He liked the layout and the bones of the boat. What he did not
particularly like was the interior,” Cardenas says. “Boats are supposed
to be fun, a place to escape the corporate environment.”
When the client conveyed that he did not like the décor, the team
went to work layering diferent fabrics and finishes, and sketched over
photographs they’d just shot to show how Project Alida could become
Laurentia, all the while communicating via WhatsApp as the client ran
in and out of meetings.
Radyca is a new name in the yachting world, but its team has already
designed yacht and aircraft interiors, in addition to several high-end
residential and commercial projects. Its office, in one of Miami’s
glittering high rises, has been at the heart of the transformation of the
financial centre into a vibrant liveable part of the city. The firm’s
portfolio includes a vast luxury entertainment centre, which opened
recently near Brickell Avenue.