ZUIDOOSTBEEMSTER – The cancellation of the in-Water HISWA boat show dimmed the mood at St-Barth Yachting. The rookie Dutch builder wanted to use the Sept. 1-5 event to unveil its first craft – a 23m, aluminum pocket superyacht — but it didn’t happen.
Little is known of the forces behind the St-Barth-75, but many fingers point to businessman Frank Bart. The St-Barth-75 marks yet another expansion of the market segment of very fast, very high-end Dutch-built motor yachts. By now, a dozen or so Dutch yards turn out smart craft for wealthy owners on the US eastern seaboard or Europe’s northern Mediterranean rim.
Leading brands are Wajer, Vanquish and Zeelander. They target the superyacht crowd and have established service points in the US and Europe to care for owners’ boats and even provide captains, if needed.
St-Barth Yachting insists its inaugural craft “has been developed from a different perspective than established brands” and comes with advanced technologies. Powered by twin Volvo Penta 1050 IPS systems, the St.-Barth-75 achieves a top speed of 28 knots.
Glass covers the length of the hull. There is a hidden anchor system, developed in-house. The St-Barth-75 boasts a beach club, a sun deck and a foredeck Jacuzzi with lounge sofas. The interior is done in soft, earthy tones and oozes luxury from the lounge to the dining area, from the galley to the four double cabins, each with its own full bathroom. The yacht has Humphree 24V zero-speed stabilizers.
Inside are appliances from Miele (washer, dryer, a kitchen with induction cooking and teppanyaki grill plate). There is a Winterhalter dishwasher, a Spectra Newport water maker, Mavé AC, “an extensive camera system,” a hydraulic 2.5m gangway, and a garage for a 5-person AB Tenderjet 330.
Is there room for a dozen Dutch builders of luxurious, high-performance pocket superyachts that are toys for owners of big superyachts? Yes, very likely.
The past decade revealed robust growth in the ranks of the ultrarich.
The financial data firm Wealth-X found that in 2020, the ranks of the super-rich rose to 295,450, up 1.7% from 2019. St-Barth Yachting enters a lucrative, but highly competitive market. Some rivals have a solid head start. Wajer Yachts was among the first.
Today, it produces high-end dayboats of up to 77ft., the same length as St-Barth Yachting’s inaugural yacht. Since its founding in 2012, Vanquish Yachts has grown spectacularly. Today, 60% of its market is in the US. Last year, Vanquish scored an order for a 115ft (35m) yacht (delivery: mid-2022) that will have a 53kt top speed.
www.st-barthyachting.nl
