New super yacht from Princess

MapisM said:
A "new era superyacht" advertised with a drawing that includes archaic sat domes?
It'd be funny, if it weren't a bit pathetic... o_O
Click to expand...
So ten years ago....

Anyways considering the investment they did about fifteen years ago, and then produced only four models (32m/40m/35m/30m), why they should not do it.

Also a super yacht is usually considered anything over 24 meters (80ft).
Although these days with the market expanding some consider it past 100ft (30m), and others over 50 meters (see Sanlorenzo on there website for example).
 
Thanks Henry. I was told about this by senior Princess folks in early July but this is the first time I have seen these renders. I wish them well with it but I do fear the risk they are taking. They may get princess owner trader-uppers but they need also to get some non-Princess-background folks to buy this, and that will be challenging, though of course it is possible. A few thoughts, all just imho, in no particular order:

1. The Princess brand does not stretch to this space currently. They probably think it does and I guess they might have consultants telling them so, but they're mistaken imho. Remember this is going to be a (ballpark) €18m boat. Walk into Yacht Club de Monaco, tell your mates you have a new 33m, they ask what, you say Princess.

2. The boat looks very good indeed imho. Very nicely drawn lines. Has a nice blend of "slight explorer/serious" look and "luxury" look - a styling look that is very attractive and already well established by Sanlorenzo's SD series and by Cantiere delle Marche, to name but 2 of many. The sundeck+hard top version in the background looks much better than the flat top version in the foreground and I'd expect a sales mix of 100%:0% :) Interesting to compare how beautiful this boat looks with the intense ugliness (imho) of X95 - let's hope we are moving on from the X95 era (not that this 106 is a direct replacement, but I think there will be one). As noted above, Sat domes are legacy and should not be in renders of new models, but Princess are not alone in that.

3. Princess furniture and in some respects their interiors generally don't cut it. I'm assuming (I don't know) they will make the furniture in their current Plymouth furniture facility, which sadly will put plenty of buyers off. Princess don't believe this - they think their furniture is great and they can't see that at 106 feet there will be a BUPA care home vibe. People who spend this much on a boat don't want to sit on a Lang and Potter sofa. I just hope they make the furniture for this 106 differently, and offer ultra customisation.

4. Anyone buying this will at some point have paid say €15m in stage payments and won't own a boat. Billionaires might not care about that credit exposure, but I'd guess they aren't buying this boat anyway. I guess typical buyers are in the $50m-$200m net worth zone and many will care about €15m of exposure. There is no parent entity of Princess or other party who can/will give suitable deep pocketed guarantees, and Princess itself obviously can't. This contrasts very sharply with the credit protection you get with other big yacht builders. Therefore imho Princess need to be ready address this as part of the sales process, at least for buyers who ask

5. Technical spec - best to hold fire on this till we get more info but it has to be right and a few elements of the renders (anchors not properly in pockets) make me nervous but of course the renders may be wrong. Ditto seakeeping - no reason to think it will not be good except that if anyone involved in X-95's naval architecture touched this project I would want to know more. Ditto build quality - many current princesses have ripply mouldings that look awful if you look along them in the sun - let's hope they get some folks/processes on this project that result in correctly cured GRP because their current "ripple problem" will harm sales at this level of boat. Ditto GA, but Princess are generally good at that so I'd expect this one to have a 90% good GA.

It could be a great boat if they build it right, because it looks great and the genre is very popular in the market ATM. Wishing them all the best with it.
 
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