Want to make you and your boat unpopular? It’s simple: just announce that you’re planning a super-fast refit. With new-build yachts taking several years to complete and in high demand, many people have turned to buying older boats with the aim of giving them a rapid upgrade over three to four months and getting them back on the water. The pros? More time on your yacht to holiday with family and friends, or more weeks of income thanks to a competitive charter market. The cons? No one in the industry likes doing them.
“When I saw your email about this feature, my first response was ‘Don’t do it,’” laughs Pier Posthuma de Boer, refit and services director at Feadship. Like many, he sees the speedy refit trend as a dangerous one. “It’s not good for anyone, because eitheryouspeedtheworkupsomuchthat the quality suffers, or the yard is just going to make promises it can’t keep.”
According to Posthuma de Boer, “there are so many refits being done where yards say it’s just going to take three months, even though they’re not quite sure if they’re going to make it – they just want the project on their books and plan to have that argument later.”
Beyond that, he notes that yards are faced with so many challenges currently, from a lack of skilled workers such as painters and welders, to unpredictable supply chains and costs due to the macroeconomic climate. These high-pressure projects can push teams to breaking point, while fast turnarounds can be something of a false economy. A quick paint job might show wear faster than a properly executed one; a speedy interior might lack the level of finish of one that takes just a few weeks longer.
“Yachts are no longer doing a season in the Mediterranean and then sitting around all winter”
The pressure trickles down to designers too. “Fast refits are a hell of a lot more work,” notes John Vickers, CEO of Vickers Studio. He should know: over the past few months, he and his team have launched more than 215 metres combined of newly refreshed superyacht, all carried out to extraordinarily tight timescales, and on large yachts between 50 metres and 100 metres. “Clients have always wanted their boats right now, but I’ve definitely noticed a shift since Covid-19,” he says.
“Charters were full and people wanted their boats ready for a holiday because they couldn’t go anywhere else,” he continues. “I think just the nature of Covid
