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The stats speak for themselves: the charter market grew 138 per cent from 2015 to 2023, according to MYBA, The Worldwide Yachting Association, as more and more people discovered the). Covid-19 provided plenty of extra oomph as the boat-minded sought ways to escape the pandemic when resorts were closing their doors, and the experts don't expect this pace of growth to slow. "Once you try yachting, you stay in yachting, and you tell your friends," says Raphael Sauleau, CEO of IYC and current MYBA president, referencing all the new charterers that have discovered the industry over the last few years. What's fascinating to me are the areas seeing the biggest growth in charter. Lots of insiders are getting excited about Greece as charter laws in that country are liberalised, and we can expect a greater eastward migration of Med charter yachts as a result, but it's destinations further afield that are seeing the most dramatic growth - Indonesia, for instance, the Arabian Gulf and the UAE. The increasing popularity of chartering out of Dubai will be music to the ears of Aaron Fidler, this month's Owners' Club interviewee. The chief-engineer-turned-superyacht-owner's gold-flecked 41.4-metre Palmer Johnson is set up to capture the charter market in the emirate, packed as it is with the latest toys. This story is an inspiration for anyone who's longed to drop the lines and grab a drink. "I wanted to be the one drinking cocktails on the aft deck," he says on page 80. According to MYBA, he's not alone. I urge all owners of charter yachts to dig through our exclusive report on the state of the charter industry in this issue.
