A house on the ocean

If you’ve ever wondered what owning a superyacht means to those who take the plunge, you need only talk to them when it comes to launch-time. There’s a flare of excitement, a frisson of anticipation for what’s to come and a swell of pride for what has been achieved in getting to this moment. And, perhaps most notably, there are some common themes that come forth that seem to apply whether the yacht is large or small – in particular, the idea not of status or of show, but of ‘home’. At first glance that might appear incongruous, yet that is exactly what a yacht represents to many owners.

“My boat is going to be for me and my family. I do entertain, but that is not the main reason I have a boat – it has become a second home,” said the Asian owner of the 56 metre Benetti Lady Candy at her launch. “I used to have homes in different places,” he continued, “but once I had a boat I got rid of all my houses because you don’t want to go to the same house every time! The boat is a floating house, but I can go from country to country, go to different places and enjoy my retirement.”

A home that moves, that allows you to change your front garden and rear aspect almost without limit, that can take you to secret coves or on wild adventures, all with the ultimate in privacy, luxury and security – it’s hardly surprising superyachts hold such appeal. And as Superyacht Life has covered before, it doesn’t necessarily mean spending tens of millions on a vessel.

“When I met my wife we wanted to go round the world with a caravan,” said the owner of the 24 metre sailing catamaran Houbara when he took delivery. “We’d never thought about doing it in a boat! But we’re now retired, so we can.” The couple had initially bought a motorboat on the recommendation of several people to explore the Mediterranean, but a chance encounter with a sailing catamaran in Barcelona while cruising grabbed their attention and changed their minds. After tracking the model down to builder Sunreef Yachts, they put in an order for an 82 DD and spent two years overseeing every detail of her construction. It paid off in spades.

“We had no real experience of sailboats before Houbara,” the owner said. “Our choice was for a catamaran because they’re easy. We have spirit of freedom and adventure with a capital A – there’s silence, space, and openness.”

For Lady Candy’s owner, whose background was in construction, building a custom motor yacht was the culmination of several decades of serial boat ownership, construction project knowledge, and the realisation that some parts need a feminine touch. “I try to build a big boat just like I do houses,” he offered. “I concentrate more on the engineering and architecture sides, and the rest of the soft finishing I leave to my wife and daughters – I have very little say on the fabrics, cushions and all this! When it comes to the interior designs I don’t want to argue with the ladies.”

For all the design elements, though, it’s not what that floating home is but what it offers that signals the true appeal. “I think my cruising patterns changed when I had my first 30-metre yacht,” he says, “because at that size you’ve got the range [to go further] and I started going to places like Hainan and the Philippines [from Hong Kong].” From there, he had cycled through to larger and more custom vessels as he and his family spent more and more time on board, culminating in Lady Candy with the ability to cruise wherever and whenever they wanted.

For the owners of Houbara, too, owning a yacht meant creating a home that offered ever-increasing amounts of freedom. “The space, the level of finish,” the owner enthused, “it feels like you are in a very comfortable house. For 18 months my wife and I discussed customisation, step by step changing every detail until we reached the ideal. It took six months to decide the layout, but it’s also your plan for sailing.”

No longer confined to the idea of cruising the Mediterranean, their original dream of travelling the world with a caravan started to take shape with Houbara. Carrying only two crew, and with the intent to spend most of their time cruising as just the two of them, the dream finally became a reality. “We told our captain to find every island between Cannes and New Zealand – we’ve got five or six years to do it and we don’t want to go in a straight line!” they beamed.

If you’ve ever wondered what owning a superyacht means to those who take the plunge, you only need talk to them when they’ve had a chance to enjoy their new floating home and realise their ambitions. “There’s always something to see and do,” say the owners of Houbara, “and the fantastic spirit of sail and sea and waves and silence – it’s beautiful.”