Luxury Sailing Yachts Concept From Croatia
How the best yachting concept in the world was born
It is always interesting to see how a new business model is born and developed in front of your eyes. We have all seen the rise of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, as well as how Amazon took over and how Tesla electric cars are becoming more and more popular.
There is a similar “revolution” going on at this very moment in Croatia.
The scale might not be as large as the mentioned examples, but this new luxury yachting idea is for real.
What kind of yachts are we talking about?
In the last couple of years, more than ten yachts like this were built.
Aurum Sky
Corsario
Dalmatino
Lady Gita
Love Story
Navilux
Rara Avis
Dalmatino
With the popularity and how well these luxury sailing yachts are booked and the market demand and feedback we are getting from clients when they get back home, I have to say that these yachts are a HOME RUN.
How these yachts are special?
Some of the most exciting features of these yachts are:
- Size according to price-performance: you can’t get a bigger yacht at these prices, with the average length 37 meters going all the way up to 49 meters.
- Steel hull: easier to maintain, fewer costs – and again, a better price-performance
- Superb services onboard: ships have 5 to 8 crew members, and some of the best gourmet chefs work on these vessels, offering services you can only find on mega yachts
- Megayacht concept, only better in the price: to put it simply, you get a € 200.000 experience for € 60.000 – you will just cruise a bit slower, as the average speed on these yachts is around 10 knots.
The backstory – how it all started?
It is always interesting to see how a new business type evolves and starts. This business emerged in 2012 when the first yacht of this type was built.
Croatia already has an incredible (more than 100 years old) tradition of building ships. The evolutions went something like this.
First, they built vessels that would transport sand and animals from island to island
Croatia has more than 1200 islands, and to develop them, the cargo needed to be transported, and similar ships to this were used.
Second – transformation to tourism
A couple of decades later, people decided they would rebuild these ships so that they could use them for tourism. They built 7 to 10 cabins (some had more) with maybe one or two toilets. Ships B category were built.
They were an instant success, as Croatia is one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, and the demand was very high.
Third evolution – going from B to A category
When the demand grew, so did requests for more luxurious vessels. As Croatians are great business people, they started to renovate and build bigger ships, where each cabin had its own shower and toilet, some with air conditioning, and so they became much more comfortable.
Going big - the birth of a super industry
After that, the entire industry just took off! Every year, 10 to 15 new steel ships were born, growing in size from 30 to 50 meters (and more). Tour operators fought with each other over who could have more ships like this in their offer, and the cabin charter cruise industry was going strong.
Most ships had 14 to 18 or even 20 cabins, and they were becoming more and more impressive.
New Idea – a new concept – Vessel Navilux arrived
While everyone in Croatia had substantial success with these vessels, the Ercegovič family had a different idea. People in Croatia were shocked when the family said they wanted to go the other way.
They built a super luxury yacht that does not have 16 cabins like every other vessel – just 6 cabins and ultimate luxury services.
They decide to break the “mold” and go from CRUISING to YACHTING. It was a very risky move at that time, and nobody had any idea if it would be successful.
Navilux was born in 2012, and it was the first vessel of this type.
What happened next?
Luckily, Yacht Navilux was a success. The bookings were good, and the people who booked were in awe of their services and price performance.
After a couple of years, the BOOM happened, and people started to build these types of yachts like crazy.
First, Aiaxaia arrived. Then it was Rara Avis and Dalmatino, Lady Gita, Corsario, Aurum Sky, and Son De Mar were next in line. Love Story and Acapella will be launched soon.
And they all had one thing in common – they were all mostly fully booked.
Only the sky's the limit
According to these yachts’ success and the Croatian boatbuilding tradition, I think these sailing yachts will only get better and more luxurious.
Most of these yachts are almost fully booked for the 2021 season, so due to limited capacity, you need to hurry if you wish to catch a free week nearly one year in advance, while 2022 bookings are already starting.
Due to price performance, I expect a similar expansion (that had 16 to 18 cabins), where the number of ships grew from 1 to 150 in a couple of years.
It will be interesting to observe how fast this market will evolve in the years to come!
Mitja Mirtič
