Yachting: The tide begins to turn for China's sailing industry

Corporate entertainment

A newlywed couple poses for wedding photos on a yacht at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, Shandong. Zhang Wei / China Daily

According to Morgant, most yacht buyers are in sectors such as real estate, finance and transportation, and use their vessels to entertain their clients. "The industry is developing so rapidly. New marinas are built in one to three years, and the sales revenue from boats is promising. However, despite all these factors, training and industry knowledge lag behind other countries," he said.

"At first, my worry was that everyone wanted to buy big boats fitted the latest high-tech equipment. One person asked me: 'What is the biggest boat in the marina? I want a bigger one.' Another wanted to know if he could buy a yacht with a large table in the center so he could invite 30 guests to dinner on the boat," he recalled.

"We were asked a lot of crazy questions. It's easy to sell a product to those who know little about yachts, and we are trying to adapt to the Chinese customers, but not simply pander to their whims. Our aim is not just to sell bigger and bigger boats," he said, referring to the company's desire to sell customers a boat that's right for them.

According to Morgant, the market has slowed this year because the government's well-publicized austerity and anti-corruption campaigns have made customers reluctant to appear ostentatious.

"It's good for every one to calm down because it will allow the industry to provide a better service, and give people time to learn about sailing," he said.

Nick Liu, marketing manager of Qingdao Furi Yachts and Marina Club, said that as a greater number of foreign brands gain a foothold in China, the maritme market is becoming more fragmented.

Liu's club, which owns an Azimut Flybridge 82 that is docked at the Olympic Sailing Center, is an official broker for Azimut, Italy's leading yacht maker.

"With regard to individual needs and interests, buyers now have more options, and are becoming more rational. Some choose to buy a fishing yacht, while others prefer a racing one, and still others want to own a leisure craft for entertainment. It's just like when cars first became widely available in China in the 1980s. At the beginning, owning a car - no matter what brand it was - was a status symbol, but nowadays it's a totally different situation," he said.

Liu said that compared with motorboats, sailboats are becoming more popular with Chinese buyers.

"People are beginning to understand that yachts are more sporty, more environmentally friendly, more economical, and they can undertake a voyage round the world. Many wealthy buyers are beginning to consider catamarans, rather than a large motorboats, because they are multifunctional. They can be as spacious as motor yachts, and are designed for sailing."

Misleading perception

Xie Boyi, a member of the National Yacht Development Experts' Committee, said: "There is a misleading perception in China that yachting is just a luxury activity for the super rich."

That view was echoed by Liu Dianfang, chairman of Xiamen's Yacht Industry Association, who said: "If you look at the global yacht market, 95 percent of consumption is small- and medium-sized vessels. More specifically, of that figure, about 85 percent of the yachts are less than 11 meters in length, and are worth less than 1 million yuan."

Per capita yacht ownership remains far below Western levels. In 2012, one in every 430,000 people had a yacht. By contrast in 2008, about one in every nine people in New Zealand owned a yacht; while in Italy the figure was one in every 100, according to the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association report.

"The property of yachts is more about private ownership, like a car or a house, and has architectural and artistic attributes. Very often, they are customized in terms of decoration and design," Xie said.

"It is a pity that a well-built sailing yacht or motor yachts are used as tourist boats with too many people squeezed together onboard. Many tourists will only have one experience of sailing and the yachting culture shouldn't be promoted like this," he said.

The China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association said a yacht priced at between 500,000 to 1 million yuan can be chartered for between 500 to 800 yuan an hour. That means a couple of friends could pay 3,000 yuan to charter a yacht for half a day, a reasonable sum for white-collar workers, leading industry insiders to believe chartering could become a major driver of yacht purchases in the next decade.

Contact the author at dongfangyu@chinadaily.com.cn

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