Nordhavn 86 Charter Challenge

Nordhavn 86 Model # 1

Not only have we been involved in the luxury villa rental business, but the luxury charter yacht business too. There are some very similar challenges with the villa rental business and charter yachts, but also some major differences. The challenge was how we were going to begin to first understand the differences and then create a customized strategy.

When most people consider chartering a powerboat their minds tend to envision a sleek sexy modern yacht cutting through the waves. The crew all dressed in their whites serving fabulous meals and drinks while the guests lounge around in their bathing suits. When guests rent charter yachts they want to feel important, special, taller, thinner, sexier, and a lot more fun to be with at all times. If the charter yacht does not make them feel that way they have no interest.

There are also different categories that are based on length. The cut off point to be considered “luxurious” appeared to be 100 feet. These two key features were extremely important for potential clients to consider during the selection process. The third element was the reputation of the crew. Because the crew would interface with the clients on a 24/7 basis, the quality of the adventure was generally based on how engaging the crew was at making the clients feel welcome and safe.

Our first opportunity to represent a charter yacht was a newly built Nordhavn 86. This particular yacht did not make it easy as it provided major challenges with all three key requirements. The Nordhavn brand was defined not as a luxury yacht, but more like a navy boat that was built with safety and durability in mind. Not exactly a sexy mega yacht that so many have seen in the magazines. The yacht was a Nordhavn 86, which was the first one of that length Nordhavn ever built. The previous longest model was only 72 feet long. Nordhavn had to make major investments in terms of infrastructure to build a boat of this length. It positioned them in a totally new segment in the market place. Their brand was not known to have a flare for luxury features and amenities.

Being only 86 feet long put this yacht in “no-man’s land”. It was not at the 100 foot length with the big boys, yet it was at a length that was clearly much greater than yachts in the 60-75 foot lengths. Trying to decide on the pricing structure to charter this yacht was nearly impossible because there were no other yachts to compare.

A vast majority of charters are generated by charter brokers. When we set out to seek representation for the Nordhavn 86, the top shelf well known charter brokers clearly indicated they were not interested because the Nordhavn 86 was not long enough along with the fact the Nordhavn brand was not known to be considered a luxury charter product. They also indicated they were not familiar with the crew. In other words, it did not fit their inventory profile.

The owners of the Nordhavn 86 were not thinking in advance of any of these issues before they had Nordhavn build their yacht. They were having it built for their own personal use and enjoyment. Nordhavn was transformed in so many ways because of this owners desire to push them out of their comfort zone. Transforming their place in the industry to jump from 72 feet to 86 feet was huge. However, to totally remodel the interior to include sleek interior furnishings with all the “bells and whistles” of a high end luxury yacht changed their world. Nordhavn it was going building a new “brand” rather than the traditional one so many people in the yachting world had come to know.

From past experiences, we knew the various media publications were always looking to discover relevant interesting content. We thought it would be a good idea to reach out and see if we could engage with the publications imagination enough to have them feature the Nordhavn 86. After several attempts, we were able to get the attention of Power & Motoryacht Magazine.

The magazine agreed to run a featured story that included an actual experience of their writer cruising onboard in Norway. As you can see from the photograph, the magazine actually featured it on their cover of the December.

This provided credibility to the revised style and features of the Nordhavn brand. It also made it clear the Nordhavn 86 was truly a “Go Anywhere” luxury yacht.