Tours Travel

Sex on a yacht

When a lost customer a couple of years ago phoned me from Washington, I was delighted. He had been reading Boat International magazine on a flight and realized that he had left my old brokerage to start working for Camper & Nicholsons. When the global recession began, he had instructed me to sell his small fleet of 88 ‘to 112’ yachts as quickly as possible, recognizing that assets like these would lose value quickly and that by liquidating them he would be in a strong position to survive and even prosper. during the turbulent times ahead. Now, he told me, he was back on the market and would like me to help him find his next yacht.

However, there was a small problem. As a result of the massive growth of his business, he had decided to hire someone to handle all of his acquisitions; properties, planes, businesses and yes, boats.

This “someone” was an accountant.

Now I have nothing against accountants. They serve a useful purpose in doing work that most of us find tedious and boring. A good accountant can save a business substantial amounts of money through smart tax planning and up-to-date advice. However, there are certain decisions that an accountant should NOT be involved in, and buying a yacht is one of them.

Honestly, as soon as I would invite my accountant to a Boat Show, I would invite my Mother to a strip club, or I would ask an accountant to help me buy a yacht, rather than ask my Mother to help me. find a girlfriend. Fundamental traits like a curvy body, a sexy smile, and how fun she is on a date would be totally ignored in favor of other less important attributes like reliability, longevity, and … ahem … a two-year warranty. A mother will make a decision based on thought and logic, a man on the other hand will base his decision on feelings and passion. A friend of mine once told me that his mother burst into tears when he introduced him to his girlfriend simply because she didn’t like her. Strange, that’s exactly the same reaction my client’s accountant had when I told him what the running costs are for a 46 meter yacht.

And this raises the rather interesting question of “why do financially successful people buy yachts?” How is it possible that a man who has spent years developing an enviable ability to generate profit and avoid losing money suddenly buy an object that will do the exact opposite?

I discussed this with a yacht owner more than a decade ago when I was working as a Sales Manager for the Ferretti Custom Line shipyard. The client had an insatiable appetite to negotiate the price of each change order and clearly felt that controlling costs was just as important as seeking profit. One evening at dinner, the customer talked about how hard he had worked to achieve his wealth and said that, as a result, he was not spending money without giving due consideration to all purchases, both small and large. I ventured to ask what “due consideration” had led him to purchase a superyacht, knowing that the annual running costs alone would fund a small military coup.

I’m not very diplomatic of myself, I know … but I just had to ask.

A smile spread across the customer’s face. “David,” he said, “you can’t imagine.” “Everything you do on a yacht is much better. I eat on a yacht and the food tastes better, I lie on a yacht and sleep better, and David,” she said as the smile spread even more. better. We have a yacht. “

About a year after that conversation, I was able to put these comments to the test when, in a moment of extraordinary generosity, another client invited me to board his 100 ‘yacht for a week’s vacation. Just for clarity, and knowing that my wife will probably read this article, I must add “Yes. This was the week we went to Mallorca together”.

People talk about spending “quality time” with their partners, as opposed to what I imagine of the “poor quality time” that can be spent in front of the television too tired to chat after a day of firefighting in the place at work and, if you have young children, possibly in the living room as well. If the quality of time can be measured in the same way that we measure the quality of food and drink, then “yacht time” is a Pata Negra IbĂ©rica de Bellota, they are shavings of Italian white truffle from Alba in a plate of the best pasta. It is a plate of Danish oysters washed down with a cold bottle of Chablis, an experience so intensely pleasant that during the brief moments in which you are enjoying its pleasure nothing else matters, no problems come to mind, there are no difficulties. They are there, in the moment, together and happy.

Another yacht owner put it well when he spoke of his grandfather, an extraordinary man who had started his business in a garden shed and built it for a business empire employing more than 50,000 people. The family owned spectacular properties around the world and regularly stayed in the best hotels this planet has to offer, yet said that “the only time I see my grandfather relaxed is on his yacht.”

This is a common theme when talking to families of highly motivated CEOs and business owners. They never completely disconnect from their businesses, not at their home in town, not at their country residence, not at their Malibu beach house, not even in a Burj Al Arab penthouse suite. But they relax on their yacht. It may take a week to resist answering your cell phone and another week to stop checking your emails, but by the third week they have finally gotten in sync with “yacht time.” Stress levels return to normal, priorities refocus, food tastes better, sleep is deeper, and life’s most intense pleasures are magnified to unforgettable proportions.

And herein lies the secret that unlocks the disciplined mastery that many high-net-worth individuals maintain in their purchasing power. Business success and financial rewards are exhilarating and leave a legacy that can benefit generation after generation of descendants, as well as providing work for an army of delighted accountants. However, the frenetic intensity of this lifestyle requires a balance, a pressure valve that brings the PSI of life back to a safe level. A yacht is not a luxury for these men and women, but a necessity, albeit an expensive one, to enrich their lives in a way that is not quantifiable on a balance sheet, to receive a return on investment that is not measured in currency or values. of actions. .

My advice to UHNWIs around the world who may be reading this and thinking of attending the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show this year is simple.

Leave your accountant behind.