Singapore Yacht Show 2017
The Singapore Yacht Show displays some of the world's finest superyachts and international yacht brands in an elite setting. It's a platform for regional guests to meet yachting professionals and boat owners keen to explore the luxury yachting landscape. Needless to say, this is not our scene!
8 APRIL 2017
The Singapore show has always felt unnecessarily high flying! But we did our research and found that there would be a few yachts that made sense for us to go and see. At this point of course, with Singapore being so small and no-one else knowing our plans, it felt a little bit nerve wracking embarking on our first in-person viewings. However, we had watched a fair few videos together and done our research. On our hit list we had the Leopard 45, Lagoon 450, Lagoon 400S2, and the Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40. It would be quite an efficient way of seeing a range of boat sizes and step onto the catamarans with the confidence of being a future buyer. :)
We arrived early and wandered through the exhibitions, most of which were aimed a little away from our ambitions! But after a quick bite for lunch we headed over to the FP Lucia 40. After seeing so many virtual tours online, it felt strangely comforting to see the boat right in front of us. We were welcomed aboard and greeted with warm and friendly faces. Reassuringly, a catamaran business owner and experienced sailor gave us lots of instant confidence that we were attempting something very doable!
The Lucia was stunning; very well built and homely. It is obviously at the shorter end of the boats we were looking at, so storage and the galley seemed a little light on, but otherwise it was very cool to see it all in person and to visualise our future on that boat.
You will start to sense our preferences as we stepped onto the Lagoon 400S2 (quite frankly, a bit boxy), the Lagoon 450 (lovely, but far too big for our family), and the Leopard 45 (more geared towards the charter market). As you can imagine, with little sailing experience we were more focused on the practical liveability and suitability for our family's life aboard.
All-in-all the Singapore show was a very motivating experience. Despite the serious nature of our visit and leaving with more questions than answers, we made some great connections and had a good time. There is a lot more research to do and some big decisions to be made... We can't wait!
-Ben