“As the last of the mild weather disappears and the long nights take over, one of the top 5 customer lines us brokers hear has to be – “I’ve got time on my side – I think I’ll wait until the Spring to buy.” A natural sentiment undoubtedly – why wouldn’t you hide away for the Winter, re-surfacing come early Spring to buy your dream yacht? Nobody in their right mind would want to get out on the water prior to Easter, let alone pay storage and maintenance charges for the best part of half a year!

Right?

Well, NO! – in our experience, WRONG! We consistently see a more satisfied and better prepared customer who has made the decision to buy during the winter period.

For what reasons?…. well for a start:

1)      More choice. The majority of Vendors will place yachts on the market at the end of the season -it is far easier to winterise ashore with a broker in the Autumn, rather than fit around viewings during the Summer when all you want to do is go boating! An upgrade is still the primary reason for selling, and it makes sense for motivated Vendors to market at the start of the Winter to give themselves the best opportunity to be into a new boat for the Spring.

2)      More time. You may be lucky and know exactly the model of yacht you want – however, for the vast majority of buyers, the current market offers a huge diversity of options. Does it not make sense to give yourself the maximum timescale to research the market and find the best boat for you? We see a common scenario every year – a buyer believes he has time on his side and intends to look in earnest in April, but finds all the best boats are being snapped up before they can be viewed. Frequently, a lot of the season has gone when the right yacht is found, and that’s before the sales process has even started!

3)      More confidence. All boats are different, and it takes time to feel confident with their characteristics. Which direction is the prop walk? When do I have to reef? How does it handle in following seas? It can commonly take at least 2-3 months for your average coastal sailor to be in harmony with their new yacht. So we say – there is no better time to do this than during the Winter! The UK’s waters are significantly quieter, and the majority of marina based yachts are ashore, providing numerous empty berths in which to practice your parking……..! Utilizing this Winter period really does provide the platform to hit the Easter period with confidence.

4)      Better preparation. Maybe the boat you buy has every piece of equipment you want, but in our experience this is rare. There is nearly always some electronics that need replacing, a sail that needs re-stitching or a stanchion that needs re-bedding. Again, buying through the Winter allows you the time period to complete this work at your leisure. Left until the Spring, many buyers are having to leave an ever increasing number of desperate messages for a sub-contractor to complete THAT job prior to a precious week off!

5)      Better berthing. Many UK marinas are actively trying to encourage yachts into their marinas during the winter period – they have spaces available as boats are laid up ashore, and it is a great opportunity to sell their services to secure an annual berthing contract. Daily rates are often considerably less than during the Summer, especially for a commitment of 3 months or more. Cost can sometimes be very close to that of storage ashore! It’s a great opportunity to experience your preferred marina prior to the commitment of an annual contract.

Hopefully we can encourage you to see the sense in getting out on that cold December Saturday to view some boats. If nothing else, we brokers are generally quieter meaning you stand a better chance of being made a cup of coffee…….”

Tom Edgington

But that was then and Fastrak VII has been sold to Simon Mitchell and renamed Roxanne and she will be based out of Eastbourne. Now it is time to make way for FASTRAK VIII ! She too is a New Sunfast 3200 and she was delivered in March and we are busy preparing her for a season of campaigning. Nigel has joined the SOLO OFFSHORE RACING CLUB this year and will be campaigning Fastrak VIII throughout the club’s summer events.

However in 2012 the plan is to enter FASTRAK VIII the 2012 TWO HANDED TRANSATLANTIC race from Falmouth to Newport Rhode Island. To qualify for this race contestants have the option of completing either the AZAB (Azores and Back race) or the NORTH SEA 1000 Double handed race this year. Nigel and his long term friend and Co-Skipper David Bowdler have chosen the North Sea race which takes place in June this year to test themselves and the boat and make sure that she is tuned and ready for the competition next year.

The North Sea race course starts in Holland and from there the yachts head for Bergen, then to Shetland and back to Bergen ….so it’s a bit more than a jolly round the buoys, and the seas in that part of the world can be quite challenging to say the least!

The Sunfast 3200 is proving to be a tough and competitive offshore racer, we were surprised to see that there are 20 of them entered in the Trans Quadra race this year and they will make a very interesting fleet to follow. Back in the Solent the numbers are growing and this year there are two more 3200s joining the local racing circuits so Nigel is going to get some good competition!

For now though the big decision is what to do with the hull and her decals and colouring. Nigel has it in mind to wrap her in Pearlescent Mirror finish….his theory being that he will appear invisible to the competition until he is close enough to pass them!!! The jury is out on this at present but I suspect he will get his way!

And of course we will be treated to some more gems from the producers of Fastrak TV….can’t wait!

The Yachtworld report contains many interesting trends but overall the picture is still confusing with glimmers and sparks of activity throughout the market rather than any strong and consistent trends. What we can draw from the report though is interesting and reflects much of our own experience:

• Overall in 2010 throughout Europe the number of boats sold was down 10% on 2009
• However the value achieved from these sales was higher with the recovery in prices achieved being led in the sector over 10.5 metres.

Closer analysis of the data shows that sales and sales prices in the UK lagged behind the rest of Europe for the first half of the year, as we reported in August, but moved strongly ahead in Q3. Used Powerboat prices were hardest hit in the year while those for sailboats improved. Overall we can conclude:

• Sailboats are holding their value better that Powerboats
• Anyone shopping for powerboats can expect more aggressive pricing in the coming months
• The sailboat market in Q3 recovered from a weak Q1 and Q2 performance with yachts over 16m more than doubling prior year values
• Pent up demand for larger boats remains and luxury boat buyers still have the funds to act on it.
• For those spending the most in the market we are seeing a move towards normal valuations, making this a potentially safer time to buy and sell
• Among smaller boats, quality boats at value prices are readily available especially in the powerboat category

Yachtworld concludes that the balanced UK inventory of both Sail and power brokerage stock plus the gains in total valuation achieved for the stock sold, indicate room for growth and recovery and that the UK may lead the rest of Europe going into 2011.

And how are we doing at Sea Ventures???………. Well our volumes of sales and listings were somewhat lower last year, for sure, when compared to 2009 but our sales values achieved and brokerage income were about the same, so like the report says it seems we are mirroring the trend for higher values and larger boats.

A snapshot of our listings of Jeanneau yachts in the main portals in February show 133 Jeanneau yachts for sale throughout the UK and Ireland with the 7 major brokers (excluding 15 Sunsail yachts). Sea Ventures have the largest number listed (15%) and also have the largest number of yachts in the 30’ to 50’ size range when compared to the rest.

Our sales performance was good with well over half of the boats listed with us in 2010 selling within 3 months and two thirds within 4 months. Providing the boats are priced correctly and, well presented, then we are finding buyers relatively quicker than most.

We have also noticed a resurgence of UK buyers. While a significant proportion of our sales are still going to Scandinavian and European buyers the larger number of UK buyers over 2009 is quite noticeable

And what about 2011??? ………  Well we have started off with a bang after the London boat show, with strong sales of sailing boats from 30 to 50 feet to both UK and Scandinavian buyers. As usual we need more boats to sell and have spread our net to other European countries to find good quality yachts for sale at interesting prices. This is a new departure for us and you will see some of the yachts we have found in our listings. Our partners in the Med are well established and ready to receive prospective buyers and arrange all the necessary paperwork in the event of a sale.

Our brokerage videos have been well received and we have even been given offers before viewings on the strength of them! We are in the process of improving our display of brokerage boats, within our website, and videos will feature much more prominently…. so watch out for these improvements in the next few weeks.

The season is nearly upon us and we are as ready and prepared as we can be and hope that we see many of you in the coming months

Tim

Don’t get the wrong idea that we are techno geeks… its quite the opposite in fact… and when in trouble with a recalcitrant computer then our IT guru Rob, at Tungsten Blue, is the first to hear about it and thank goodness he always comes to our rescue.

But of all the latest innovations that have come our way we are all wedded to our iPhones. I guess if we were to try the other smart phones available then we would like those as well. But we came to the iPhone first and that is where our loyalty currently lies. We use the email and texts, the camera and the video, the web access and diary and so on, on a regular and daily basis just to do our jobs and communicate with each other. You only have to look at our websites to see some of the videos we take. …. And yes…we do use it as a phone as well!

And then a year or so ago we discovered iPhone Applications (Apps) as no doubt countless of you reading this have also done. We have dozens of them that come in useful on a daily basis from currency calculators to traffic reports, dictation to decibel readers. Nigel even used one of his favourites “Boatie” as a GPS on his round Britain race this year. He said it saved him the trip to the nav station to check the Raymarine GPS!…remember he wasn’t being idle as he did have a broken ankle at the time.

It was when we noticed that an ever-increasing, and now significant, number of visitors to our website were coming via iPhones and iPads that we started to think about our own App. It seems to us from talking to our existing and prospective customers that what many people want is simply the easiest way to keep abreast of their interests. If they are thinking about changing their boat for another then they need to know what is available, what the deals are, what the market is like. They can of course look online…in fact they could register with our RSS feed to have this info fed directly to their PC but for convenience NOW they can use their iPhone to receive our information whenever and wherever they want it, as more and ever more of us are doing.

Armed with this insight and fueled with enthusiasm we approached Adam and Paul at Apollo Media. They are the people who turn our internet dreams into reality (often a very difficult task!), and as it happened they were thinking very much along the same lines. And so our App was born. It has taken 3 months to put it together and test it out but here it is. We have our New boats there, all our Used and Brokerage boats plus the very latest news all updated daily and available in the palm of your hand. We have even included the means to give us a quick call if something there takes your fancy.

Give it a try…. follow this link….and let us know what you think.

By and large the same has happened for boats over the same period and they too have become much more sophisticated and much better with time. However there is one big difference between a boat and almost any other product I can think of and that is that it is hand made….no robots involved here!

There are many thousands of man hours in a production yacht like a mid range Jeanneau, and tens of thousands of components. However the big advantage with a brand like Jeanneau is that their product is produced on a production line in clinical conditions by the same teams. In fact Jeanneau production engineers do everything possible to standardize the production and so reduce errors.

But problems do occur, and they can stem from any of the various systems on board a modern sophisticated yacht, and may require many different skills and trades to rectify them. You can see that the job of looking after our customers’ needs is a little more complex than you might think. Add to this the location factor i.e. the boat could be many thousands of miles from us and often is, and the complications abound. And of course the fact that yachts are used in the harsh marine environment just adds to the mix.

So with all these factors to consider how do we cope? The answer is with a smile and willingly! Our view is that we are here to help and support and with the back up of Jeanneau spares and warranty support department, we aim to keep our owners happy and sailing and their yachts 100%. We see the aftersales function as a vital part of our business and our job as a partnership with our owners where both of us have the same objective of a happy owner with a fully functioning boat.

We recently welcomed Sue Kennedy to Sea Ventures to strengthen and look after our Aftersales activity for us. She is a welcome and valuable addition to our team and I am sure many of you will be talking to her over the months to come………but more of this in an a future blog

The signs from the Show are very positive. We were pleased to take several orders, some from existing owners trading up, and we expect the next few weeks will produce the same again if not a little more. If we had to call it then we would say that we are seeing a positive improvement with high levels of interest and sales running at between 15% and 20% ahead of the same time last year.

Of course the Jeanneau range has a lot to do with this. The boats themselves are not only very attractive but also offer terrific value for money as, especially with the current Jeanneau 2011 Opportunities promotion program.

Star performers were the 53 and 57 Yachts and the NEW Sun Odyssey 409. The other “hot yacht” is the SO 33i in both Lift and Fin keel configuration. The current Jeanneau promotion for this model is very, very attractive indeed, and is not to be missed.

Tim found time in the busy show to take a video of the NEW 409 on the stand both inside and outside. You can see the interior here. We all were very impressed with the SO 409 which we feel is a genuine step forward for Jeanneau. The boat grew on us all and currently is hot favourite for the company demonstrator next season. Our first stock boat arrives in December and we can’t wait.

Now the show is over we turn to the aftermath and are busy with the follow up visits , sea trials and part exchange evaluation. Luckily we have all the range available to see either with us in stock or scattered around the Solent with friendly owners who are willing to let us show their yachts to other potential Jeanneau converts. With 16 yachts in the range costing from £20,000 to £500,000 this takes a bit of organising but thanks to our owners we manage!

The Used Boat Show was busy and successful. After a relatively quiet few months throughout the summer we were pleased to receive several new listings from our brokerage offer for the Autumn and our lineup looks impressive with some very nice boats indeed for sale. Sales are running slightly ahead of last year and we sense a small upturn in the brokerage market with a welcome return of more UK buyers. It still appears to be a buyers market though and price and condition are dictating more than ever which boats are selling…..but they are selling!

When you visit the Southampton boat show what you see is the serene swan floating above the surface while underneath the legs have been and are paddling like ******* to get there in the first place and stay there! You see September for most of us who sell new boats is the start of the next season. It’s the time when our builders come up with new models, new specifications and new price structures….its a time of change.

All this means that there is a big push needed at the end of the summer to get all the boat information changed, new stock orders worked out, our website updated and tell our potential owners what is going on. The next step is the build up for the show… This starts in August and proceeds with what we would like you to believe is military precision but I am sure that you appreciate this is not always the case. The boats are sailed to the pontoons or delivered by road to the shore and then titivated with frenetic activity for days before you get to see them and our relaxed and smiling staff onboard in their smart new season boat sales gear.

Then there are the 10 days of the show. Those of you who have worked exhibitions with the public will know how tiring it can be. If not take my word for it, it is tiring! It can be, and is fun though, and the days are brought alive by customer visits, orders, misdemeanours of our colleagues and competitors and of course the incessant rumour mill. The best days are the busy days and they pass in a flash. Nigel Tim and Pauline are working at the show this year, while back at base Irene Sue  and Bill  man the office for the annual Used Boat show at Hamble Point. With more boats on display at Hamble than we have at the boat show this is a busy place too.

But the show itself is only the beginning………….We measure the success, or not, of a particular show by the number of sales we have made at the end of October, and not by the exciting press releases given out by various companies during the show. In the weeks following the end of a show people change their minds for whatever reason and others pop out of the woodwork so  it needs a bit of time before we can take stock.

This means another 40 day slog after the show finishes to look at part exchanges , help potential customers with decision-making, trial sails and so on. It is not unknown for us to work straight through for four weeks without a proper break.

And after October? Well by October we really mean mid November and then of course its time to start thinking about London Boat show and there is another story!

But don’t feel sorry for us, it’s what we do and we love it. Its part of being in the Marine Industry and we wouldn’t miss it for anything

www.sea-ventures.co.uk

As a member of Yachtworld.com, we can analyse the market and interpret the results and trends based on the sold boat data throughout the UK. This data is created by the hundreds of member brokers who declare the price for which every boat sells for when it sells.

For our sector of the sailboat market in the UK (Jeanneau and other production yachts from 25 to 60 feet) Q1 2010 showed a slight decrease overall from the same period in 2009 with no particular hardening or softening  in values.   Q 2 overall however shows a marked decrease in the volumes of boats sold in the same period in 2009 which we put down to a combination of three things namely:

1. The continuing general uncertainty in the UK economy
2. A reduction in European sales as the Euro weakens
3. Fewer boats on the market for sale

2009 was a particularly good year in the UK for our sector, with the overall UK sales volumes being significantly higher than even 2007 and 2008. This was driven by a combination of a strong Euro market and the natural reduction of, and movement away from, the “New Boat” market in difficult times. However this year overall is quieter, there are fewer boats coming to the market and Used Sailboats are still taking an average of 6 to 9 months to turn unless they are priced and presented correctly.

Prices are still under pressure and most important, there is no consistent trend.

At Sea Ventures, our average time to sell a boat is well under the national average, we are maintaining our 2009 levels of business in 2010, and fortunately our “recovery” has not flattened.  We are seeing a more consistent increase in closings, over the past 3 months.  We have a long way to go to get back to our peak in 2006/2007, but we are all encouraged.  Our phone is ringing with both great opportunities to list boats, but also with buyers.

Our advice to our owners, for whom we have successfully sold boats, is that to take advantage of the market, the most important principles still apply:

• PRICE – The boat needs to be priced to look attractive against similar boats on the market.  We will not get the call if the boat is priced too high.  I read a great line in a US marine publication about this important concept.  “If you hang the meat too high, the dog won’t jump!”
• CONDITION – The boat needs to be clean, tidy and free of any sort of clutter.  Opening storage compartments and deck hatches that are full of junk and debris is just a turn off.
• FUNCTIONALITY – All systems should be operational.  A pre sale survey may be a good idea, but just ensuring that all systems and equipment work will go a long way.
• LOCATION – The boat must be accessible and displayed where there is good footfall of potential buyers

There are many great boats at FANTASTIC prices on the market to think that an over priced, average condition boat will even get a second look.  Put your self in the buyer’s shoes!

We are excited about what the future holds, and particularly the Autumn selling season.  We will be attending the Southampton and London Boat shows as well as our home marina used boat shows presenting and promoting our new and used boats for sale. As a company we have realised that very little business is generated for us through print advertising, and we are instead focusing on the web as the place to generate business.  As well as our own website we now advertise through 23 boat sales websites throughout the UK and Europe and are always looking to extend our sphere of influence across the net.

Over the next few months look for us at the YachtWorld Brokers villages at the Major UK Boatshows and online, and more banners and sponsored ads throughout the web, together with continuing improvement on our website and used boat presentation which will soon include videos on featured boats

These are interesting times indeed……. And a great time to buy a boat! We look forward to seeing many of you over the next few months.

Tim Harley

www.sea-ventures.co.uk

So, Sea Ventures has finally seen Nigel and racing partner David return from their epic Around Britain and Ireland race and we’re pleased to say they have done extremely well, coming in at second place.  When you consider that it was only a few weeks before the race that Nigel broke his ankle, I think it’s something we can all be very proud of and just goes to show how tough a racer Nigel is!

During the course  of events both David and Nigel met a few challenges (tons of sail changes were certainly one of them) as well as some early or late starts depending on what you consider Midnight to be, but all-in-all the boys did extremely well with  Fastrak VII.

Apparently Chilli was the food of the day – every day – to give them sustenance throughout the race and while many others pushed themselves to the point of exhaustion, therefore not allowing themselves sleep, David and Nigel’s tactic was to get plenty of it in-between the sailing hours, which meant that they were energised for the tougher times ahead!

Considering Nigel was still nursing his broken foot (which was up like a balloon during the race) they still managed to create a lot of decent videos on Fastrak TV (You tube) and one we’re particularly fond of is the video all about the racing yacht and the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of their racing yacht (which may be of interest to racing fans.

If we can say so, Nigel is a natural presenter it would seem and you may well agree when you see the evidence.  We’re possibly thinking that Nigel may well have a second career in television if a talent spotter finds him, but hopefully he’ll continue racing and running Sea Ventures as that’s his real skill.

More updates on the race are on the way, so don’t forget to come back and check out the blog for the ‘real story’ over the coming weeks.

On another note, we’re pleased to say that Irene is indeed back at work and organising us all again.  We can only say that she is obviously as tough as Nigel when it comes to recovery.  Also, we’re glad to confirm that there wasn’t a third breakage either!

www.sea-ventures.co.uk

After Nigel fell off a boat, I’m glad to say that Irene’s fall was slightly less dramatic – she fell over in the garden, but nonetheless it’s a real shame that someone who many people know here is sadly dealing with such a serious break and is spending some time recuperating.

Thankfully I can tell you that Irene is doing very well after a rather extensive operation and she is slowly on the mend.  However, not having her in the office has really show us just how much she does and how she’s so important to the team here at Sea Ventures.

As well as keeping us ship shape she adds so much value to our many clients and it helps us make their experience that little bit better.

To be honest, we’re hoping that there won’t be a third break (as someone tells us that these things go in threes) so unless it’s Nigel and David making it around the Britain and Ireland Race in record time, we’re certainly just keeping our fingers crossed that we get Irene back very soon and that she’s feeling better after such a trauma.

On a slightly lighter note, Nigel’s leg is out of plaster and he is hoping that his brisk race will give him the physio that he needs to get it working well again!

www.sea-ventures.co.uk