Yacht Captains and crews may well feel apprehensive this New Year, because there are no less than three Friday the 13ths in the calendar. These fall in February, March, and November. When I was the Admiralty Chart Agent on the Riviera, we used to give a Vendredi-Treize party on the office patio in Antibes to discourage captains from putting to sea on those days, or making any other false moves.

The Mediterranean cruising season falls outside these dates, though we don’t lay up our boats for the winter as in Britain. During our winter many big charter yachts are enjoying the Caribbean and Indian Ocean waters, until the hurricane season brings them back here in May for the Genoa Charter Show, Cannes Film Festival and Monaco Grand Prix. So worldwide they should mark their calendars with such omens, but owners cruising only in the Mediterranean summer will therefore miss these winter landmarks. Some owners may indeed miss the whole season, thanks to the financial crashes the doomsayers continue to predict – although not a single one foresaw them in advance.

The mega-yacht market is one of super-luxury, which the wealthy have for decades been willing and able to afford. But will the wealthy keep spending and buying the new yachts in the pipeline of the world’s yacht-builders? Or will they turn away from financing the exquisite vessels we admire on our Coast? Will there thus be huge bargains to be snapped up or will owners downsize, refit or improve their present yachts rather than trading up to bigger? We just don’t yet know if ruin faces all the professionals here, or if yachting will survive and flourish as never before: many tycoons think that if there are no business opportunities they might as well “go fishing – or cruising”!

For the sake of the thousands here in the Riviera’s yachting industry, let us all hope that those who do manage to turn a profit from the financial chaos retain a love of the sea and of beautiful yachts. One sector has certainly produced large numbers of high-net-worth seamen – the pirates of Somalia, who may well wish to trade up. “Our expert brokers will be pleased to advise you in your choice of a new vessel.”

From Riviera Reporter Issue 131: Feb/March 2009

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