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Global Media Descend on London for Top 100 Press Workshops
The annual Superyachts.com Top 100 Press workshops attract a diverse range of media outlets spanning finance, design and lifestyle, and this year’s instalment, which took place at the ME Hotel in London on Tuesday, was no different.
With many of the biggest names in yacht building in attendance, the all-day event gave print and broadcast journalists the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of a fascinating industry in workshops taking place throughout the hotel’s conference facilities.
This year, the theme was the lifestyle enjoyed by those lucky enough to spend time onboard some of the world’s largest superyachts. It also offered those in attendance an exclusive preview of the yacht entering the elite Top 100 list of the world’s largest yachts ahead of its official unveiling.
Taking the form of round-table discussions, each spread over 45 minutes, the workshops were split into two groups: The Modern Day Top 100 and The Future of Large Yachts.
Six of the workshops were hosted by yacht builders - Damen, Benetti, Lürssen, Feadship, Nobiskrug and Oceanco - while another was presented by brokerage house Y.CO.
The goal, as always, was to inspire journalists to delve deeper into the world of superyachts, educating them on the technological complexity of superyacht builds and the importance of marrying the desires of an owner with the logistical realities of large-scale yacht construction.
One man better placed than most to offer a view on the Top 100 press workshops is Financial Times sailing correspondent Richard Donkin, who has been present for the last three events.
“I always find it an intense but enjoyable and informative experience,” he told us afterwards. “I always learn something even though some of the people I meet I’ve met before.”
“There’s always some theme that emerges: last time we were talking very much about the environment. But this time we moved onto lifestyle and the changing lifestyles and expectations of the clients that buy superyachts. And while once we may have been talking about people who enjoyed champagne on the beach at Cannes, now we’re talking about much more adventurous, new clients in the market who are wanting much more from their yachts.”
His sentiments were echoed by many of the other journalists present, all of whom went away with ample food for thought on how to offer fresh media perspectives on the fast-evolving world of superyachts.