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MYS 2026: Burgess on Building the Superyachts of Tomorrow
There's a particular kind of insight that only comes from sitting inside every stage of a yacht's life at once — the sale, the season of charter that follows, the management calls that come after that, and eventually the new build that starts the whole cycle again. Burgess occupies exactly that position, and this year, what the firm is hearing across all four vantage points is starting to sound less like separate conversations and more like a single, coherent shift in what ownership is actually for. MOONRISE, the 100-metre sold this year, sits at the centre of that shift. A sale at that scale rarely happens in a vacuum — it tends to crystallise, in one deal, exactly what the top of the market is now prioritising, and how far that's moved from where it stood only a few years ago.
Hosted by Shari Liu, Jonathan Beckett, Managing Partner – Chief Executive of Burgess, joins Superyachts.com at the Monaco Yacht Show to reflect on a year of significant movement across the superyacht market. From major sales to the latest generation of new-build projects, the conversation offers a view from one of the industry’s most established names on what is changing — and what those changes could mean for the yachts to come.
“There’s clearly big demand at the moment for the larger pedigree yachts. We’ve sold two or three of the largest yachts transacted this year. There’s a lot of demand and almost a competition to win, because there’s a shortage of supply in the market right now.”
That shift doesn't stay theoretical for long at Burgess. With the firm advising on and building new yachts in parallel, the same appetites showing up in sales conversations are already working their way into hull design, layout and specification — early, tangible evidence of what the next generation of superyachts is actually going to look like, rather than a forecast built on guesswork.
“People are becoming slightly more minimalist in their taste, in their interiors and in their deck layouts. Beach clubs are a very big feature.”
What's striking is how much of it holds regardless of size. Burgess has advised on yachts from 30 metres to some of the largest afloat, and certain priorities now appear consistently across that entire range — proof that some of what owners want isn't really about scale at all.
“The biggest change is in how owners use the boat. Access to the water is really, really critical now, whereas before it wasn’t. Owners also want an intimate feel on board, however big the yacht is, with intimate spaces where they can spend time with their family.”
A lot of it traces back to how yachts are actually being lived in. Long-range adventure, a growing focus on wellness, more unhurried time on board with family — these aren't passing trends so much as a redefinition of what a superyacht needs to do for its owner, and shipyards, designers and managers are being asked to answer for it in real time.
Put the four sides of Burgess's business together — sales, charter, management, new construction — and what emerges isn't four separate readings of the market. It's one story, told from every angle at once, about where superyachting is actually heading next.
"Handing things down to the next generation is going to be really interesting across the whole industry."
"Handing things down to the next generation is going to be really interesting across the whole industry."
Jonathan Beckett