Plymouth-based Princess Yachts is to stage its own boat show at the city’s Royal William Yard to make up for Europe’s largest marine industry showcase being scrapped.
The UK’s leading luxury yacht manufacturer will stage what it is calling The Princess Exclusive from January 22 to 30 at the Royal William Yard Marina.
It comes after Germany’s Boot Düsseldorf fell victim to the surge in Covid cases on the continent. Princess Yachts had planned to unveil the Princess X80 and the all-new V50 in Düsseldorf, and also give show debuts to the Princess X95 and Y72, as part of a six-yacht display.
But it will now be able to show off some of its most eye-catching vessels to prospective buyers in its home city. The invitation-only Princess Exclusive event will provide customers the opportunity to experience the yachts that were originally due to feature at the show in Düsseldorf.
The impressive eight yacht line-up includes the global launch of the Princess X80 and V50, plus the award-winning Princess X95 and Y72, with the Princess F55 and V55 also featuring in the yard’s marina, in addition to the Princess V40 and Princess S62 situated at the nearby Mayflower Marina.
Visitors to the Princess Exclusive event can view both yachts from Princess’s new “superfly” X Class range, the X80 and X95, seen together for the first time.
Featuring an extended flybridge that provides 30% more indoor space than a traditional motor yacht, the X80 is the smaller sister ship to the award winning X95. The X80 includes an enclosed bridge and Skylounge on the upper deck, and an optional master stateroom forward on the main deck.
Working with naval architects Olesinski and Italian design house Pininfarina, Princess Yachts has created what it terms “the ultimate in avant-garde yacht construction with an evolved design meant for extended time at sea”.
Will Green, chief commercial officer at Princess Yachts, said: “Despite the unfortunate cancellation of this year’s boot Düsseldorf 2022, we are thrilled to be able to showcase our models in our brand home of Plymouth.
“This is the first-time our customers will be able to experience the all-new X80, an exciting addition to the award-winning X Class range.
“The proximity of Royal William Yard to our factories around Plymouth also allows our employees and the local community to be able to see a boat show line-up on their doorstep. “We are extremely grateful to the team at Royal William Yard marina and at Urban Splash for helping us bring this incredible event to life, as well as to the resident berth-holders for allowing us to borrow their unique location.”
As part of the event, Princess Yachts plans to host their employees on selected evenings throughout the week to provide them with the opportunity to view the finished yachts in a show environment, a novelty which is not always accessible for those working on the production line. Princess Yachts will be operating a Covid-19 safe environment throughout the show with visits operated by appointment only. Customers and prospects can register their interest and arrange appointments via their local Princess distributor.
Boot Düsseldorf would have run from January 22 but was scuppered when the regional North Rhine-Westphalia government pulled the plug on the event, one of the largest boat shows in the world, less than a month before it was due to go ahead. Princess Yachts had high hopes of generating sales from the event, organised by Messe Düsseldorf, which has been a money-spinning success for the manufacturer in the past. It took orders for £30m of boats in 2018, and £38m in 2019, and in 2020 said it enjoyed “unprecedented stand visitor numbers and levels of sales”.
