Since being acquired in December, Turquoise Yachts has been developing what its management team terms “a bold new strategy.” Part of this includes targeting new clientele and making buying and experiencing superyachts more accessible. To get details, we spoke with Mehmet Karabeyoglu (at left, with Mohammed al Barwani, owner of the shipyard), CEO of Turquoise Yachts.
MegayachtNews.com: How specifically do you plan to capture new growth in the market? Several yards make the same claims, but most don’t specify strategies or simply are exhibiting at luxury lifestyle shows, which may or may not be attracting the right potential clients.
Mehmet Karabeyoglu: Since the beginning, other than having a yacht on display, we have not participated in boat shows as such, but starting this year with our new structure, Turquoise Yachts’ presence will be in the Monaco Yacht Show and Fort Lauderdale Intermational Boat Show. Obviously we are doing the usual PR work and advertising to increase our sales. But one significant difference is that we anticipate starting the projects with bespoke designs and reducing delivery time. Our infrastructure has the capacity of continuing work on several yachts and keeping stock hulls.
MegayachtNews.com: How will the new Turquoise strategy simplify the time commitment, complexity, and other challenges associated with yacht buying and building?
Mehmet Karabeyoglu: As I have mentioned above, we believe that our short delivery times, having designed and completed hulls, will give us the opportunity to implement any kind of complexity.
MegayachtNews.com: Can you tell us more about the new designs you’re showing to clients? For example, what characterizes the avant-garde one versus some of the others?
Mehmet Karabeyoglu: Every client has a specific idea on how their new yacht should look, and to cater all of these clients, we are focusing on avant-garde, modern classic, or expedition designs. For instance, we may consider a vertical-bow Vitruvius design or stylish H2 Design. On the other hand, our 81-meter Andrew Winch Design is a modern classic. (Editor’s note: The Andrew Winch project was signed prior to the shipyard’s acqusition. It is set for a 2018 completion date.)
MegayachtNews.com: You plan to make a connection between these designs and the luxury lifestyle aspect of yachting. Again, many yards make similar claims, but most are still selling yachts as products. How will Turquoise Yachts be different—will it be in your marketing materials, in your conversations with clients, or something else?
Mehmet Karabeyoglu: In promoting lifestyle, we will obviously make use of marketing materials, but more important our relationship with individual clients to engineer and design the yacht they wish to have and more important the way they wish to operate and to run. There is so much opportunity for future owners to enjoy yachting; the key being to meet the requirements of the specific owner.
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