Sam Li's love affair with yachts started last November at a boat exhibition in the coastal city of Xiamen. He bought a 48-foot boat the next month, set up a company in February and by March had made his first sale. Li, who sold clothing, aquatic products and health-care supplements before entering the boat industry, says yachts are like any other product. 'One day you're selling coffee and the next day cups.'
But clearly he was on to something much bigger than coffee cups. 'I've alredy bought seven yachts and have returned to buy two more,' says Li during a visit to the Jet-Tern Marine Co, a Taiwan-owned yacht builder in Zhuhai. 'We already sold five yachts in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Sanya. There's a lot of potential here.'
The first yacht Li bought was the Artemis, a high-quality yacht made by Jet-Tern specifically for the China market. 'The price was about the same as a Bentley,' he says. 'There are a lot of very expensive cars in China now. We have confidence in the market.'
Li sold the yacht on to a Shanghai businesswoman who made her fortune selling health supplements. 'She wanted a jet,' says Li, 'but we talked her into buying a yacht.'
His company now offers one-stop shopping, making all the arrangements for customers. 'People who buy yachts in China have a lot of money,' he says. 'They don't like to deal with details. We take care of everything, from registration to the jetty and after-sales service.'
Jet-Tern's chief executive, Howard Chen, saw the potential in yachts last year when, hit hard by the economic crisis abroad, he designed the Artemis series, which is relatively inexpensive at around 4.5 million yuan, while still being light and fast. A higher-end Selene 53 goes for around US$1.05 million (HK$8.16 million) in Hong Kong.