What it’s like to custom-design your own superyacht

Fraser Yachts is one of the brokerage companies dealing with the construction, sale, and customisation of luxury Benetti boats bigger than 30 meters (98 feet) and worth at least US$10 million.

At the Benetti shipyard in Viareggio, in Italy’s Tuscany, staff helps customers from over 50 countries choose the interior and exterior design of their private boats, select additional toys, and sketch and then build on-board elevators, gyms, swimming pools, and bars.

The creative yachtman’s journey starts at the showroom inside the shipyard premises, a few meters from where the boats are constructed.

“Here is where they really start to choose what the interior is going to look like. So we are surrounded by hundreds of samples, in terms of carpets, leathers, loose furniture, cutlery, crockery, glasswear, towels,” said Vassilis Fotilas, Fraser Yachts’ commercial director for Europe. “Really, it’s a wonderful playground.”

So how much, on average, are clients prepared to spend to personalise a boat, buy extra tenders, or simply add that “unique” touch to the high-tech kitchen or cabin layout?

The sky is the limit, Fotilas said. “Honestly, I don’t think they even know,” he admitted.