Sheikh will meet chic as Gulf Craft, the UAE’s only maker of superyachts, exhibits one of its US$6 million Majesty 105s at the Monaco Yacht Show, which starts today.
Two weeks ago, the Gulf-based manufacturer was displaying its wares at the neighbouring Cannes boat show, where it debuted its Majest 105 model, with an eye on how the world’s wealthy were feeling about splashing out.
“It’s a barometer for how the consumer confidence is today.” said Erwin Bamps, the chief operating officer of Gulf Craft. “We had some worries on the first two days of the show because there weren’t too many people there, but then the third day it started picking up and a lot more people were participating and we found an interested crowd for the rest of the week.”
A superyacht is classified as being at least 101ft in length.
It is an important period for Gulf Craft as the ripples of the global financial crisis are still rocking the boat-building world – in 2009-10 boat sales in Europe dropped 70 per cent. However, the company insulated itself against the squalls by looking higher up the value chain.
“We focused more and more on bigger yachts and that is where we saw the growth,” said Mr Bamps. “We have never sold as many superyachts as over the past four years. That interest in the market has continued. Whoever had the money to buy a $6m yacht had that money and still had that money. In the last 12 months globally there have been 200 superyachts produced and delivered. We have delivered seven out of those; that is not a massive market share but it is far more than we used to do by double.”
This week it launched its latest Majesty 135 model, which costs upwards of $16m. Earlier this year Gulf Craft said it was building a 155ft superyacht slated for completion in 2015. This is 20ft longer than its current longest model.
Gulf Craft said recently it was looking at an IPO, after an attempt in 2006, and is working towards that aim over the next couple of years.
“Our company is being reshaped into a technology company,” said Mr Bamps “In the past we were seen as a company that could put a boat together in an artisanal way. Now we are testing the limits of engineering, construction and corporate governance. We are rethinking everything we do from design, style and assembly.
“We have a huge growth potential regionally but also globally. We have always wanted to make boat- owning democratic and the smallest boats we sell with the engines are below the Dh200,000 mark, so everybody who can afford a decent car can afford a boat.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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The%20specs
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
The Laughing Apple
Yusuf/Cat Stevens
(Verve Decca Crossover)
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
Company%20Profile
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.