The world’s most prestigious yacht show is showing no signs of slowing its exponential growth. The 2016 Monaco Yacht Show fleet boasts 11 yachts over 65 metres, including the 73.5 metre Amels Plvs Vltra (pictured above). This is almost twice the number at the 2015 event, when there were just six yachts in this size bracket.

Commenting on this trend, Vassilis Fotilas, commercial director for Europe at Fraser Yachts, said: “Compared to last year the size, type and style is much more varied than last year.”

The resurgence of sailing yachts at Monaco is also notable, with 79 metre Royal Huisman schooner Athena easily surpassing the 57 metre Twizzle, which was the largest sailing yacht at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show.

Looking even further back, we can clearly see the dramatic rise in the size of yachts converging on Port Hercules, as the 66 metre Rosenkavalier (now Dona Amelia) dwarfed the other yachts at the 1996 Monaco Yacht Show.

It’s not unusual to see brokers reducing the asking price of a yacht for sale; however, the past month has seen several seven-figure price cuts. Key examples in recent weeks include a $5m price drop on Benetti motor yacht Swan and a €6m price drop on superyacht Icon. Looking even further back, the Lürssen superyacht TV (pictured above) received a €38m price cut in July.

These reductions seem to be motivating the market, as Denison Yacht Sales reported last month that the average time on market dropped to 265 days, down four days compared with the figure for 2015. Miriam Cain from Camper & Nicholsons International says that the market as a whole has seen 68 price reductions on brokerage yachts so far this year, compared with 58 in the first nine months of 2015.

However, YPI has only seen one major price drop this summer. “There are only two reasons for price drops,” director of sales Russell Crump explains. “Either an over-zealous broker has overpriced the yacht, or changing personal or market conditions have resulted in the owner deciding it’s really time to sell his yacht sooner rather than later.”

Fotilas adds: “Overall we see selling prices to be stable and these to be closer to final last asking prices. Our advice to our own clients is to set the correct asking price from day one.”

The full ramifications of Britain’s vote to leave the EU may not be felt for many months to come, but some British yards are reporting that business has picked up after the initial shock of Brexit subsided, with a drop in the value of sterling making British yachts more affordable to overseas buyers.

Phil Popham, CEO of Sunseeker International, confirmed that the yard received a post-Brexit boost: “We benefitted in the short term from sterling position, but only around 20% of our costs are in Euros so we’re not overly exposed.”

Oyster Yachts has seen a particularly busy summer, with the launch of the sixth Oyster 825 sailing yacht Enso (pictured above) and the sale of the ninth hull in the Oyster 885 series.

David Tydeman, CEO of Oyster, is particularly optimistic about his yard’s prospects. “We're proud that Oyster has a strong order book, boosted by these recent contracts since the Brexit vote,” he said. “We are quietly confident we'll close 2016 with at least the £70m order book we ended 2015 with.”

Meanwhile, Kiran Haslam, marketing director at Princess Yachts, added that the Plymouth-based yard had a particularly successful sales performance at the recent Cannes Yachting Festival, with 14 yachts sold — twice as many as at last year’s event.

However, Matt Albert, senior sales and new construction broker at YPI, sounded a note of caution: “Currency fluctuations can result in some excellent deals for buyers, but it is important to remember that for most clients, whilst currency fluctuation can introduce a new gain margin, the real goal is to find the right yacht for a buyer’s needs.”

With wealthy owners getting more and more ambitious, many brokers are finding that commercial yards are an ideal solution to fulfil the desire to create the ultimate yacht.

This year has seen four yachts launched by commercial yards, compared with two last year, while a further five are listed in the 2016 Global Order Book.

Mark Duncan, Group Commercial & Marketing Director at YPI, said: “What is noticeable is the current influx of projects coming in over 90 metres. Clients are also starting to realise the real value commercial shipyards can bring to the table, especially with motor yachts.”

Duncan added that since the final interiors and finishing are often carried out by specialist superyacht providers, the levels of on-board refinement remain exceptional.

Key examples of this in recent years include the 107 metre Ulysses (pictured above) and the 76m explorer yacht Yersin, both of which were launched by yards who had built up their reputation through commercial projects.

Nautica Italiana used the recent Cannes Yachting Festival to announce the results of a comprehensive study into the global boating market. The research, which was prepared by Deloitte, found that the industry had a total value of €19billion at the end of 2015, up 11.8% on the €17billion figure estimated for 2014.

Tommaso Nastasi, yachting industry expert at Deloitte Financial Advisory Italy, said: “The pleasure boat market is recovering after the past few years of crisis. The challenge is to widen the geographical areas of end customers.”

Other key findings included a total market value of €14billion for the pre-owned market and €1billion for the charter market. When broken down geographically, the USA was found to be the largest contributor, with a 42.8% market share, compared with 10% for the Italy and 6.9% for the UK.

Notable yachts launched in Italy this year include the 70 metre Perini Navi sloop Sybaris (pictured above), which is one of the largest sailing yachts in the world.