Superyacht next gen: Millennial owners, designers and builders on the future of yachting

Lilli-Marie Rollwa Neubelt

Age: 19 Co-founder of yacht art company German Art Couture

I was raised in a family of sailors, so I always felt connected to boats and life at sea. I always knew I wanted to work in this industry and now I am creating my own way to do so, combining my two passions: yachts and art.

Here’s what shouldn’t change about the yachting industry – that it’s like a big family. What could be improved is to make it more accessible.

In the future, considering the environmental and political changes worldwide, yachts will be used more as a genuine escape – or even built for that.

Embroidered black dress, POA, dolcegabbana.com; Link white mother of pearl dial steel watch, with bezel set with 48 diamonds, £3,600, tagheuer.com

Sebastian Vibe-Petersen

Age: 30 Sebastian’s family owns the 52 metre sailing yacht _Q_ and 54 metre sailing yacht _Parsifal III_

Yachting needs to be more out there in terms of propulsion, energy usage and new materials.

In order to boost new builds in the future maybe we could have something inspired by the sharing economy where one entity would handle the whole thing – sell shares before they start building, save the owners from the hassle of the build and then manage every aspect; for those who want the ownership experience without the capital investment, a bit like NetJets.

Our generation want a boat to use in many situations and that is easy to maintain. We need to rethink construction and materials so there’s less that can break.

Dark washed denim suit, £730, tods.com; shirt, £145, dunhill.com; Radiomir 1940 3 Days GMT Automatic Acciaio 45mm watch (PAM00627), £9,900, panerai.com

Stefano Vafiadis

Age: 30 Yacht designer at Studio Vafiadis

I grew up in yachts thanks to my father, so yacht design was in my DNA.

My career rapidly took off after I won Young Designer of the Year in 2013 for the Granturismo project.

We have to look to architecture, car design and aviation, and start a dialogue between disciplines.

Yachts in the future will feature more “crossover” between different types and styles. They will be hybrids – maybe both in design and propulsion.

Millennials want more flexibility: we don’t want boundaries between the exterior and interior. We want dynamism: tenders, gyms, social life, but also the possibility to hide away.

Linen and silk herringbone jacket, £1,400, trousers, £390, both ralphlauren.co.uk; shirt, £145, dunhill.com; Superocean 44 Special black dial watch, £3,190, breitling.com

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