The Market Report 2026

BY SUE GRANT

2025, the year that was – and what a roller coaster we had! Just when everyone in the Sales Team at Berthon thought we’d had the year to end all years in 2024 – another one pops up! This scribe has penned more than a few of these reports when the New Year is but a toddler, and is always amazed by what a lot happens in twelve months on Planet Earth.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Of course, the major theme in 2025 has been foreign affairs and on this subject the list is long. (As the News Channels rattle on, for the first time an Editor’s note – correct at the time of going to print!) The continuing conflict in Ukraine and now a full-blown war in Iran are a serious worry to the human race; we are in the vortex of a swathe of events which are unsettling and unwanted the world over. Then there has been Venezuela with the removal of Mr Maduro, civil unrest in Iran, Cambodia at odds with Thailand, the clash between India and Pakistan, the gruelling and awful conflict in the Sudan, and of course Gaza. And that’s without the Epstein furore which seems to have more wide-reaching consequences than any of us can have imagined.

The 47th President of the United States has graced the front pages of newspapers around the world on most days of the week for most of the year. Mr Trump was certainly very visible in 2025, and 2026 is proving to be absolutely no different.

We also have a new Pope – Leo XIV – and a new direction for the Catholic Church.

Economics have also been much on everyone’s minds with deficits, taxes, tariffs, fuel prices, inflation, wobbling stock markets, and a call to re-arm, with the costs and difficulties that this implies, as the world becomes a more challenging place for us all; all of which are entirely of our own making.

In amongst all this, the yacht market has continued to move, and the Sales Group has put in another solid year with numbers across the board up by over 10% in our core business of yacht brokerage, assisted by our family-team approach, where all our brokers in all our offices work together to provide the best possible service to our clients across the globe.

YACHT SALES

As we hurtle into 2026, we will be building on the gains that we made in 2025 and are expanding the Group to do more.

This is against a backdrop where new yacht sales remain difficult, with a large price delta between new and pre-owned yachts as a result of labour and material costs, which are not going to go away. Some new yacht dealers still retain stock which is more mature than is optimal, and the cracks are showing for a number of manufacturers.

Our stable of new yachts continues to attract interest in this market, where we continue to sell to buyers who commission yachts rather than buying off the shelf. Solaris Sail and Power are well funded and continue to develop their brands and offering, which keeps the wheels in motion. We have a new Solaris 50 sail in build for an American owner, and the Solaris 70 Power, shown for the first time at the boot Düsseldorf show, is a game-changing yacht for Solaris. We have Moodys in build and continue to work closely with Rustler, Iguana, and Sealine.

Challenging new yacht sales keep the brokerage market moving, although buyers are looking for value, and so recent quality yachts with good maintenance history and service records are what is selling best. Pricing is key, particularly when putting a semi-custom yacht on the market or an older yacht much refitted. It is a mistake to calculate the initial build cost or refit cost into the asking price, as the market will only pay what it considers to be value.

The focus in 2026 for Solaris Sail, which we represent in the UK, Finland, Sweden, and the USA, will be on the Balearics, where we will now fly the Solaris flag and offer a one-stop selling and service option using both our sales office and service operation in Palma. We are also bringing a new pre-owned Solaris service to the market, working with our colleagues at Seven Seas Yachts in Genoa, so watch this space.

GROWTH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

Talking of Berthon Spain, we have continued in 2025 with our mission to make the wonderful island of Mallorca Berthon’s home in the Mediterranean, with a crew of 40 in total in Berthon shirts. Our service operation, headed by Andrew Fairbrass, has been working through the challenges of rising marina and service charges on the island, with a shift towards projects on larger yachts of 40 metres and upwards. Through being nimble, the business has put in a solid year. Whilst we are continuing to expand our services in Mallorca with our specialist superyacht tender storage and refit, including engineering, electricals, and hydraulics, we are also working to expand our footprint on the mainland. This enables us to deliver service to yachts in the 55-foot to 90-foot segment, many of which have migrated there in search of less eye-watering berthing and ancillary services.

Of course, mainland Spain is also very important, and we continue to handle the sales of a number of yachts there. Valencia is a great hub, and we maintain a collection of yachts for sale in its ports, cared for by our agent there. We are also increasing our footprint in the Barcelona area, which has increased in popularity with its great transport links and the extraordinary city of Barcelona on the doorstep. We have a number of yachts for sale close to this beautiful city.

We have changes in our sales business in Spain, which continues to develop. Andrew Fairbrass, as well as Henk Sijbranda, who joined us last year, and Nathalie Miguel-Elcano, our office manager, who is also an excellent photographer and videographer, are a solid team. Simon Turner, who has been with Berthon, Northrop & Johnson, and again with Berthon for more years than any of us care to mention, is swallowing the yacht broking anchor to travel and play golf (yes, really!), and we will miss him dreadfully. This office will focus on the sales of yachts from 20 to 40 metres.

SCANDINAVIAN EXCELLENCE

In Sweden, 2025 was an astonishing year for our office on the breathtaking island of Orust. Internationally, yachtsmen love the quality cruising yachts for which Scandinavia is famous – Hallberg-Rassy, Najad, Swan, Arcona, and much else. Magnus Kullberg, Fredrik Sundberg, and Kim Silfving in Stockholm have sold yachts in spades, and we are looking forward to more of the same in 2026.

USA MOODY WORLD CUP

THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

As ever, the jewel shining brightly in the Berthon Sales Group Crown is Berthon USA, with a strong team in place. Jennifer Stewart, Alan Baines, Jeanie and Peter Houghton, Bill Rudkin, and Jonathan Banks had a great year in 2025, cornering the market in brokerage Moodys as well as selling them new. A plethora of yachts have found new owners, courtesy of our Mary Street office in Newport, at a time when listing numbers are low and many American yachtsmen prefer to buy and yacht outside their home waters.

TARIFFS

Which of course brings us neatly onto the subject of tariffs. In 2024 they were a possibility; in 2025 they arrived with a bump, causing shockwaves around the planet across all walks of life, reminding us that we truly live in a circular village. Yachting has been far from immune to the effects. Their introduction saw pending sales fall away and American yachtsmen wondering what to do next. New yacht manufacturers outside the USA have had to regroup, and American yachtsmen have voted, as normal, with their feet. You will read more of this later in this publication (another re-write as rates and rules change quickly). Suffice it to say, that the rest of the world is so far a tariff-free zone, and the yachting isn’t bad there either!

ITALIAN FOOTPRINT

We have long recognised Italy to be a fantastic territory filled with charming people, great food and wine, and the home to a collection of world-class yacht builders. Italian sailors are chic and their yachts are too, so their brokerage market is filled with amazing yachts. Working with our man in Italy, Filippo Martini, and his team, we are developing our footprint in this great yacht-buying, sailing, and having-fun area. The Italian way of yacht brokerage is skilfully unwrapped by Filippo, and we are also working with owners on normal international terms in many cases.

MARKETING INNOVATION

Marketing is a key part of who we are. Our marketing team worked hard in 2025 to increase our effectiveness, with a revised website and more of what we love to do – moving imagery, granular information, and getting under the skin of the Berthon fleet. Our offering became more dynamic this year, and we also added the Berthon Podcast to our offering – not realising that not only was this a great way to communicate, but it was also great fun to do! We leave the politics to the likes of Mr Stuart and Mr Campbell; chatting about yachts is much more fun! We have chatted to Tom Cunliffe, Steve Dashew – and I am sure have enjoyed it much more than they. Our monthly market insights are podcasted. We’ve had a blast, so look out for this amongst the publications and promotions that Berthon uses to market and sell the fleet. What is for sure is that delivery of information is changing very rapidly, and to remain relevant we must too. Continued turbulence within the external platforms that host yachts for sale means that yacht buyers are changing the way that they search for yachts, and Mr Google and well-optimised industry websites are now a key part of the puzzle.

2026 also sees the launch of Berthon Essential, a new initiative for the smaller yachts in the Berthon fleet because we want to deliver the same marketing exposure that our more mainstream yachts enjoy, and we recognise that the market demographic is different and that their marketing must be tailored to this so that we provide the best service to their owners.

A surprise for us at the end of 2025 was to discover that the British Registrar had decided to change the rules relating to those who qualify to use the British flag. Oceanskies, who are friends and ferociously efficient registration agents in the Channel Islands, write further forward in this tome.

VAT and how this works in Europe and the UK continues to be a moving target that you need to be extremely skilful to hit. PKF have again written for us an update of what’s happening in this complicated sphere, and we are grateful to them for being our sherpas through this minefield and for all the help that they have provided to our clients along the way.

No review would be complete without mention of Artificial Intelligence, which seems to be lapping at every corner of life, and it is certainly the case in our industry. Even Mr Google offers you an AI solution when you ask the simplest question. ChatGPT is now favoured by many clients over the yachting press or a lawyer, and this will not change. It is in use for navigation, safety matters, design, and all manner of other spheres. People are using it to check contracts and send offers and queries, generated by AI, so that yacht brokers are now speaking in some cases not just to the client but to his cybernetic chum too.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CREW

It is often said that the crew of a yacht are the most complicated piece of equipment aboard her. Having the right crew will transform her into your magic carpet, taking you to incredible places and exploring amazing natural treasures. They will be with you on memorable passages and take the stress out of yacht ownership. Or not… Bespoke Crew do just that, and they write for us about the process of recruiting and keeping crew and how they can help you on the voyage.

This will be this scribe’s last bash writing the Market Report, as I have decided to retire and spend more time in the garden – I want to have chickens! Tim Carbury, who joined us at the beginning of the year in our Palma Office as Head of Sales, from Moravia and previously Fraser Yachts, will take my chair.

HENK, ANDREW AND SIMON │BERTHON INTERNATIONAL SPAIN TEAM

2026 will be a big year, full of change and opportunity, and the Berthon ship is ready. This year’s refit has provided more marketing power and technology, as well as a number of new faces on the crew, as the business grows and the market changes. Passage planning when you are a team of yacht brokers is never an exact science, but we know where we are going, and we are looking forward to continuing the voyage with our clients and the amazing Berthon fleet – we can’t wait!

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