AI And What Has It To Do With Yachting?

The title of this article was planned as ‘AI is Coming to Yachting’ as we see its inevitable march into our sport. But the fact is, that it’s here and is already driving some of what we do and the coming years will see its tentacles wind themselves ever more closely into the operation of yachts, design and build, navigation and indeed into the processes used by yacht brokers and new yacht sales operations to manage, sell and support yachts after sale. It is said that by 2027 up to 25% of everything that humankind does will be supported by AI… This is across all industry and all human endeavour – so what of the 10 years after that?

Of course, we are not being singled out for special treatment, AI is everywhere and we are all using it more and more in our daily lives. You may like this scribe, be old enough to remember at the dawn of the internet age the website called – Ask Jeeves? This well-known P G Wodehouse character has now been replaced by ChatGPT. Clients often call with queries or questions found whilst consulting Mr ChatGPT, and whilst he is not always right – he’s certainly catching up fast.

Looking at what AI is doing for many of us already when at sea, there are a few key applications relating to navigation and safety that is now embedded into our sport. Some of these are in use mainly in super yachting, but as with most technology, it quickly trickles downwards to yachts under 24 metres.

INTELLIGENT NAVIGATION

These include AIS which almost all yachts have, and radar – ditto, to detect other vessels, floating debris, and even people who have fallen overboard, alerting the crew as well as making autonomous course adjustments if needed.

Passage planning is another – AI works with navigation systems to analyse weather, tides and even fuel data to suggest a passage plan that is optimal. Augmented reality integrates with navigation systems providing data in real time to aid the navigator and captain in making the right call in sub optimal situations.

Raymarine’s Docksense, for example, is here and onboard many yachts today. This system and others have already brought us the self-parking yacht, with dynamic positioning systems holding yachts on station, now becoming quite common.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

For all yachtsmen, maintaining and updating systems onboard is key. The days of handwritten logs of maintenance schedules is fast disappearing. Now onboard systems on more modern yachts will monitor engine and system performance and flag potential issues so that preventative maintenance can be undertaken. Modern systems also flag service periods and make maintenance much easier to realise.

GREEN TECH

Being green is a driver throughout Planet Earth and electric propulsion and hybrid systems are increasingly being developed in yachting and are in use today. Here our friend AI is doing his bit with energy management by optimising power consumption, managing reserves and even suggesting actions to maximise efficiency.

There are lots of other applications aboard super yachts in terms of crew support and making owners and their guests more comfortable by anticipating their needs. AI these days, is even helping the chef with menu preparation. Fantastic for busy crewed charter yachts!

But of course, the biggest role for AI has been in yacht and systems design, taking literally thousands of human design hours out of the process, which means that today’s yacht designers can focus on the whole jigsaw, rather than having to manage each piece of it.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

Rapid prototyping allows designers to quickly generate and visualise concepts so that they are able to try out different things whilst embedding their individual design DNA onto new ideas and to quickly see what works best. Often today, AI assists with systems, parts identification and a whole host of other details enabling the designer to deliver their design virtually straight to the shopfloor for assembly.

Machine learning is another AI based system that allows America’s Cup teams and others to optimise their steeds and is now in common usage. There are many other examples of design being assisted by the heft of the lovely AI.

We are in a time of financial and political uncertainty, and the new yacht market is having a challenging time. As with previous downturns in the cycle, we are seeing an astonishing amount of innovation with new designs and ideas abounding throughout the new build piece, from modest production yacht building to mega yachts. AI makes this process easier and faster to manage. In a market where buyers have a lot of choice, innovation and a new take on the yachting experience is what sells.

AI AND THE YACHT BROKER

So, what does all this mean for the yacht broker and how will it affect what we do and how we deliver our service? We believe that it will allow us to do more, provide better information and to focus more on what matters – our yachts and our clients.

All yacht sales start with a yacht, her information and marketing. Today there are a myriad of intermediaries that are web based, hosting information and charging for the privilege. Of course, they will be using AI to improve their search engines to be more nuanced so that their search is more granular. However, this one size fits all, is likely to be less interesting to clients than using their own AI which is familiar with them, their preferences, cruising grounds and a whole host of information about them specifically.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

That said, one of the joys of yachting is the freedom that it brings. Away from the pressures of everyday life, we can relax and focus on the voyage, the experience and the peace. It allows us to renew ourselves ready for the next foray into the rat race. Yachting in all its forms is both an individual and a team sport. We all know salty sea dogs who still use a sextant today, have a lead line onboard and are fans of dead reckoning and like to get about without the aid of sophisticated modern navigation aids. They maintain their yachts in the old-fashioned way with many lists, common sense, natural seamanship and yachting ability. For them the march of AI is anathema and well done to them, and total respect.

For many others, new technologies and AI enable them to enjoy our incredible sport in a way that gives them the confidence to do more. And in safety. Starlink has been a game changer for the way that it has brought communication to yachts. Not just for those who travel far, but also for those with more modest ambitions but who want to get away from the rat race and relax, but to still have access to that other world via the umbilical cord of the internet. We predict that by 2028, it will be AI that will be the new game changer as it makes yachting safer, and the management of the infrastructure around yachting easier, faster and in some cases cheaper, enabling us to do more with less human hours.

We see AI being used direct – yacht buyer to broker, who will need to provide the best possible information in terms of technical data, imagery, and moving imagery. Data will need to be kept fully up to date.

AI is of course as sharp as a tack, and it will quickly weed out poor information and fetch only the very best information based on a selection of yachts that meet their human’s very precise needs. It can easily reach out across language and local differences in yacht brokerage houses.

For us, knowing our clients is key. One of the best parts of our job is the time that we spend with both our owners and our buyers. They are lovely, fascinating people and they are as passionate about yachts as we are. There is a lot talked about AI telling us what our clients might like to buy best – we feel that this is a human function and we will pass on that feature, we feel.

What AI will deliver in spades is good reporting. We are fortunate to have an analyst on the crew (who is intimately familiar with Mr AI, let it be said). AI provides more granular data and to analyse more quickly and to provide really good charting for the never ending voyage of excellence that we make at Berthon. There are other companies that offer support with their analysis, an example of which is BOATPro from Boat International which is a must have for yacht brokers operating in the plus 24 metre segment. There are others but these are mostly inclined towards the sale of their own services, and whilst the information has merit, much of it doesn’t pass the sniff test.

CONCLUSION

As AI develops, together with good old human intelligence we will be able to have access to excellent reporting both for internal use and also for the use of our clients, obtained from data that we hold internally and based on our lived knowledge of the market. We see this as the right way to improve our service.

AI will sharpen up our CRM BOB (from Black Adder of course), and we will have more time as administration time will decrease. This gives us more space to think, see, and chat about yachts – which has always been our favourite thing.

For Berthon imagery and moving imagery is a key part of our offering. This we will not change, so don’t expect a Bot to start doing voice overs at Berthon, or offering you virtual tours – we enjoy doing these ourselves far too much, and we hope that you will continue to enjoy them too.

Of course title, RCD, Compliance and all of that will be speeded up by AI who will be able to collect data quickly, and we expect that in times to come that title paperwork and the like will be recorded and able to be fetched electronically rather than diving into the chart table or rifling through old service manuals to find the stuff that we need. The same should also apply to ‘Know Your Client’ information and Mr AI will also generate the contract and get it right first time!

One feature of AI that we are already seeing today is the use of AI on yacht particulars. We do not join in apart from direct translation between languages. We feel that a yacht’s particulars are a collaboration between her broker, our marketing team, her owner and the yacht. This will not change.

You will also not find any AI generated articles within the pages of this publication, and this will continue to be the case. AI doesn’t qualify as it is quite simply, not passionate about yachts.

Something that we are also seeing is the increasing use of AI in contract. This is problematic as at face value it all makes perfect sense. However, dig a little deeper and the cracks begin to appear. Those with little knowledge and access to AI can get things very wrong and or the foreseeable future, an experienced yacht broker and maritime lawyer will always trump the machine learning gremlin.

So, as our voyage with the incredible phenomenon that is AI continues (for the truth is that it began some time ago without many of us noticing) it will mean change. More dynamic yacht design, more understandable maintenance programmes and easier passage planning for those who aren’t keen on the lead line and sextant. On our side it will enable us to do more with less, to spend more time with the Berthon fleet and with the wonderful clients who own and buy our yachts.

But in the final analysis, whatever the capabilities of this incredible technology, yachts will continue to be sailed, bought, sold, brokered, serviced, designed and built by human beings. All of which are passionate about our sport and committed to the freedom and sense of adventure that getting out on the water in whatever form offers… Bots, machine learning and AI – take note…

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