Beautiful Life: Buoyant Properties

Yachts are classified as real property by the Civil Code in Russia. Besides, boats, such as are presented at Moscow yacht and boat shows, are worth just as much as a prime out-of-town home and are no less comfortable. Quite often they are used solely as floating villas or offices, taking their owners for a couple of voyages during a short Moscow navigation season on the shallow rivers of the Moscow countryside.

Nevertheless, the demand for modern motor yachts, according to market operators, is doubling each year. The size of boats acquired by Russian nationals grows, with some ordering yachts 50 to 100 feet long. Although smaller boats, measuring up to 40 feet in length, are popular, too. The demand for luxury mega yachts is practically saturated; sales of small-size boats (ranging from $50,000 to $500,000) grow faster. There are several thousands of boats worth over $1 million launched in the Moscow Region. Mega yachts of 100 feet and longer are moored in foreign seas.

Hence – the fairs. That’s fine but Moscow is short of rivers. But then there is no shortage of money-bags, any real estate broker can confirm. The city hosts about five yacht shows every year. Those are events that require large open spaces. A yacht on the water produces a stronger effect, after all. “Exhibiting yachts 20 to 30 meters long inside the exhibition complex is too complicated, they take up much space and bringing them there requires much effort,” says Sergei Levit, general director at the international exhibition agency IFA, which organized the Yacht and Boat Show 2006 in Crocus Expo.

Yachts traditionally measured in feet are smaller (at least some of them) than real properties, which are measured in square meters (usually, exhibitors manage to find sufficient space to put them on display in Crocus and Ekspotsentr exhibition centers, after all). Secondly, given their properties of buoyancy and controllability they may be brought to the site of exhibition by water, as long as the river is deep enough and berths are available.

The world’s largest yacht shows in Cannes, Genoa, Southampton and Monaco are held in yacht clubs.

Ironically, the city known as the port of the five seas is short of sites suitable for marine shows. In fact, there are only two of them, both located in the Moscow Region. Those are the yacht club Burevestnik at Klyazminskoye water reservoir (with a mooring capacity of up to 250 boats) and Shore House on the Myakinino floodplains of the Moscow River outside the capital, on the territory of the shopping and exhibition center Crocus City (up to 50 vessels).

Strictly speaking, the Boat Show hosted by Burevestnik is not an exhibition. The owner of yacht club and a retail company of the same name, Andrei Boiko says that he “is not in exhibition business.” His business is yachting. Burevestnik is a group of retail firms who control at least one-third of the entire market of yachts and boats in Russia. The Burevestnik Boat Show is a “professional yachting industry event”.

The show is “one of the best public relations events to promote the club and boost sales,” Levit says. Burevestnik does not seek to vie with the yacht and boat show hosted by Crocus. In Boiko’s opinion, the disadvantage of the Crocus show is its openness for the public. Burevestnik invites only the elite audience made up of potential clients to the show.

Sergei Levit sees the task of independent yacht shows in providing all operators on the market with equal conditions and opportunities to show their worth, and give buyers a freedom of choice of boats and partners.

No exhibitions on the realty market are held by specific companies or agencies solely with a view to promote themselves, the only exception being, perhaps, Realtex, the show held by Moscow’s town-planning department to exhibit its achievements, or a feeble attempt to open a permanent exhibition on Frunzenskaya.

Before Burevestnik launched a boat show of its own three years ago, the only yachting event held in Moscow was the “Boats and Yachts” exhibition held in Ekspotsentr in spring. And although, the exhibition center is situated on the bank of the Moscow River, all boats were exhibited indoors.

Ekspotsentr’s central location has certain disadvantages. The complex has no yacht club infrastructure, no berths, no free space for construction of stands, no access to power lines, a representative at ITE, the exhibition company that organizes Boats and Yachts shows, reports. Besides, that section of the Moscow River is actively navigated.

Technically, organizing a water show is not a difficult task, ITE’s experts say. One needs to know the area, depth (for transportation of large vessels), to know which yachts may be moored, what power capacity is to be provided to which boat. What is also needed is the quality of service and well-trained staff. That’s it. “The only thing, that is complicated in Russia is the launch and lifting of boats, as such operations require costly equipment, which, if bought only for exhibiting the boat, will never pay back. Yacht clubs continue to launch and lift vessels with a hoisting crane after the old fashion,” Levit says.

These days ITE holds the Boats and Yachts shows in Crocus Expo, which provides larger showrooms and better transport accessibility. Besides, participation in the show held on the city outskirts, on MKAD, is much cheaper than in the city center, Levit adds. In spring, no yachts will be exhibited on the water. That would be inexpedient, all yacht experts and exhibition operators agree.

“The season is only beginning, shows present, as a rule, small boats and yachts (not more than 10 to 12 meters long), which are available for sale right in the showroom (while a yacht ordered in spring is usually delivered to the buyer no sooner than by the end of the navigation season). Besides, the weather is changing too often,” ITE’s representatives say.

Beginning 2007 IFA plans to holds its traditional indoor shows at Ekspotsentr, exhibiting moderately-priced boats and accessories.

Boat shows on the water are usually held in the fall although the largest yachting event in Europe and Asia held in D?sseldorf (200,000sqm) and Paris (120,000sqm) take place in late winter – early spring.

Luxury mega yachts are built to order. Colors, interior design and layout are discussed during exhibitions. Yachts ordered in the fall are delivered in spring (unless of course, the shipyard has enough orders for yachts on their books to last for a year ahead, Burevestnik’s experts add).

Exhibiting boats on the water is better than indoors. Alas, Moscow is no Genoa. Autumn is cold that is why it is impossible to do without covered pavilions where people may discuss details in warmth and comfort, Levit says. Approximately one-half of all sample boats moored at the berth near the autumn salon 2006, Sergei Levit adds, are privately owned. In Burevestnik, 99% of exhibits are privately owned. “Quite often we exhibit boats that are privately owned,” Levit says. “The company may borrow the yacht under guarantees of safety of course. Many agree. Moscow offers few opportunities for driving a yacht, and thus there is a chance for a small voyage. Personal rooms are locked up.”

But does not that run counter to the fact that information on yacht owners is usually kept top secret? “People rarely parade their possession of yachts, but at the same time they do everything to make that fact known to a narrow circle. This is what the yacht is being bought for in the first place,” Levit says. “A boat is a specific item. It is a real property which you want to replace with a better one later, which means the old one needs to be sold to someone,” he continues.

“On the one hand nobody wants to show his treasure to anyone, on the other, everyone wants to have a look at something else. A boat is not only a capital; it is another degree of freedom. Even if it stands idle.” Just another countryside property, in other words.