The majority of people working in the superyacht industry will be ringing in the new year with an understandable and deserved sense of optimism about the current state of the market and the potential opportunities in 2023. The inevitable drone shot of several dozen megayachts littered across the coast of St Barths has been shared on social media by pretty much everyone, providing a welcome industry-wide injection of dopamine. However, while it may be pleasing to behold, it can also serve as a distraction to other complexities in the markets that are perhaps less appealing to Instagram and LinkedIn algorithms.

It is worth noting that the number of millionaires has generally increased over time, as economic growth and technological advances have helped to create new wealth-building opportunities. It is probable that the number of millionaires will continue to increase over the next 12 months, and the real question has always been whether or not the yachting industry can supply the increasing demand. While that is typically quite a favourable issue for an industry to have, a more alarming report from the IMF is the warning that one-third of the world will be in recession in 2023. This is largely due to slow economies in the US (where the majority of clients reside), China (Where the majority of raw materials are…