The nature of yachting has changed dramatically over the past 25 years:

Popularity
recreational marine activities have become popular in almost every part of the world, including parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Thousands of marina’s have been developed over the past 30 years, often combined with magnifi cent facilities including restaurants and swimming pools. In some parts of the world (Spain, France, Italy) the limit of development of new marina’ s has almost been reached. In other parts however, such as the Baltic Sea, Croatia, Albania, Greece, Turkey and so on, there is plenty of opportunity for expansion and creation of important economic activities for the local people.

Size of Yachts
The production volume of yachts is not growing rapidly, but the size of an average yacht is increasing by the year.

• Private yachts, which includes timesharing. Ratio Sail/ Power: 20-80 
• Charter Yachts, fast growing fl eet, ratio sail-power 80 – 20

In both categories the size of the yachts is increasing. While 50ft (approx. 16 metres) was huge some years ago, it is now a very common sight in Marina’s.

Comfort level
together with the size of the yachts, the desire for COMFORT has increased dramatically. The new generation of Boat Owners has very little in common with the old generation of yachtsmen, who were out to enjoy nature with very limited ‘comfort” demand. The modern yacht owner uses his yacht often as a second home, requiring all the comfort from his first home. While in the past a small 12 V battery could power all on board appliances, a larger battery bank, an inverter and often a generator are now needed to power all the equipment on board. Modern NAVIGATION SYSTEMS such as digital sea maps with GPS navigator and extended communication systems have made it so much easier to start boating. As a result of these tendencies, yachts have become much more expensive – a 40ft yacht for 500.000 EUR is common nowadays. The opportunities for the marine industry and the equipment manufacturers in particular have increased considerably.

Care for the environment
The INDEPENDENCE project is meant to be a showcase for the public, showing all new products and systems that make boating life, in any circumstance, more fun. However, with the design of the various technical systems we have chosen to create an extremely SILENT, DURABLE and CLEAN yacht with the lowest emission possible. Wood, varnish, paint, carpet: we only want to apply the right material. In addition, we intend to build the yacht in an environmentally sympathetic way wherever possible. INDEPENDENCE will be launched in July 2008 – the maiden trip will go in the direction of Northern Germany and Scandinavia. The first exhibitions are scheduled for late August 2008.