The Standard in Monaco
Monaco – No taxes, clean taxis, upright principles and aristocratic principals. Where race issues are welcomed and F1 is a religion rather than a button on your computer that has absolutely no use to most of us two fingered typists. You can be executed for chewing gum on the street in Monaco . Maybe the gum thing is Zimbabwe now I think about it. Monaco is however, so posh, even the backhanders have to be wired and have an air of officialdom. Try getting on to the dock for the Grand Prix if you don’t believe me.
Yo G check it blah blah blah......Projects blah blah....
Now obviously the Monaco Yacht Show is about to start and of course everyone is hoping that it will serve as a milestone by which to measure the end of the economic slump and the rise of yachting, like a phoenix from the ashes of 2009. There are of course some challenges still to be faced with the prospect. Mr Putin put the boot in to any hope of the Russian oligarchy catalyzing the yachting market’s out of it’s near catatonic state. The rise of the Chinese millionaire has been slowed by a lack of demand for widgets and the the bankers, another well known yacht owning type of person, are still trying to reconcile how to get away with being bailed out one month and buying a yacht the next. The rappers are also keeping a low profile after Kanye West’s performance at the MTV awards forced people to question whether or not putting spinners on a Bentley is actually class or ass.
What are the themes of this years MYS? And how is the industry hoping to bring out the cheque books of the wealthy? Well they are joining Dockwalk’s theme and applying a green hue to the proceedings. You simply cannot avoid it, green is here to stay.
UN Building
Today 600 of the world’s top corporate executives met at the UN building at a summit to talk about the environment. These are business people running the world’s biggest corporations and they are keen to be seen, talking green. The fact that business is involved just proves how the environment is at the top of most people’s agendas these days. And, importantly, several of the delegates have pointed out that they want to stay ahead of legislation. In a nutshell they want business to make the changes that prevailing consumer sentiment requires, in order to avoid governments making changes for them. Which, of course, would likely be enacted in the absence of a care for the commercial reality of doing business.
What has this to do with yachting? Well it doesn’t matter what the owners of yachts think, and it looks like much money is being hedged on them thinking green, the yacht crews need to ‘get on board’. Without them, green yachts are useless. There is no such thing as an inherently green yacht, we simply do not need yachts. Yachts can however be operated in a green manner. If yacht crews need any further motivation, the fact that the corporate world arguably fears that harsh legislation may force them to be greener should be writing on the wall. If we do not start seeking more environmentally friendly ways of yacht operation, very shortly a man in a suit in Brussels, London or somewhere exotic like that will send us some more rules. Perhaps taxes, perhaps duties who knows? It is quite possible now, that eco friendliness could start to become a little less friendly than it is.