Ian Collett and Michael Lythgoe attended the 5th Annual Conference in Palma this week. The Conference was attended by a hundred or so delegates. The atmosphere was mixed. The lack of bank finance continues to cause problems as does the approach of customs in a number of jurisdictions, most notably in UK, Spain and Italy! The Malta Yacht Leasing scheme was confirmed as being the only viable VAT mitigation scheme open to yachts in private use. Particularly relevant with rising VAT rates throughout the EU.

We are delighted to welcome Chris Nicolle to W&M. He is joining our head office team as our senior surveyor. Chris was formally practising with J Winterbotham & Partners. Chris will be repsonsible for our survey practice, and will liaise with our outport surveyors, with a view to developing this side of our business.

At the end of May the brand new AMELS 177 was delivered to a repeat client of ours by the Dutch superyacht builder, AMELS. She was delivered in good time for the forthcoming season. The 177 footer is an evolution of the successful AMELS 171. Ward & McKenzie acted as the owner’s representative and project manager in respect of both builds and have had a team embedded in the shipyard for three years.