While some superyachts will be heading to places like the Caribbean and the Maldives this winter, and a few even to Asia, most yacht owners are still choosing to stay in the Mediterranean in order to minimise their operational costs.
Even more remarkable is that more and more yacht owners are bringing superyachts to major refit shipyards and planning to keep them out of the water for the whole winter period.
By leaving their yachts on hard stands, they save money on both crew and maintenance.
Refit yards are facilitating this because it gives them more flexibility to plan and undertake the general maintenance work onboard.
Mediterranean yards such as Lusben in Viareggio and Livorno have even started arranging activity programs for the skeleton crews through the winter period.
Options include courses in various languages, safety and customer service as well as trips to watch the Six Nations rugby matches.
