Marcela de Kern Royer makes waves with her yachting guidebook

Blogger and businesswoman Marcela de Kern Royer is not afraid of a challenge. The author of The Super Yacht Industry Book has embraced the task of helping others gain insight and access into the yachting industry. In her guidebook to yachting, the 33-year-old Latin-American sheds light on this elusive industry. By combining an online forum, her own wisdom, as well as the wise words of experts she collaborated with along the way, she gives readers insight into the successes of an industry that has barely been written about.

Drawn to the waters from a young age, Marcela de Kern Royer loves everything about being out at sea. Swapping the shores of Guatemala, where she grew up water skiing and sailing, for the Mediterranean waters, she savours every chance she gets in the deep blue. Sailing away, listening to the wind, the waves, watching the shore drift out of view, she enjoys being “far from a world full of daily stimuli, messages, emails and social media.” Out at sea, city life with all its hustle and bustle, feels miles away. Here she can “disconnect”, describing how “this is the only moment I get to experience stillness” before going back to shore.

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Monaco is like a village, because you know everyone, and you go to the same baker’s

A life shared between the city and the sea

It was in 2005 that Marcela de Kern Royer discovered the magic of Monaco, its buzzing yacht shows, drawing crowds into Hercules Port from far and wide. That very same year, as she began her studies in Finance at the International University of Monaco, she never thought for one second that she would end up with a career in the yachting. Laughing, the Latin-American businesswoman recalls how she “fell into the yachting industry by chance… like most people in the industry.”

In fact, “I was hired for my languages and not really for the knowledge I had in the yachting industry” explains the polyglot who has lived all over the world. Her globe-trotting has taken her from Boston to London, and even as far as Dubai, but her nomadic days are over. Having packed her bags for the final time, she has decided to settle down in Monaco for good. “Here it is like a combination of city life, with parties, salons and grands prix, and it is also like a village, because you know everyone, and you go to the same baker’s.” Living the dolce vita in the yachting capital of the world, Marcela de Kern Royer decided to open her own consultancy business, named Onboard, in the Principality in 2015.

This industry is very secretive and confidential, and nobody tells you how it is done, there is no book

Documenting the yachting industry

Last December, the founder of this consulting agency decided to publish a book on superyachts i.e., any yacht measuring over 50 metres in length. Collaborating with 95 professionals, The Super Yacht Industry Book brings together expertise from the best designers, architects and brokers. “This industry is very secretive and confidential, and nobody tells you how it is done, there is no book.” Her work is thus designed to help up-and-coming professionals hoping to make a name for themselves in this field.

Measuring 180.61 metres, Azzam is the biggest yacht in the world © Lürssen Yachts

Connecting the community

“I wanted everybody to have a holistic understanding of how the yachting industry works,” explains Marcela de Kern Royer. “30 years ago, the biggest yacht was 30 metres long!” Today, some easily measure over 100 metres.

“It started as a personal project,” recalls the author, casting her mind back to the days of learning the ropes on the job. “Asking what I should know about the basics of architecture [in yachting], I realised that there is no reference. I wanted to create this book so that newcomers and yacht owners can get information that is unbiased.” As well as her book, she has set up an online forum. She hopes to connect the community of sailing and yachting aficionados, giving them a space to share their knowledge, ask questions and learn from one another.

A sustainable future

According to Marcela de Kern Royer, the yachting industry is working to create a greener future and “some measures have already been put in place in the Principality.” She explains how “the yacht club in Monaco has launched the sea index, and it rates how green the yachts are.” In addition, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) “has adopted measures to reduce the CO2 emissions [of the yachts] by 2025.” It further hopes that by 2050, the annual volume of greenhouse gases emitted by marine traffic will be 50% lower than the 2008 figures. As for the future of yachting, Marcela de Kern Royer hopes it will be “sustainable, greener and protect the oceans.”