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The Foreland Quarter
October 2026
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It’s been a busy few months, with multiple projects across Europe and the team doing rather well on Avios points…
In September, The Superyacht Report ran an article of ours across eight pages of its Owners Focus issue, entitled The Unsecured Owner. This is an often-overlooked topic that comes up on the owner’s side most weeks: where the buyer’s money sits if a shipyard becomes insolvent.
The article covers the protection of stage payments, practical limits of refund guarantees in yachting, who owns a hull whilst it is still in the shed, and what happens when it goes wrong. Much of the article draws on our own shipyard suitability research and the financial due diligence that we often carry out for new build clients, including current stories like The Italian Sea Group proceedings in Florence this year - which have yet to reach a conclusion.
Most yachts are, of course, delivered as contracted, and most yards are presently enjoying the fruits of a healthy order book. Owners are in the strongest position when the yard’s finances are understood from the outset, the contract and payment schedule are drawn to suit, and independent advice is taken before the first instalment is paid. The issue is free to read in full on Issuu, and a companion piece on our website covers the same ground with the shipyard data in a table.
In Poland, one of the new-build projects we are instructed for has been released from the mould, marking an exciting milestone for the clients. We attended before and after the hull and deck were infused in July and August; bulkheads, engine foundations and ballast are now in. The vessel will soon have the deck and hull bonded together and will progress to interior outfitting through to the new year.
October has been spent largely on the road, with structural surveys in Malta, Greece, Turkey and Gibraltar. November brings the Superyacht Summit Türkiye, 4 to 5 November, and The Superyacht Forum at Metstrade, 16 to 17 November - both of which will be attended by us.
In Ancona, a 43-metre explorer yacht is due to launch in February 2027, with an ISM compliance and maintenance database from Foreland Marine and DeepBlue. The drawing library, machinery records, and policies and procedures are the backbone; equipment, spares and inventories will be loaded before the crew step aboard, so her first season starts with a working system. Work is also set to begin with the same package for a 50-metre hybrid motor yacht.
Foreland Marine Consultancy is an approved installation partner for DeepBlue, and works with PMS and vessel management systems across the board.
SeaTime Tracker, our app for logging sea time from a vessel’s AIS position, has expanded this autumn into the commercial workboat industry. Recent releases add a shift clock-in for crew transfer vessels and other shift work, an on and off board setting for rotational crew, night watch hours, and mileage from the AIS track. Sea days are counted to each authority’s own rules, so crews working towards US Coast Guard, AMSA or Maritime New Zealand certificates are covered, as well as the MCA.
For anyone in our network working towards a certificate, yacht crew or otherwise, details are at forelandmarine.com/tools/seatime-tracker.
Closer to home, we are shortly to launch Watermans, a UK yachting agency covering London, the Solent and the south west of England. For captains, managers and overseas agents bringing a yacht into British waters, we handle the whole visit: berth and pilot arranged, Tower Bridge lifts and locks coordinated, Border Force clearance, fuel, provisions and technical attendance at ten ports along the South Coast, from Dover and the Pool of London to Falmouth.
London has become a popular stop, for business and pleasure alike, and the south coast has the Solent regattas and the deep, picturesque harbours of Devon and Cornwall. Anyone planning a UK visit next season will find us at watermansagency.com.
In Portsmouth, work continues on Foreland Shipyard Group’s proposal for a superyacht refit yard at Tipner West. The site sits within the city’s Local Plan, currently under examination by the Planning Inspectorate, with the Tipner West policy heard on Wednesday 21 October. A 30,000m² site with three 50m sheds and a 500-tonne travel hoist is at the centre of the plans, with around 150 people on site at full operation. As part of our heritage pledge, the site’s listed Georgian powder magazines would be revitalised and brought back into use as offices, crew areas and warehousing.
Over the summer we have met with Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, and with the Leader and Chief Executive of Portsmouth City Council, both of whom have expressed great interest in the development. Our meeting with Cllr Steve Pitt centred on jobs and apprenticeships for the city, and on the further opportunity for local businesses supplying a working yard. Discussions with the Council on how the facility is funded are ongoing; it may be privately funded or partially supported by the local authority.
One of the pressure points for UK shipbuilding and refit is the current tax arrangement: foreign-flagged, privately owned yachts refitting in the UK are subject to VAT, whereas in Spain, for example, these works are zero-rated. An extension of the Solent Freeport to the Tipner site would help locally, but the United Kingdom as a whole needs a tax regime similar to the EU Inward Processing Relief (TPA) to stimulate trade in the sector, and there is considerable appetite for one across the industry. We will be working with industry colleagues to present a proposal to the Treasury Committee next year. More on this in the next edition.
The First Owner’s Reference 1st Edition goes to print in January 2027. Across nine chapters, a glossary and a set of reference sheets, it covers the whole story of vessel acquisition, from the initial broker discussions, through the purchase process and to the years of ownership that follow, supported by interviews with key industry experts in each of the nine chapters. Copy closes in mid-December.
The reference sets out to inform and support owners with full information on yacht ownership, gathered from industry experts, our partners and our own data. Our thanks to all of the contributors, who have been generous with their time and knowledge. The web edition is open at firstownersreference.com, and comments from clients and partners are welcome before copy closes, at editors@firstownersreference.com.
Looking ahead: the new build projects and technical refits continue, as does our PMS database work. We look forward to the Tipner West hearing on 21 October, and to the Inspectors’ findings that follow. Metstrade marks the end of the yachting calendar this year, and The First Owner’s Reference goes to print after Christmas.
Refit enquiries for the winter are, as ever, welcome; pre-purchase support, repowers and large maintenance projects are what we do best. Technical Support also remains open to yachts of 24 metres and over, with full detail at forelandmarine.com/technical-support.
And, away from all of that, there was some racing. Jack was on board Tiger, a 1937 Teal class, at Cowes Classics Week, alongside a season of wholly unsuccessful club racing in Chichester Harbour; room for improvement next year. Nadir Balena, our in-house naval architect, kept the company average up aboard Sonny at Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Mahón and the Richard Mille Cup, amongst other commitments with SailGP.
Still sailors at heart.
Replies to this letter come to both of us. We read every one.
Yours,
Dan Marks & Jack MacNally
Directors, Foreland Marine
