We’re sitting on a large sunpad on the bow of a Jeanneau NC14 in Halong Bay. With little strain on the boat’s twin Volvo Penta pod-engine propulsion, we leave the large tourist and day-tripper cruise boats standing as we enjoy a private charter with Vietyacht.
The appeal of exploring this area of northeast Vietnam aboard a 46ft motor boat quickly becomes evident. Cruising at a comfortable 20 knots, we cruise towards the limestone islets and karsts that are famous for the bay. Later, at slower speeds along calm waters, we’re informed by one of the three-man crew of some of the “rock-alikes” in the vicinity. We pass formations that are amusingly named, such as Cat Island or Chicken Islands. They look like two birds kissing their beaks.
Visitors can enjoy a two- to three-hour cruise, like ours, that allows them to see the many islets in the center of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. A floating restaurant, caves and a small pontoon for water sports and kayaking were also on our route. On a sunset cruise passengers can choose from paddle boarding or kayaking or jet-skiing activities, or they can swim at an anchorage while enjoying a fruit plate and soft drinks or stronger drinks.
You can also book day charters of up to ten hours, including activities like fishing, cave explorations, or squid hunting. One or two night stays on board can be arranged. Overseas visitors, mostly from Japan, China, Korea, India and Europe, make up 20 percent of VietyachtClub’s charter guests.
Halong Strong Start
VietyachtClub’s fleet at Halong Bay offers a variety of mostly Jeanneau motor yachts, including Merry Fisher and Velasco 43F models. Halong Bay is one of its growing number of charter operations in Vietnam’s more popular coastal regions, where other brands of motor and sailing yachts are offered through sister brand Luxyacht. Outside the laid-back Halong Bay dockside office is a small Vietsec PPC-hull sailing catamaran, one of eight that comprised Vietyacht founder Duc Thuan Nguyen’s original fleet. When he has the time, Nguyen is an avid sailor who enjoys a Jeanneau Sunfast when he can.
Vietyacht has grown rapidly since 2015, despite the COVID-19 delays and difficulties. Thuan’s previous focus in the industry was on distributing marine equipment and components.
Vietyacht began to represent Jeanneau in 2017, and soon added the sister brand Prestige, before adding Fountaine Pajot. Slovenia’s Alfastreet Marine, which produces hybrid and electric boats, is also part of Vietyacht’s offerings. In 2019, after securing the three French brands, Thuan became the Vietnam dealer for Ferretti Yachts, Riva and Pershing of Italy’s Ferretti Group under a new company, Luxyacht. In the past year, two Rivas and one Ferretti Yachts 500 were sold in Vietnam. To date, sister dealerships have sold over 60 new yachts. Jeanneau remains the most popular among all brands, and is responsible for the majority of yachts that are chartered through VietyachtClub.
“When I started in the yachting business in Vietnam, the market was brand new. At that moment, there were no new imported yachts and no marinas or jetties for yachts,” recalls Thuan, who said a Jeanneau Leader 36 was the country’s first new imported yacht.
“At that time, clients were wondering if it was easier to buy a house or a supercar. The clients were curious about the use of a boat and where to store it. That’s why I thought about establishing a yachting club to provide berths, maintenance, supply crew; essentially, an “A to Z” service so clients could just pay and play.”
Vietnam – All Around
Local yacht owners seldom had the time to use yachts for more than two or three days per month. Thuan increased their return on investment by renting out their yachts during free days. This led to the creation of VietyachtClub. The first charter base was in Halong, now the site of the company’s headquarters.
“In Halong Bay, there are about 500 large cruising boats, so we wanted to offer something more private,” Thuan says.
VietyachtClub now has branches on the other side of the coast, in Thanh Hoa Province, Danang and Nha Trang provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. This summer, one more was launched on Phu Quoc Island off the country’s southwest coast.
“Those cover the main coastal areas for clients,” Thuan says. “Further locations will depend on whether demand increases.”
Despite more yacht use during the pandemic (except for periods when being outdoors was not allowed), Vietyacht and Luxyacht’s owners and charter clients are not generally keen on staying aboard overnight.
“Halong Bay waters are quite smooth, so it’s comfortable to stay overnight, but Vietnamese clients prefer day trips,” says Thuan who adds that one owner has converted one of their boat’s three cabins into an office.
Thuan says the pandemic in Vietnam has also led to an increase in interest in yachting, and as a consequence, more sales, and charter demand. Thuan hopes to expand his brand portfolio from the seven brands currently available to 10. However, import, luxury goods and value-aded taxes remain a strong confounding factor to the success of Thuan’s business model.. The taxes currently amount to around 50 percent on private purchases and 20 percent on boats purchased solely for charter.
A few interesting potential changes lie ahead. Thuan says that some high-quality boat builders from the locality have emerged in the past two years. “They’re doing well and some people are buying these to charter, so we’re looking into the quality of the best of these.”
If the Vietnamese government eases restrictions on overseas-flagged ships, developers plan to build additional marinas for yacht owners and visitors. “There are signals this will happen in the near future,” says Thuan.
“An international marina certificate was just issued at AnaMarina in Nha Trang, so we hope to see races from Hong Kong and Hainan Island to Nha Trang soon.”
VietyachtClub is ready and waiting to provide visitors – sailors or otherwise – with fun-filled motorboat charters in the country’s most scenic areas, whether it’s Nha Trang or many of the other tourist hot spots from Halong Bay in the northeast to Phu Quoc in the southwest.
Photographs Vietyacht
This article was originally published on www.yachtstyle.co
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