Established in Plymouth in 1965 as Marine Projects Ltd, Princess Yachts was bought in 1981 by South African businessman Graham J. Beck. Marine Projects became Princess Yachts International PLC in 2001. In June 2008, Beck sold a 75% stake in the business to French businessman Bernard Arnault's investment group, L Capital 2 FCPR, a division of LVMH, for 200 million euros/pounds. The LVMH group includes over 60 international luxury brands, including: Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, De Beers, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Krug. Princess Yachts operates in 119 countries and employs over 3,000 people worldwide, whilst their shipyards cover a combined area of over 1.1 million square feet.
Range of yachts
The Princess Yachts range is sub-divided into the following class types: M Class, X Class, Y Class, F Class, V Class, S Class and R Class.
M Class: super yachts ranging from 99 to 131 feet.
In January 2018, Princess Yachts announced they were partnering with BAR Technologies to create a new yacht, the Princess R Class, to be launched later in 2018. BAR Technologies, founded by gold medal-winning OlympianBen Ainslie, is a team of naval architects and engineers formed to use the skills and experience built up by the British yacht racing team, Land Rover BAR. The new yacht is fully carbon fibre and features Princess’ Active Foil System, resulting in Princess’ fastest yacht to date. Princess also collaborated with Italian design house, Pininfarina to create the R Class' carbon-fibre monocoque hull, enhancing the boat's aerodynamics. During its development stage, the R Class has been covered in dazzle camouflage to confuse the eye and help conceal its design from competitors. The camouflage was created by Katie Sheppard, a student at the Plymouth College of Art, who won a competition to design the pattern.
Princess Yachts are the first luxury yacht manufacturer to officially collaborate with the Marine Conservation Society, whose aim is to support and sustain marine environments for future generations. The partnership began in 2016 with an awareness campaign centred around an illustrated children’s book, ‘Enid & Her Magic Yacht’, which highlights the importance of marine conservation for future generations. Princess Yachts made a three-year commitment to funding research at Eddystone Reefs, 12 miles off the South West England coast, and close to Princess’ home in Plymouth. They have also sponsored two satellite tags to track turtles to help inform the Society’s efforts in conserving regional turtle populations.
