This year is set to be a period of unprecedented activity for the niche explorer sector of the superyacht market. With 15 boats in the order books scheduled to hit the water by the end of 2015, according to The Superyacht Intelligence Agency, this represents a halcyon year for this thriving class of vessel, with double the number of explorers introduced to the superyacht fleet compared with last year.

Although rugged oceangoing boats have been around since the 1960s, their recent rise to prominence has been pronounced, and is perhaps typified by the emergence of Ancona-based shipyard Cantiere delle Marche. Established in 2010, the yard has already delivered 10 explorer yachts, with four currently in the process of being built.

Vasco Buonpensiere, the yard’s sales and marketing director, says it has effectively annexed a niche client pool. “The market craved reliable, seaworthy, low-fuel yachts, with lots of volume for their length, over-engineered and lots of space for toys.”

Mr Buonpensiere places particular emphasis on the latter, with Cantiere delle Marche’s research of 50 potential clients’ cruising patterns indicating that an astonishing 89 per cent of time is spent at anchor.  “This means that they need something to spend their time on — having kayaks, subs, diving stations, wakeboards, wakesurfs, fishing gear and inflatable toys is of paramount importance. And explorers are made for this.” Mr Buonpensiere believes the market has veered away from designs based on opulence and luxury towards more utilitarian and efficient vessels.

He says: “Yachtsmen are fed up with spending so much money and finding themselves in crowded bays with so many other yachts that are basically identical. They want to reach new destinations and they don’t want to be limited to just a few cruising grounds; and they want to have a vessel that distinguishes them from the others.”