I have landed in Antigua for the industry-only charter yacht show that begins tomorrow. So far, I've had a chance to talk with about a dozen charter brokers, and the "state of the industry" picture that they paint is decidedly mixed.

One constant does seem to be that smaller-end sailing catamarans in the Virgin Islands market--entry-level charter yachts, to be sure--are doing a fairly good business this winter even despite the continuing global recession. The yachts with the longest track records in the industry are faring best, which makes sense because they have a broad repeat client base from which to draw.

The heart of the crewed charter market, though, is still a fuzzy picture to me. One fleet manager from a leading management company told me that her yachts in the 120- to 150-foot size range are now starting to fill up--but for the summer 2010 Mediterranean season, as opposed to this winter in the Caribbean. When I shared this observation with another charter broker who books yachts in that size range, she told me that she was receiving few inquiries, with no change in the booking patterns from when the recession began for the industry around this time last year.

I'll of course keep my ear to the ground tomorrow as the show officially opens. Look for my reports from Antigua at least once a day right through Friday, typically in the early evening after the yachts shut down for the night. 

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