About Princess shipyard
Princess Yachts appeared as Marine Projects in 1965 in Plymouth, and initially it was a classic ‘garage project’. Marine officer David King and a couple of his friends started building a boat for charter. However, there appeared a customer for it, so they sold it and had to build a new one. By the end of the 60s they had built and sold about a hundred and fifty hulls. On the waves of success, the name of Princess appeared, as well as their own dealership network, and since 1980 the shipyard started collaborating with legendary hull designer Bernard Olesinski, whose studio is still in charge of designing all Princess hulls. In 2008 Princess Yachts entered Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA group (LVMH). Thanks to considerable investment and a long-term development program Princess Yachts became one of the leading yacht manufacturers in the world, although at times it struggles financially. Early in 2023 the shipyard was taken over by a private investment company KPS Capital Partners based in the US.
Highlights
Princess model range is really wide and includes flybridge yachts (F and Y Сlass), sport hardtops (V class), sportsbridge models (S class) and crossovers with a large ‘super flybridge’ (X class). In 2018 Princess Yachts together with Pininfarina and BAR Technologies created their revolutionary R35 model (10.89 m) with underwater wings, capable of reaching the speed of 50 knots. All the hulls are made of resin-infused GRP. The main production site is still in Plymouth and almost everything is produced in-house with a minimum of outside suppliers. Their facilities allow them to work on dozens of yachts simultaneously, partly owning to the long-term lease of the South Yard site from the British Ministry of Defense, which has been the centre of Plymouth military shipbuilding since 18th century. Princess Yachts have restored the historical building, including the cell, where French sailors were hanged. All the customers of the shipyard can visit it if they like.
Achievements
Princess models have received most significant international awards. Princess Yachts have repeatedly set records in building the largest motor yachts in Britain, although at present the shipyard is not planning to produce models over 30 meters.
