SuperYacht Times and Marina World are proud to be launching the inaugural Yacht Infrastructure Summit, hosted at Metstrade in Amsterdam on 18 November 2026, in partnership with Safe Harbor.

A long-standing trend in the luxury boating industry is that the superyachts keep getting bigger, but their owners are running out of space to park, service and refit them. While it might take only three or four years to build a superyacht, constructing the physical pieces of infrastructure that give the yachts a home can take decades. This has long meant that the average size of the global fleet has gradually increased while the number of marinas and maintenance yards has more or less remained the same.

It is therefore clear that the era of yachts and marinas being able to operate as separate, siloed entities is coming to an end. For many decades now, the evolution of superyachts has vastly outpaced the evolution of yacht infrastructure, and whatever evolution there has been in the latter has rarely been in tandem with the former. This has created mismatches and bottlenecks between the two industries, which in turn have created significant opportunities for serious growth and technological development in marina and refit facilities.

How do we create a perfect superyacht marina? What is the business case for investing in refit facilities? How is the marina industry being professionalised? How are suppliers and consultants having to adapt to changing superyacht requirements? What will the most ambitious and successful future yacht infrastructure developments look like? And, most importantly, who is going to pay for it all?

‍Sessions and speakers

Uniting SuperYacht Times’ and Marina World’s leadership and expertise in the global superyacht and marina industries, the inaugural Yacht Infrastructure Summit will address these questions head on.

With over 20 speakers from key stakeholders across the marina and superyacht refit industries, the event will take a future-forward approach informed by recent case studies to guide how yacht infrastructure can grow in tandem with the superyacht industry. A close partnership with the world’s marina and service network, Safe Harbor, lends additional institutional weight and real-world operational experience, and SuperYacht Times and Marina World are proud to welcome them as the patron partner to this landmark event.

Safe Harbor’s Colby Cooper, Marina Projects’ Mike Ward and Red Sea Global’s Wyndham Tops will be speaking on the topic of Creating a Perfect Superyacht Marina. We are also pleased to welcome Jamaine Campbell of Elite Dynamics, platinum partner of the Yacht Infrastructure Summit, to give his perspective on the importance of digital infrastructure in creating a perfect superyacht marina.

Plus Marine’s Franco Ceroici and Haskoning’s Gosse de Boer will be discussing how they are adapting their products and services to changing superyacht requirements in Big Boats, Bigger Infrastructure: Marina Engineering & Expenditure. We will also be joined by Jeff Pratt of Bellingham Marine, gold partner of the Yacht Infrastructure Summit, to speak about how they are working to best serve superyacht marinas and their clients.

On The Business Case for Investing in Refit Facilities, we will welcome Stewart Parvin of Cantiere Rossini and Andrew Hutchinson of Invest Gold Coast, while Safe Harbor’s Jessie Burgess will discuss How Capital is Professionalising the Marina Industry. Oliver Corlette of Black Mountain Partners will also give a case-study presentation on the development of Porto Montenegro, where he was the founding managing director and CEO.

Maybe the most challenging question to be discussed during the summit is who will pay for it all? In many parts of the world, the answer to this question is increasingly private equity. To that end, Private Equity as an Institutional Driver will be joined by Bob Hoogendoorn of Balmaris Marinas, Richard Lindqvist of AMAVI Capital, Andreas Bäckman of InfraVia Capital and Antonio Zaforteza of Ocibar Marinas.

Finally, the event will close with a one-on-one interview between Baxter Underwood, CEO of Safe Harbor, and Merijn de Waard, founder of SuperYacht Times, to discuss how they are creating value and realising potential across their world-leading network of marina and refit facilities.

‍Tickets available now

The Yacht Infrastructure Summit is a landmark event that addresses a very specific issue that has long limited growth and development in the industry: How do we overcome the difference between how long it takes to build a superyacht, and how long it takes to build yacht infrastructure?

Whether it be in design, docks, digitisation, destination creation or the cold reality of hard dosh, the Yacht Infrastructure Summit will attempt to answer these questions and uncover the many opportunities for invention and innovation across the sector that will make this future possible. 

Get your tickets to the inaugural Yacht Infrastructure Summit, taking place at Mestrade, Amsterdam, on 18 November 2026, here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yacht-infrastructure-summit-tickets-1999264742664?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true 

Provisional programme topics with speakers

‍09.00 - Opening

‍09.20 - Panel Discussion: Private Equity as an Institutional Driver

  • Bob Hoogendoorn - Balmaris Marinas
  • Richard Lindqvist - AMAVI Capital
  • Jack Smith - Lazard
  • Andreas Bäckman - InfraVia Capital
  • Antonio Zaforteza - Ocibar

10.00 - Case Study Presentation: Creating a Perfect Superyacht Marina

  • Colby Cooper - Safe Harbor

10.10 - Panel Discussion: Creating a Perfect Superyacht Marina

  • Colby Cooper - Safe Harbor
  • Jamaine Campbell - Elite Dynamics
  • Wyndham Tops - Red Sea Global
  • Mike Ward - Marina Projects

10.45 - Coffee Break

11.15 - Case Study Presentation: The Case for Investing in the Creation of a New Refit Shipyard

  • Stewart Parvin - Cantiere Rossini

11.30 - Panel Discussion: The Business Case for Investing in Refit Facilities

  • Stewart Parvin - Cantiere Rossini
  • Andrew Hutchinson - Invest Gold Coast
  • Additional speakers TBC

12.10 - How Capital is Professionalising the Marina Industry

  • Speakers TBC

12.45 - Case Study Presentation: Superyacht Marina Development Case Study

  • Oliver Corlette - Black Mountain Partners, former CEO Porto Montenegro

13.00 - Lunch

14.15 - Concept Pitch

  • Speaker TBC

14.30 - Big Boats, Bigger Infrastructure: Marina Engineering & Expenditure

  • Jeffrey Pratt - Bellingham Marine
  • Franco Ceroici - Plus Marine
  • Gosse de Boer - Haskoning
  • Additional speaker TBC

15.10 - Closing Interview: Creating Value, Realising Potential

  • Baxter Underwood - Safe Harbor

15.50 - Closing

16.00 - Marina World Waterfront Drinks