Digital dopamine

Malaz knew he had to find a different customer base — those who are true explorers, ready to venture far in search of an adventure that’s untouchable to most people. The Numarine XP series, with its recognizable knuckle bow and Transformer-style look, includes five vessels ranging between 72-feet to 150-feet in length. Numarine’s skilled in-house workforce spans all departments – from glass and cabinetry to hull and body production – which means the shipyard has the capability to produce up to 10 boats a year.

“The Numarine shipyard is highly efficient in how they go about building their product,” says Clarke. “They don’t build a lot of boats per year, and that’s deliberate. It makes for a successful business model, whereby they keep a small number of boats available and give a lot of personal attention to the clients.”

This type of in-house production – also referred to as vertical integration – ensures consistent quality, perfect fitment and flexible customization for each model. It worked for Tesla, which implemented vertical integration to push the boundaries of innovation in-house. Numarine is no different.

“I never think of boat building as a shipyard. I always imagine it more like a factory, where we can monitor our materials and workforce, and therefore our delivery periods,” says Malaz. “We also emphasize lean management, which means we have a 98% rate for on-time delivery.”

While restructuring, re-branding and lean in-house production are effective business strategies to stay ahead, for Malaz, the key to success is simple: “I think making a great product, with a great service, and a great brand makes for a great success story.”

Alex Jimenez – @TheYachtGuy – was yachting’s first Instagram influencer. Ten years after he burst onto the scene, he talks about superyacht sunsets, future boats and his #1 rule of the game.

Interview Taylor Chien Photograph Alex Jimenez

WHO IS ALEX JIMENEZ? I’m just a regular guy blessed to have had the opportunities that I’ve had. I started yacht dreaming back in 1998 but @TheYachtGuy started in 2010 at the Newport International Boat Show when I ran out of storage on my phone. I started an Instagram account as a way to save my personal photos, an idea courtesy of my brother who was with me. I was sleeping in my truck at the time, so I needed to see where I wanted to be in the future, and it took on a life of its own. In 2014, after four years of learning Insta, I made it a full-time job.

YOU WERE AT THE START OF YACHTING’S SOCIAL MEDIA BOOM – HOW HAS IT CHANGED SINCE THEN? Back when I started, there was no social media. Most of the industry didn’t like the idea of guys like me posting about something that I had nothing to do with. There was one guy sharing yacht news and another was a yachtie. Bob Denison, Peter Lürssen and a few others knew something big was coming, though. More so, even, than I did. Since then it’s changed a lot.

Now, there are a million yacht pages, a few looking to be #1 with the most followers, whatever that means. There is a science to growing a page. Using the same content over and over because it’s very popular will gain more likes and follows. Paying people to grow accounts will too. But for me, gaining a million followers isn’t my goal. I just want to keep working with great people sharing great experiences and working toward my goals of living a great life with family and friends. So, while those other pages are busy chasing numbers, I’ll be busy chasing superyacht sunsets, boat side in a regatta, and surrounding myself with good people in great places.

“I have 800k+ followers, and my guess is most are dreamers like me.

ALEX JIMENEZ DO YOU STILL PHOTOGRAPH YACHTS AT ANY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY? Absolutely! I love getting out there and taking shots, especially if I’m with legends like Tom van Oossanen and Charl van Rooy, getting tips from professionals on how to take a better shot.

WHO ARE YOUR MAIN FOLLOWERS? I have 800k+ followers, and my guess is most are dreamers like me. But I do know firsthand that many are yacht owners, designers, builders, yachties, celebrities and a few billionaires.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR CONTENT FRESH AND ORIGINAL AMID THE GROWING NUMBER OF YACHT INFLUENCERS? The term “Influencer” is used a lot these days, everyone with a page is considered an influencer. Many of them are brokers leveraging their access to yachts and trying to sell boats (nothing wrong with that), while other accounts are made up of reposts and content that will get them followers – ships in storms, boats sinking, people getting hurt, etc. They write “DM for credit” to avoid mentioning anyone, but never actually get out there and show the experience. So, only reposting pictures and videos you didn’t take or posting a yacht as part of your job doesn’t qualify you as an influencer, in my opinion. Weed out all of those and then see how many yacht influencers are actually out there.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR ORIGINAL CONTENT WITH PAID CLIENT REQUESTS? It’s not that hard, really. Paid content must be good content. I get requests to post blurry pics all the time or videos that just look commercial and I go back to the client and work with them to get something better. Sometimes, I’ll get a stubborn client, and I post the bad content just to make the point that it was going to bomb.

WHAT RULES DO YOU PLAY BY? My #1 rule is if I use someone’s content, I credit them right under the caption and not bury their name at the bottom under a bunch of spaces or hashtags. Everything else is just common sense, no real magic tricks.

IS THERE ANY YACHT CONTENT THAT YOU WON’T POST? I try to stay away from tragic posts, especially when people get hurt. A regatta video surfaced recently in which a guy got plowed off the back of a yacht by another boat, and it turned out he broke a few ribs. Another one showed a couple on a jet ski that blew up with them on it as they crashed. I knew these would get tons of views, but I didn’t post them. There has to be a line, and for me, people’s lives are that line.

“Owning a yacht has always been the goal.”

WHICH YACHTS REMAIN ON YOUR MUST-STEP-ABOARD BUCKET LIST? DUBAI, ECLIPSE, RISING SUN, FLYING FOX, OCTOPUS, both As - too many to list them all here! Stepping aboard isn’t as good as experiencing the yacht, which I’d prefer.

ALEX JIMENEZ