Experiencing a Historic Ship-building Town with Princess Yachts The Grand Tour Plymouth, England is home to Princess Yachts Limited and all their ancillary operations. Plymouth is also recognized as having the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, originally built in 1690. Their history dates back even further to the early eleventh century as a major port and trading hub, called Sutton. King Henry VI officially changed the name of the town to Plymouth in 1440—after over 200 years of this being the town’s nickname. Plymouth is derived from ‘Mouth of the River Plym’ which lies to her East, and River Tamar to her West. The historical allure of Plymouth is undeniable for anyone who visits, and Princess Yachts’ hospitality ensures the visitors are frequent and plentiful. Bluewater Sales Professional Chuck Meyers returned from his fourth visit to Plymouth in the spring of 2022 and explained, “You could spend weeks there on end and not see it all!” For Princess dealers and their new build customers, factory visits are highly encouraged. Meyers enjoyed hosting customers who are currently building a new Y72 with an expected summer 2022 delivery. Touring Princess Yachts is considerably different from any tour opportunity at another shipbuilder. Princess fabricates most of the components for their boats, but they cannot do it all at a single location. Wire looms, cabinetry and trim, fiberglass components, molds, soft goods and more are created by the hands of dedicated craftspeople at other historical sites scattered throughout Plymouth. “It is one of the most impressive facilities, boatbuilding wise,” Meyers explains. “We went from the cabinetry shop in Coypool to the mold shops and fiberglass shops and then transferred to Newport Street yard and then on to the marina for make-ready.” Meyers and his customers were joined by Princess Yachts North America’s Ryan Fitchett and Tom Carroll Jr. on this visit. These brand experts will take you from start to finish through the whole build process of a yacht. Aside from the R&D Department, Princess has nothing to hide and enjoys walking customers through their own in-progress yacht, and providing updates on the progress and processes. The customers who joined Meyers on this trip are building their third new Princess and never tire of the tour process and Princess’ exemplary hospitality. Princess further delights in offering sea trials to the customers and dealers aboard a finished yacht of their same build or a model that is very close in size and available at the marina. As luck would have it, another client’s Y72 was at the make-ready 32 BLUEWATER
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