The yachting lifestyle has been woven into the fabric of British luxury for more than two centuries. Whether it be the popularity of ‘navalism’ in the Victorian period, or the 1960s ideas of ‘Riviera Chic’, the UK, and the world beyond, has long been fascinated by the images of yachting and the idea of yacht ownership has been taken as a badge of refinement and wealth. Whilst not always a positive perception – the Riviera was characterised by Somerset Maugham as ‘a sunny place for shady people’ - yachting is undoubtedly a place where high affluence gathers.

Last night, three of Walpole’s newest members – leading luxury yacht builder Sunseeker, world-renowned yacht and residential design outfit Winch Design and publisher and media company, BOAT International came together at Maison Assouline to talk all things superyachting, and the yachting consumer, drawing back the curtain on this sometimes elusive, sometimes secretive, but always fascinating world.