Geoff Moore got hooked on boats after a holiday on the Norfolk Broads as a teenager. Today he's boss of a company selling and chartering some of the world's most luxurious superyachts.

It's a journey which has seen his career sail from his childhood home in Meopham to the glitz and glamour of Monaco - the home of the super rich.

Because it is in the exclusive principality, neighbouring the south of France, he has this week been showcasing an array of multi-million pound palaces-on-the-sea at the Monaco Yacht Show. An event so exclusive that a one-day ticket to attend - just to have a look - will set you back €500 (£439).

The former Gravesend Grammar School pupil, now, 38, grew up in the county.

Today, he is the managing director of Newcastle-based company West Nautical, which has on its books one 64-metre long superyacht which has a price tag of an eye-watering €72million (£63.77m). Its catalogue requires pockets not so much deep as cavernous.

A bit steep? Well, you always charter one for a week and show off to friends and family. It will still set you back between £300,000 to £615,000 though.

In truth, superyachts are the preserve of the extraordinarily wealthy.

"The superyacht sector is a truly fascinating business and growing all the time," Geoff explains.

"Rather like a classic car, superyachts need to be used and properly crewed and operated. Most owners are businessmen expecting a decent return on their investment, so they put their yachts out to charter when not using them and that expert management is a major part of our business.

“And it’s expanding thanks to two great negatives of recent times; the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“For those who can afford it, chartering a superyacht for big family or corporate get togethers is now preferable to confining your party to a cruise liner along with 2,000 strangers – and you can literally choose your own itinerary.

“Post-Covid, people also realised they could work from anywhere and, if you could afford to own or charter one, why not a yacht? You can run a Zoom meeting, or address a virtual conference while cruising the Caribbean."

Getting one of those fake 'Caribbean seascape' backdrops on video calls for the rest of us is cheaper, but not quite as authentic.

It's not all plain sailing though.

He adds: “As demand soars though, the ‘superyacht fleet’ just got smaller: Russian yacht owners have withdrawn their vessels due to the risk of being seized via Western sanctions.

“So we’ve lost many desirable charters, often with features that might once have been fantasies seen on a Bond villain’s floating lair. Things like a heli-pad or an internal dock for the yacht’s boats and ‘toys’ like a Seabob – a cross between a jet ski and a submarine – or even a fully enclosed mini-submarine.”

Many owners spend extra millions on their bespoke vessel and its extras, only to take delivery and start planning their next one, knowing there is a ready market for sale or charter.

Adds the businessman: "Trends rotate ever faster now. It used to be that owners wanted a sun-deck as high up on the boat as possible; now they want ‘beach club’ terraces so they can get straight into the sea or into tenders, jet skis and that kind of thing.”

How the other half live.

But, you'll be delighted to learn, those with money to burn do at least nod to both the environmental impact of such excess.

Geoff Moore says most owners are embracing electric and battery power to supplement power needs. High-tech superyachts powered mostly by sail are also in vogue, such as the 107-metre Black Pearl, capable of crossing the Atlantic on wind power alone.

“The yacht industry has hit changeable weather lately, but it’s wrong to say ‘stormy’.”

All this talk of excess is a far cry from his roots.

His passion for boats began when he went on a family holiday to the Norfolk Broads when he was 16.

“From that moment, I was hooked on sailing and anything that floats,” he recalls.

“My parents bought a boat, then a bigger one, and I embarked on securing all the professional qualifications I would need, including a first-class honours degree in Marine Operations, at Northumbria University.”

After growing up in Meopham, he set out to gather all the hands-on marine and seagoing experience he could.

Eventually, as a Master Mariner with a packed CV, he was poised to become a long-term superyacht skipper.

“That might have been the dream once, but I realised I would then be forever at sea, with little room for family or shore life,” he reflects.

As a consequence he moved into superyacht management - working first for the logistics giant Maersk then joining the superyacht specialist Royal Oceanic as general manager.

He then moved to head up West Nautical.

And this week his journey sees him moor up for the Monaco Yacht Show - where perspective buyers probably aren't too concerned about any increase in their mortgage payments, or how they're going to heat their homes this year.

He concludes: "At the Monaco show, I know we’ll see an industry left stronger and even more innovative despite the world’s recent adversity.”