High-end marine lifestyle is the forte of North Star Yachting, now anchored in South Florida.
Come 2025, Miami residents and visitors might find themselves celebrating on a dedicated 270-foot floating destination: a specially built vessel hosting about 400 guests. While the ship’s name remains under wraps, the concept is a passion project for Tony Vamvakidi, Greek-born founder and CEO of North Star Yachting, the Monaco-headquartered high-end yacht broker and charter firm.
“It will be a head-turner and a landmark,” says Vamvakidi of the planned uber-party ship. Vamvakidi has also commissioned a suite of floating luxury hotels planned to elegantly glide to close-in destinations for a one-of-a-kind experience. With designs by architectural firm Jean-Pierre Heim, the 80-meter vessels are expected to debut in Miami, and, in New York, where launch is planned to coincide with the nation’s 250th birthday in July, 2026. It’s not North Star’s only U.S. move. The company recently opened a Miami office, headed by longtime Florida resident Suyain George, and focused on its core competency of yacht brokerage and charters.
“I always wanted to do more,” says Vamvakidi of opening the company’s Miami presence. “The American market is too big to leave aside. Fifty percent of the global market is the American market.”
According to Future Market Insights research firm, the global luxury yacht market is expected to reach $19 billion across the next decade. This includes yacht builders, brokers, designers, harbor management, services, equipment and buyers. Vamvakidi believes North Star is positioned to thrive in this expanding space.
The ocean is in his blood. The Athens native began sailing at age 6, and never stopped. He was involved in the family paper production business but moved to Paris for college after completing his army service. It was there, in 1988, where he came up with the idea of turning his love for sailing into a business. “It was a natural choice,” says Vamvakidi, who later earned an MBA at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut. The company has 40 employees, with brokers dispersed in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Greek Islands, plus a New York and now, South Florida presence.
The company does more than match the right yacht with the right buyer. Because of its long-time relationships with shipbuilders, North Star has become involved in vessel design, matching clients with the best shipyard for that particular yacht. Meanwhile, the charter side of the business focuses on what they call “the 100 leading yachts of the world.” Revenue is 80 percent sales, and 20 percent charters, with fluctuations across the years.
Vamvakidi has witnessed yacht design evolve. “I see the future being very much in sustainable vessels, and the impact of Co2 on the globe,” he said. While, he noted, pressure for carbon-neutral transportation is far more intense in Europe, trends are moving in that direction and green innovations, like solar panels, are becoming common in yacht design. From order-to-delivery of a 65 meter yacht takes about 36 months, and includes identifying the best shipyard for the job while decisions are made by the buyer about exterior lines and interior architecture, which along with sustainability, might include Zen or Feng Shui elements.
Vamvakidi spent a year in South Florida in the 90s, buying vessels that were sent to Europe to take advantage of the weak dollar at the time. But doing more in the region was always a goal. Then, in early 2022, he and Suyain George met at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show where George was filling in as a host for an exhibiting company. They later spoke briefly and exchanged business cards, then stayed in touch. George, who is a real estate sales associate, began collaborating with Vamvakidi in South Florida by house-hunting for his yachting clients. He then brought her in as part of the North Star sales team.
George, who grew up in the area, describes herself somewhat facetiously as an “expert passenger.” She is now learning nautical specifications – and oceangoing lingo. “Bedrooms are not bedrooms, they are staterooms,” she quips. The yachts that North Star brokers range from $5 million to $100 million.
North Star Yachting is named after Stella Polaris, the star guiding mariners across the seas for millennia. The firm originally worked with smaller vessels, like day cruisers and runabouts, before moving into the super-yacht category. It has now brokered more than 500 vessels since its launch. “Our aim is to offer an experience that greatly enhances wellbeing, that goes beyond one splendid day onboard,” says Vamvakidi.
