A history of Burgess

Fifty years of the Burgess yachting enterprise is captured in the latest compendium from publisher Assouline.

15 December 2024

With text by Kevin Koenig, foreword by Jonathan Beckett, Burgess CEO and 170 images over 232 pages, this hardcover book provides a history of the Burgess brand and its business spanning all facets of yachting.

It started with one man’s dream: to establish a yacht brokerage based on a protocol of integrity, discretion and client care never seen before.

Founded in 1975 by Nigel Burgess, a renowned solo ocean racer with an obsessive eye for detail and a passion for the sea, Burgess today is a global company providing 360-degree service, from yacht building or brokering to charter and management.

Under the watchful eye of Burgess’s successor, the inimitable Jonathan “Joff” Beckett, Burgess has grown into a true standard-bearer in the maritime world. Fifty years later, the trust and integrity that defined Nigel Burgess are embedded in the company DNA.

The book is filled with evocative images charting the past 50 years of Burgess.

Burgess was founded in 1975 by Nigel Burgess, a renowned solo ocean racer with a passion for the sea.

Burgess has grown into a true standard-bearer in the maritime world.

The Burgess team employs its unrivalled experience and expertise in every area of superyachting.

The business is propelled by the same adventurous spirit of its founder.

Burgess has 16 offices worldwide.

The book explores far-flung destinations and the pleasures of superyachting.

Exploration and discovery, as well as innovative toys are covered in "Burgess".

Today, the Burgess team employs its unrivalled experience and expertise in every area of superyachting to provide specialised client services from its 16 offices across the most important centres of trade and luxury on the planet.

The adventurous spirit that first drove Nigel Burgess still impels the company forward, always looking toward the next horizon.

In this gorgeous volume, Burgess explores the future of yachting, including design that pushes the boundaries of beauty combined with functionality, far-flung destinations that emphasise exploration and discovery, innovative toys from the underwater depths to the edge of the stratosphere, and how the industry is approaching the issues of sustainability and social responsibility.

About the author

Kevin Koenig is the world’s preeminent marine journalist. A former executive editor at Yachting magazine, he has written regularly for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Esquire, GQ and numerous yachting trade publications. A resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, Kevin is a father of two, not including his pit-bull mix, Nina, who is a spicy meatball. He is often found on the water, in Brazilian-jiujitsu gyms or behind a grill.

Available from January 2025, RRP US$195, €195, £150.

assouline.com