STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Horizon owns four shipyards in Taiwan, including Horizon, Vision, Premier and Atech. The builder employs more than 800 people. Horizon subcontracts nothing, which helps the company to control the build process and ensure quality. There are in-house design teams for naval architecture, engineering, interior design and electrical systems.

lounge that seats at least 12 — one of the largest I can remember seeing on a yacht in this class. She is designed as an owner-operator’s vessel and has three- and four-stateroom layouts with optional crew’s quarters. A gaggle of enthusiastic Australians had made the trip to check her out. ¶ To fully appreciate where these yachts come from requires not just making the journey to Kaohsiung but also making a journey through the city, to better grasp the Taiwanese culture. Kaohsiung’s many Buddhist temples and religious sites, and the famous Dragon Tiger Towers on Lotus Lake, can make many Westerners feel like they’re on a different planet. That is, until one of the locals catches your eye, smiles and hands you a Coca-Cola from their food stand, as happened to me. It was a small gesture, but one that made me feel welcome so far from home. (I guess I looked a little bit lost.) ¶ A late-night trip to perhaps the city’s most famous attraction, the Night Markets, is also eye-opening for the exotic foods served up: Whole frogs, colorful snails and crustaceans of all manner line the smoky, labyrinthine streets, which buzz with motorcycle traffic and the rat-tat-tat chatter of machine-gun Mandarin. I dare you to give the mullet gizzards a kick in the tires if you ever make the trip. ¶ The primal, alien nature of the Night Markets is in stark contrast to the Horizon factory, which is modern and pristine to the point of feeling almost whitewashed. Horizon uses tools and technologies including computational fluid dynamics for tank testing, a five-axis router for precision when tooling molds, resin infusion for hulls and superstructures, and non-destruction testing to check yachts thermographically and sonically for structural integrity. ¶ The result is builds like the FD87 Skyline and V68, which join a lineup that has helped the builder increase market share in recent years. And the company’s pride in its tech-forwardness was patently evident as executives led a tour through the cavernous space, showing off all the things I had come so far to see. Take the next step: horizonyacht.com

HORIZON YACHTS HAS ITS OWNMARINA NEAR ITS SHIPYARD, A COMBINATION OF SITES THAT MOST BUILDERS IN TAIWAN CANNOT OFFER.