As the Rich Buy Bigger Boats, Private Equity Is Investing in the Booming Marina Business

Tanned and tousled after a sailing regatta on Narragansett Bay, more than a thousand people gathered last month at a large marina in Newport, R.I., for three days of competitive racing, dockside dinners and drinks aboard superyachts.Events like these bring together people who, naturally, love boats.Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard, which hosted the gathering, turned its marina into an entertainment destination for the spectators and potential year-round customers.As the rich get richer, their boats are also getting bigger and more expensive.

And all of those vessels need places to dock and get repairs.The private equity firm Blackstone sees opportunity in the booming boat business.In the past two years, the company has been on a buying spree of scarce waterfront infrastructure.

Its infrastructure fund went from owning zero marinas in 2024 to roughly 200 marinas today — more than anyone in the world.The company paid $5.6 billion in early 2025 for Safe Harbor, which at the time owned and operated 138 marinas in the United States and Puerto Rico, including dozens of marinas from Maryland to Maine as well as the Caribbean’s largest in Fajardo, P.R.It also runs nine marinas on the Mediterranean, catering to large yachts in places like St.

Tropez, Antibes and Monaco....