Buying Guide

The following provides a brief guide to the yacht buying process. We will guide you and help you define the questions that need to be asked and answered, and all the issues to take into consideration. Whether you wish to purchase a motor yacht, sailing yachts, expedition yacht, classic yacht or catamaran, we are here to provide high-quality professional assistance.

What type of yacht are you looking at?

Motor Yachts
Motor yachts are yachts with no sails that are propelled by engines, usually diesel engines. Their shape differs from sailboats and they regularly have more space.

Sailing Yachts
Sailboats provide an exceptional and unique experience when the sails are used as the means of propulsion. Sailing yachts are equipped with diesel engines for manoeuvring within marinas and for use when there’s no wind. Modern large sailboats, especially the ones with hydrofoils can “fly” at speeds of 40-50 knots.

Expedition Yachts
Expedition yachts are strongly built yachts that are constructed to handle the world’s most extreme seas. Some vessels can even break through the ice. These unique yachts often have an exceptional range and they commonly are seen sailing the “end of the world” be it Alaska or Antarctica.

Classic Yachts
Classic yachts have their own category since these are specific yachts that possess a significant added value. Classic does not necessarily mean old or antique and is more often connected with a famous person or the celebrity that owned or chartered the yacht.

Multi-hulls
Catamarans are the most common multihulls, with two hulls joined together. Cats can be sailboats or motor yachts. Some of the advantages over monohulls relate to the large beam (width), so there is much livable space. Also, sailing cats provide a more stable sailing experience at a much faster speed, mostly due to the fact that they have no keel and hence have a much-reduced water drag.

The budget for a luxurious yacht has a significant range and can start form a million Euros and upwards. Sailing yachts can also cost around these prices, depending on the brand, and size. A large motor yacht can cost anywhere from 3 million Euros to over 100 million. Giga yachts can cost in the range of a few hundred million Euros.

And as for “green”, motor yachts today, include an array of advanced features that aim to reduce the environmental footprint of the yacht. This is achieved through modern hull designs (including the now very common bulbous bow), economical propulsion systems and a variety of instrumentation. These modern devices include “cleaner” engines, hybrid engines, and renewable energy solutions (with emphasis on solar and wind).

New or used?

The clearest advantage of purchasing a “brokerage” yacht is that she can be sailed immediately. There are many used yachts on the market, many of them with special appeals such as classic “immortal” designs, substantial history and famous current and past owners. The Boat Division has access to all the mega yachts for sale worldwide and will help you find the perfect boat.

As for new boats, based on your needs and plans, we will connect you with the matching boat building yard and ensure that you the best possible product, at the best possible price and terms of payment, in the shortest possible time.

Many of the main shipyards will allow you to request a certain level of customization, most of the interior of your newly built yacht. However, since the hull shape and boat length are predetermined, the limitations are considerable. A fully custom built yacht, eliminate restrictions, as can be seen by the Giga yachts, that have been constructed in recent years.

The following briefly describes each option:

A completed production yacht
Buying a completed yacht has several significant advantages, the first is that you can actually visit on board the vessel that you are purchasing and have a first-hand experience of exactly what you buy. The second advantage has to do with the rapidity in which you fulfil your wishes. You do not have to wait years before you begin to entertain your family and friends on the top deck. The third advantage is that even though you bought a “finished product”, you can still conduct any level of refits you wish in order to transform the yacht into your “one of a kind”.

A custom yacht
Building a custom yacht is a complex project that involves numerous different entities, and on large projects, thousands of people. There are several dozen major shipyards that can build exceptional super yachts and there are numerous designers to choose from, some of whom have a significant celebrity “added values”. These designers include for example Ferdinand Porsche, Giorgio Armani or Philippe Starck. A large super yacht can take 3 to 5 years to complete and the costs are only limited by your budget.

A semi-custom yacht
A semi-custom project means that some parameters of the project are pre-determined but there is an extensive amount of flexibility with respect to anything from, the entire interior design (as long as bulkheads are not compromised), the propulsion (engine sizes and types), and much more. Even the length of the yacht may be altered, with extensions, and the addition of swim platforms.

 

How to buy a yacht?

Buying a yacht is a serious process that requires the participation of experts who understand all the aspects of the project, once you find your dream boat and make sure complete the purchase transaction, you need to conduct two further essential processes.

Paperwork

Once you own the yacht, you can begin with the financially important issue of paperwork. Here too, experts should be involved, mostly with respect to legal and taxation issues. Some of the topics here are related to the yacht’s flag (often completely unrelated to the owner’s nationality) and its registered purpose. Yachts that are also registered as “for charter” or Paul Allen’s Octopus, a 414 Ft. mega yacht, that is, on occasion, used for scientific research and expeditions, fall into a much lower tax bracket. The must-have paperwork for a yacht includes:
• A builder’s certificate
• A Bill of Sale on the name of the new owner (for used yachts)
• A Flag deletion from the previous owner
• Flag registration on the new owner’s name
• Yacht insurance.

Ownership

Following the completion of the purchasing process, there are two final issues to consider: What will be your yacht’s home base? And who will take care of her for you?

Mooring

Megayachts travel much, but many of them have a home base that is either permanent, with a berth that was purchased for an extended period of years or even decades or rented, on a periodic or monthly basis. Many owners prefer the yacht to be available “close to home”, not necessarily for sailing but more as an additional entertaining location.

The Crew

Large mega yachts require permanent crews of a few dozen men and women. These are people who you should fully trust in, and therefore, it is crucial to select the right outstanding crew for your yacht. The Boat Division will connect you with the relevant “crew agency” that will be used to find the perfect captain, engineer, chef, scuba instructor, stewards, deckhands and so forth.