First time Yachtbuyer seeks advise/Help !!

selection of yachts

Dear Mr. Rajeev,

I just joined yacht forum, i was selling yachts for few years now and your subject is of interest. If you want to register used boat in India, it would be impossible I belive as they no more register used crafts in India.

To buy a yacht of 90+ size, you need to be very careful, once u have a yacht u will need to provide regular mainatanance and replacement of parts which is the most worrying part. If you don't have a professional support in your area on after sales service, I suggest you better not to go for them. The brokers in India (I personally know most of them) as well are not very supportive in this matter. My strong recommendation is to look out for something from Europe (if they have a dealer in India) or UAE only. While signing your order you make sure that they sign a contract including all these points and that will save your investment and time.

Wishing you all the best
With regards
Basith

Dear Rajeev,

I am a boat owner for over 15 years and have owned 5 boats so far. 3 Italians, 1 Turkish and recently a Dutch build boat.

I bought my first boat second hand because I wanted to try and understand what I really want. The Italians (Azimut and Ferretti brands) were planning hulls made of fiberglass and the Turkish boat is a cold molded wooden boat, lobster boat stile. The latest is a semi displacement aluminum boat.

Coming back to your questions, you need to decide on the speed element. Do you want to be fast or have access to speed when you want it? If yes, then displacement is not an option. However, on a planning boat when the seas get rough you cannot go fast and cruising below planning speeds is not comfortable, because the boats are build for planning and moving above the water. That's why I have chosen a semi displacement, which is of course a compromise to a certain amount, but will happily cruise at displacement speeds and when you need the speed you will have around 20 knots of cruising.

Of course, the material of the hull is something to decide for as well. The cold molded is very strong and light if done properly and has a low sound conductivity factor due to the characteristics of the wood. Metal boats, if build at a good yard could achieve high levels of sound insulation, because weight for displacement and partly semi displacement boats is not top priority. Fiberglass has also a low sound conductivity. however, mostly weight is an important factor in planning boats, so insulation may not be as good as displacement boats.

Chartering is a completely different factor to consider, because not all charter markets are the same. You may not need to have the same quality and you may not get dollars for the high quality all the time. If you charter a second class quality boat in the Med you may not have a good chance for top dollar paying charters, however in your area you may not have charters at that high level. So, this is something you may need to investigate.

If you have any specific points further down the line as you investigate more, would be pleased to address them to the best of my previous experience.

Nilo

Hi Rajeev,

Nilo Has already summed up a number of right answers.

Since you proclame yourself as a yachting newbe, I kind of wonder how you got to the size you mention. A 90ft yacht needs a crew, although it can be a small one, you would have your hands full if you go singlehanded.

On the subject of new v/s used I would suggest used.
Since you are unexperienced in operating and maintaining a yacht it would be a good idea if you started with a used yacht to get some experience.

Building a semi or full custom will be a lot easier if you have spend some time onboard.
Having a 90+ft yacht build can easily take a year. Taking in account current orderbooks at the dutch yachtbuilders, you would be lucky to get a yacht before the end of 2009. You can take ownership of a used yacht within weeks. My experience is that used or series build yachts are great to fill the gap of time while you are waiting for your custom

You state that you would occasionally use the yacht yourself and offer it for charter the rest of the year. Putting your yacht up for charter can compensate in the running costs but keep in mind that you are unlikely to make any profit on charters.

Recommendations;
-Buy a yacht with a full maintenance history.
-Have a survey done before buying.
-Never listen to a guy that says "trust me" when buying a yacht.
-Check if there are any dealers or resellers of the yachts technical components represented in your area.
-Call the yachtbuilder and enquire about the specific yacht. They usually keep track of their yachts (at least in Holland we do)
-in case of a "composite" hull, have it checked for weak spots and delamination.

To determin which yacht you need;
How many guests are you likely to have on board?
What speed do you require?
What distance would you like to sail? (range)
How long would you like to own the yacht before moving on to another?
What is your budget to buy?
What is your budget for maintenance? (technics and crew)

What hull material? I would go for Aluminium. (anytime)

I assume your thinking of this one, if not, it should be on your list...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/mega-yachts-100-149/6833-102ft-feadship.html#post43846

Yacht Brokers

The absolutely best advice I can give you is to take EVERYTHING a yacht broker tells you and throw it in the trash can.

What you need to do is to get together with the captain of YOUR choice (not recommended by the broker) and discuss the mission parameters with regards to the owner's wants and needs and operational aspects of the vessel and the budget you have in mind for the purchase.

Then you take your captain on a road trip to preview vessels selected online; or attend a boat show or two. As a captain, I stand back and let the sales staff work their deal with owners that I have represented; all the while looking at the vessel with an objective eye, not the emotional eye of the buyer.

After we step off the vessel, then the owner and I sit down and discuss the pros and cons, functionality, esthetics et al of the vessel viewed.

Remember, your captain is in your employ and represents YOUR BEST INTEREST. The majority of yacht brokers are only in it for the commission. However, there are a select number of brokers I have worked with over the years who have a high degree of integrity and I can recommmend without conflict of interest. It will be neccessary to work with one broker on your side of the deal, so selection is essential.

With over 30 years as captain in the yacht industry, you may PM me and I would be pleased to discuss with your further the pitfalls to look out for in a first time purchase of a large yacht.

Dear Rajeev,

Pls find my comments to various points you have raised here below:

1- If you are planning to go for long distance, then you should choose a displacement hull.

2- I agree that it would be prudent to go for a second hand boat. However, as you are doing, you should consider the options of selling her at a point of time in the future. In this respect, I suggest you consider that she is build by a well known builder. She should not be too old, because that might give you high maintanance expns during the use, plus will be difficult to sell when you want it.

3- Most of the well known builders' boats, especially if they are displacement boats, will not depreciate drastically, they will keep their value at second hand. But one should consider that there are different steps in this process. You should not expect a 5 years old boat to have the same value when she is 10 years old.

4- At 90 feet size, boat could move from one region to the other, hence you will not see much fluctuation between seasons.

If you will have any further issues on the way, pls shoot out and I will try to comment as best as possible.

There are some great sugustions, but have you considered chartering a few boats, so you can spend time on different styles of yachts? If you are going to charter it out part time, it would give you valuable experience. This way you will understand what a guest will look for in a charter. Hire a capitian to assist you in your decision also. This way he works for you.