How to afford a yacht if you’re not a billionaire

A lot of middle-class businessmen, whose financial income is relatively modest, believe that they cannot afford a yacht. How to afford a yacht if you are not a billionaire. Inexperienced entrepreneurs do not even realize that in fact the coveted vessel, for example, a sailing boat, can be purchased for only four to seven tens of thousands of US currency units.

The relevance of buying a yacht is dictated even by the difficult conditions of the pandemic period – such personal transport can become the most convenient and practical place for your self-isolation.

Is a yacht cheaper than a car: reality or fiction?

Families in many landlocked foreign countries own small boats or yachts. Such boat owners rely on average income, and they use their water transport for weekends during holidays or weekends.

Our compatriots rarely think about purchasing a yacht, perhaps due to the prevailing stereotype about the high cost of ships.

However, boats, like their prices, are different. The yacht can be a motor and sailing yacht, a boat, a classic model, or a superyacht with huge dimensions and an elite level of comfort.

The boat classification is based on three criteria:

• length of their body;
• gross tonnage (gross internal volume);
• type of yacht.

About boat types and prices

Sailing yachts in Europe are considered to be ordinary family leisure vessels, not luxury items. They have a double function – they are a mobile beach and a house by the sea. The cost of 50 thousand euros is common for such ships.

At the same time, everyone knows that a collection car costs its owners several times more expensive both in terms of purchase and in terms of content.

Many people associate motor yachts with a huge and very expensive ship owned by billionaires and moored off the coast of Miami or in the Maldives. However, from the point of view of class, a yacht has the status of a motor boat, the length of the loading line of which exceeds 24 m (for Russia, the corresponding figure is 20 m).

For the purchase of a boat of about 20 m you will have to pay one and a half million euros, and an analogue 5 m more will cost twice as much. But these numbers are related to the new yacht. And the crisis period made its own adjustments to the corresponding pricing policy in favor of buyers.

The price of a vessel is understood not only as its actual purchase price. This concept also includes the annual costs associated with the following costs:

• routine maintenance;
• repair and amortization;
• purchase of fuel and other fuels and lubricants;
• payment of taxes;
• purchase of an insurance policy;
• payment for berthing at the port;
• crew salary.

The amount of such expenses for one year is from 5 to 10% of the value of the yacht. So, for the full annual maintenance of a 20-meter vessel, you will have to pay about 150 thousand euros, and for the maintenance of a 40-meter boat, about one million euros.

How to fit into the sailing community?

Contrary to popular belief, joining the ranks of yachtsmen is easy. We advise you to start by visiting the Boatshow – an international exhibition of yachting boats, which brings together true fans of water travel.

Ticket cost for such an event in Moscow is purely symbolic, and it is also affordable in Europe (for example, in Cannes it is 15 euros). The most expensive visit will be in Monaco (about 300 euros).

The advantage of this event is that you can climb aboard and see the arrangement of the yacht with your own eyes. In addition, at such exhibitions, the sale of yachts by companies and private owners is practiced. It is known that such shipyard sellers and distributors create the most favorable conditions for commercial transactions.

At the boat show, you can interact with helpful people such as brokers, dealers, service companies and manufacturers, as well as design specialists. Through appropriate communication, you will gain invaluable experience that will allow you to adequately assess the offerings of the primary and secondary market, taking into account the budget, power reserve and the number of boat cabins.

Among the most popular exhibitions are the Cannes Yachting Festival held every September and the famous Monaco Yacht Show.

True, during the quarantine period, you will have to limit yourself to online monitoring.

Further, it will be advisable to turn to the help of a specialized company, which employs professional brokers. Such competent employees will acquaint you with the dynamics of the market, and with sellers who are ready to yield in price, and with other important nuances.

What else should you consider when choosing and buying a yacht?

It is worth knowing that the actual purchase of the boat is followed by the need to give it a name, as well as the registration of the vessel, its insurance and identification with the berthing place.

The registration of yachts is carried out in special state structures with the appropriate jurisdiction. The cost of such a procedure depends on the purpose of your purchase. If it is a private exploitation, the buyer pays an amount of 1 thousand euros, and if the purchase is for commercial purposes, you will have to pay several times more.

The choice of the name of the yacht is a personal matter for each ship owner. Often, boats are given female names in honor of their relatives and beloved ladies.

The choice of anchorage location for a boat depends on its dimensions – if a small boat has enough space on the dock at the house, then a larger yacht requires a specially organized parking in a certain country that you plan to visit.

Also worth considering the costs of maintaining the team. Although in the case of obtaining a captain’s rights, you can become a yacht captain yourself, and members of your family can become sailors.

If you are not sure about the availability of all the funds that will be needed to buy and maintain a boat, the issue can be solved by renting a yacht, which is more affordable.

You can get more detailed assistance in buying a yacht, advisory and practical, by contacting the specialists of our company Sparks Life. Employees have extensive experience in resolving these issues – contact the professionals!