Yacht Guide
The Cost of Owning a Yacht
Crew, berthing, maintenance, refit reserve and the annual budget behind ownership.
The annual budget
Ownership cost is dominated by crew, followed by maintenance and refit reserve, insurance, berthing and fuel. It is driven by crew number, class and flag obligations, the cruising programme and the age of the yacht, not by the purchase price alone.
- Crew salaries, rotation, travel, training and uniforms
- Planned and unplanned maintenance
- Refit reserve, set aside annually rather than found in a hurry
- Insurance — hull, machinery, P&I and crew cover
- Berthing, both winter and seasonal
- Fuel, lubricants and shipyard periods
- Classification, survey and flag compliance
- Management, accounting and administration
Management
A yacht management company handles crew employment, compliance, budgeting, technical oversight and yard periods. For most owners this is not an optional overhead; it is what keeps the yacht compliant, crewed and available.
Where costs are usually underestimated
Refit reserve and crew turnover. A deferred refit becomes a larger refit, and a settled, well-paid crew is cheaper than an annual rebuild of the team.
How we help
We build a line-by-line annual budget for the specific yacht under consideration, with the management team, before a purchase is committed.
This guide is general information about how the yacht market conventionally works. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it does not describe the terms of any specific yacht. Rates, prices, availability and access are confirmed in writing before anything is committed.