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The First Owner’s Reference · Chapter 01 · Checklist

The cost picture, on paper.

Put the cost picture on paper before the first acquisition conversation. The numbers do not need to be perfect. They need to be written down.

Part 01The numbers

  1. 01

    An annual operating-cost projection in writing, with each line named (crew salary, insurance, berths, fuel, refit reserve, compliance, contingency).

    Use a line-by-line projection rather than a single-figure estimate.

  2. 02

    The projection benchmarked against named published sources (YPI Crew, Quay Crew, Pantaenius, MYBA).

    Each of those publishes data that can be cited rather than inferred from a conversation.

  3. 03

    The running cost calculator on this site, run with the buyer’s own size, type, region, and intensity.

    Source assumptions are named on every line.

  4. 04

    A depreciation projection across the intended hold period, against broker-aggregated data.

    Depreciation curves are published in broker-aggregated series (Yatco, IYC, Yacht Hunter).

Part 02The use case

  1. 05

    An estimate of the number of weeks per year the yacht will be used.

    Below 12 weeks of intended use, charter and fractional access cover the same calendar at lower fixed cost.

  2. 06

    An intended hold horizon of seven years or more.

    Shorter holds amplify the depreciation curve.

  3. 07

    The use case tested against the buyer’s calendar, household, and family availability for the next five years.

    The yacht will absorb 40 to 60 days a year of owner attention.

Part 03The charter question

  1. 08

    If charter has been proposed as an offset to ownership cost, a worked case based on yacht size, weekly rate, and weeks.

    BOAT International publishes case studies of charter income against running cost.

  2. 09

    A position, in advance, on whether the prime-season weeks (mid-July to mid-August in the Med, December to early January in the Caribbean) are available for charter.

    Charter income from prime-season weeks is what published case-study yields rest on.

  3. 10

    The charter projection pressure-tested against the published case studies for break-even, loss, and exception cases.

Part 04The decision

  1. 11

    A conversation, with someone whose income is not contingent on the deal, about the case for not buying.

    Parties paid contingent on a sale do not raise this.

  2. 12

    A maximum hold cost across years one to three that the buyer is comfortable absorbing, written down.

  3. 13

    An option to delay the acquisition by six months if any of the items above remain uncertain.