Text by Lars Reisberg
When looking for the right boat, the first thing prospective buyers should do before buying is take off their rose-tinted spectacles and honestly answer the question of what it will actually be used for later. However, this is easier said than done.
In terms of requirement profiles, there are generally three categories of the most common boat usage concepts: the weekend sailor, the regatta sailor and the holiday cruiser. There are, of course, a few more, such as the charterer, but these do not play a role when buying a boat. The real blue water sailors are a whole separate chapter: people who really cast off the lines to take their yachts on the really big trips, for example as part of a sabbatical.
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A realistic requirement profile starts with the time available to use a yacht. For most of us, this is of course the days of holiday we have per year at work. The average for Germans is 30 days. If the weekends are also taken into account, i.e. 52 times 2 full days off, there are another 100 days available. If the public holidays are added, that's about 10 per year. That makes a total of 140 days.
That sounds like a really, really big amount: almost a third of the year for sailing. But depending on where the yacht will be moored, the weather alone and the distance to the boat usually limit the utilisation time considerably. If you put your boat into winter storage from the end of October and can only sail again properly from the beginning of May, you can safely cancel half a year of use.
If the boat is close by, you will spend many more weekends on it because travelling to it is not a problem - that is the classic "Lake Constance use". My "seagoing customers" are different, i.e. customers who had their yachts in the Adriatic, on the Côte d'Azur or down on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
In most cases, they still had holiday homes nearby, so they had a connection to and a history with the area there - and brought some travel experience with them. Many of them had already organised more or less long periods of working from home and working from home in their jobs in order to extend their time "on site". Of course, these concepts could then be wonderfully transferred to the new yacht. In general, however, they were no longer weekenders, but rather holiday cruisers - several weeks a year on board.
User groups: From racers to sailing families
Weekender
Experience has shown that most utilisation concepts for sailing boats can be regarded as weekenders if the boats can be reached by car. The use of the yacht will then include as many weekends as possible as well as one or two larger holiday trips per year. Assuming a good summer, i.e. a good season from May to August, perhaps mid-September, an average Baltic sailboat will be sailed on ten to twelve weekends. Then there are longer holidays, two to three one- or two-week trips. And that's about it.
Working from home is becoming increasingly popular. Since the coronavirus era, there has been a paradigm shift and a major rethink. Yachts are perfect places for internet-based remote working. Anyone who manages to set up remote work changes their utilisation concept and the yacht turns from a weekender into a boat office. The yacht is a perfect place for this type of work if it is equipped accordingly. This extends the period of use, although the boat then usually remains static at its berth and is hardly ever sailed. If boat office plays a role, this must of course be taken into account from the outset when purchasing and selecting a boat.
Holiday cruiser
A second large user group is holiday cruisers. These are yachts that are located further away from home. These are usually medium-sized to large yachts, which are then moored in the Mediterranean, primarily in the Adriatic, in Spain and sometimes also in Greece. Medium-sized yachts are yachts from 40 to 45 feet, i.e. large boats that require a correspondingly high initial investment.
Mistakes should be avoided when buying any boat. For yachts over 40 feet, however, and especially for boats that are a long way from home and therefore require a lot of travelling and maintenance costs, everything simply has to be perfect. The potential for frustration in the event of a bad purchase and all subsequent measures is very high for yachts that are far away.
For most of my customers, a boat like this was not their first. Almost all of them have fulfilled their dream of a big boat in the sea with this yacht, having previously practised on smaller boats - often inherited family boats from Mr Dad - in inland waters or the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, upgrading to a large yacht is a very special challenge in many respects. Let's take a look at the requirements profile of these holiday cruisers. Users of such a yacht have a connection to the area, either through local ownership or a long family holiday tradition. Very often the yacht is an addition to the holiday home. For me as a consultant, this was always quite easy, as the local customs and traditions were usually known - and the organisation of berths had usually already been taken care of by the interested party.
When using the yacht, you should aim to be on board for four to six weeks a year. That would be the minimum and, in my experience, is feasible for most owners of such a model. Many customers who drive this model buy their large yacht in preparation for their own retirement. The underlying idea is that you buy the boat now, three to five years before retirement or pension, and slowly prepare for life as a pensioner - you treat yourself to the yacht as a sweet treat, so to speak, as a foretaste of the sweet life in retirement, as a reward. I always liked these customers because they were so excited about their boats and their life as a skipper later on, because they were looking ahead. There was always something so positive about it.
The large boat will therefore only be used rarely at first after purchase, but then, when it's time to really get going with the leisure time, the teething troubles would be eliminated and the skipper and crew would already have a lot of experience in handling the yacht. Not the worst concept. With a yacht that is intended as a holiday cruiser, there are often fewer people on board. This is important for the boat's equipment and cabin layout later on. A paradox: the more frequently used weekenders, on which more people usually sail, are smaller, while the yachts that are used less frequently and by even fewer people are usually larger.
Racer
And finally, there are the regatta sailors, the smallest of the customer groups, but one that should not be underestimated. Some people used to sail Lasers or other types of dinghy in regattas as a child or teenager in a sailing club and later find themselves once again favoured by the idea of buying a sporty boat to compete with others in the many clubs or at the countless regattas. The single-handed and double-handed racing scene is booming - especially in Northern Europe, but also in the Mediterranean. Events such as the Silverrudder, the Vegvisir Race, but also classics such as Run Skagen, Rund um den Bodensee and many others are often sold out within hours.
There are also very attractive boats for ambitious sailors from the large series manufacturers. Yachts such as the Dehler 30 OD, the SunFast 30 OD, the boats from J or Pogo can be seriously trimmed for total racing use with the ambition to win. And there are sporty yachts that offer really nice cruising and comfort qualities. For example, the Beneteau Seascape/First range or X-Yachts and so on. Racers can therefore also be family yachts and therefore fall into the weekender or holiday cruiser category.
The category of small, trailerable boats up to a maximum of 27 or 30 feet should not be underestimated. They are mobile and therefore extend the range of locations immensely. A regatta in the Baltic Sea this week, a family weekend in the Venice lagoon next month and then on to Croatia for a single-handed regatta - that's no problem at all. Finding winter storage is easy: park the trailer behind the barn at the farmer's for a small fee, cover it with a tarpaulin and you're done. Or even better, in your own garden. However, when buying a trailer boat, make sure that your own car can and may pull the boat.
When it comes to the sporting requirements profile, the events are of course the driver. Anyone who is interested in the racing scene and therefore wants to buy a boat specifically to sail regattas will have requirements for their boat in terms of class rules, club rules or yardstick and will know which regattas and races they would like to sail.
Sabbatical and Sailing Families
Another customer group with special requirement profiles are mostly young families, often with newborns or small children, who want to take a boat sabbatical. Many young couples, but also middle-aged people, take a sailing sabbatical in their professional lives. They are then faced with the great challenge of having to consider not only the boat's equipment, but also the very short and limited period of use of the yacht.
The sabbatical is usually a longer sea voyage, not a weekend or holiday cruise. The top destination for one to two-year sabbaticals is the Mediterranean. Here too, Greece's numerous cruising grounds are at the top of the list. The reason is simple: countless destinations that you can head for - but with the security of being in the EU, with all the amenities, a quick connection home if you have to return, but still the feeling of being far away.
The northern Baltic Sea is just as rich, but more demanding in terms of weather and still more of an insider tip. For many sailors, myself included, the Swedish archipelago and especially the Baltic north from Finland are the most beautiful sailing areas in the world. An extensive round the Baltic Sea can feel like a round-the-world trip for the crew. They have the feeling of being far away from home and embarking on a great adventure - even though they are within safe reach of civilisation. Family crews with small children in particular like to choose this option for health reasons.
Others go on a real long voyage to more distant destinations. A tour of the Canary Islands is much more demanding and exotic from a nautical point of view, and some combine this with Madeira or a trip to the Azores. The classic Atlantic crossing is also feasible in one year, although the return journey via the far more demanding northern route often proves to be a major challenge and test. Nevertheless, an Atlantic round trip can be completed in one year, including the Caribbean, New York and a triumphant return.
The problem with choosing a yacht for such a sabbatical is as follows: You need a boat on which the crew can live and which is also capable of mastering the challenges of ocean sailing and everything that goes with it. This starts with the size of the boat and extends to the basic technical equipment and details. You will need to take equipment and clothes for all seasons, bicycles, SUP, dinghy and so on. All of this requires storage space, which is why the boats for such trips are usually over 40 feet.
I know of many examples of couples' sabbaticals with one or two small children on smaller boats. 36 feet, even 30 feet. In my opinion, you pay for this with too many compromises, and often the comfort and thus the atmosphere on board suffers. A dream can turn into a nightmare.
Sabbatical sailors therefore usually buy second-hand yachts. The cost-benefit calculation for a large, comfortable and seaworthy new yacht that is only used intensively for one or two years does not work out for most people. Selling a second-hand yacht after this time limits the financial losses considerably and of course reduces the initial budget enormously. An ocean-going yacht for a long voyage has at least 45 feet. The size of the ship is initially simply a question of safety. The larger the floating platform, the more stable, faster and therefore safer it is.
On the open ocean, sooner or later you also have to face unpleasant weather systems. While you are always in a safe harbour within a few hours on the Baltic or Mediterranean, this is not possible on the ocean. Heavy weather will therefore certainly be an issue when travelling around the world. And with it, ship characteristics such as average speed, stability, capsize curve and the like. A yacht that achieves a distance of 180 nautical miles, i.e. an average of 7.5 knots, enables completely different weather routing than a boat that reaches its maximum at 5 knots.
Anyone going on a long voyage also needs storage space, storage space, storage space and more storage space. The spare parts, spare sails, equipment and clothes alone will take on enormous proportions for such a trip - all the more so the more crew members are on board. If you are sailing with one or two children, the recommended boat size, which offers enough cabin or sleeping space as well as sufficient storage space, should not be less than 50 feet.
Delimitation and assessment
The boundaries between the requirement profiles are not always totally rigid or even unchangeable. In my customer portfolio, for example, there are owners who have trimmed their holiday cruisers for performance. Or owners who have developed from the weekender segment to holiday cruisers. It is important to realistically assess your own options before making a purchase. That the buyer discusses the use of the future yacht honestly and objectively with himself and all those involved - and also does some rough calculations.
Does the budget match the requirements profile? Are the costs of travelling to and from the destination really worth putting the boat in the area of your dreams, or do you start close to home first? How much time do you realistically want and are you able to spend on board? This is very important, because clearly formulating what you want and can do - and what you can't - will prevent you from getting the wrong advice, falling into traps and ultimately making the wrong purchase.
Good advice when buying a boat
It is very difficult, perhaps even one of the most difficult things in buying a boat at all, to develop a requirements profile for your own yacht - especially if it is your first boat. Difficulties with this are completely normal, and in my experience at least half of all boat owners do not have the right boat. If you talk to owners in the marina who have owned a new yacht for two or three seasons, you will find that hardly anyone says they are one hundred per cent satisfied with their choice of boat.
In my view, first-time buyers in particular still live too much in the idealised sailing world created by the shipyards' marketing. They have hardly any practical experience, not with new boats anyway, and are often attached to an ideal that consists of many plans, intentions and assumptions. The actual requirement profile often differs from what they had in mind when they bought the yacht. In the end, you are only deceiving yourself, and you may end up with a boat that doesn't fit and in most cases you will have paid far too much money for it.
A good boat dealer can be recognised by the fact that he talks very intensively with the customer about his requirements profile, especially at the beginning of the consultation. And that he scrutinises them critically. Dubious boat consultants hardly ask any questions, accept any idea, no matter how absurd, and only want to sell.
Buying a boat: dream yacht versus reality
Boat size is a status symbol like no other attribute. Even more so than the brand and type of yacht. When sailors talk about their boats, the size is usually mentioned straight away. And it is highly likely that prospective buyers already have a more or less clear idea of how big the new boat should be. More than almost any other characteristic of a yacht, boat size seems to be a characteristic that most sailors think they can define with certainty. And they are often right about this for themselves. Many - most, I would say - end up buying boats in precisely this size.
My experience with the majority of boat buyers is that, as a yacht consultant, it feels like you can advise in almost any direction and also change or influence preconceived opinions - but the boat size itself is rarely or hardly ever changed. Even if the customers had obviously signed for a yacht that was far too big, they had to buy the size they wanted, there was no getting round that.
Value retention and resale
It makes perfect sense to think about the value and even the resale while you are still considering what kind of boat to buy. Because, of course, the moment will come when - for whatever reason - the yacht is put up for sale again. The aim is then to sell it quickly at a high price. This means that you should invest in a boat that has a low depreciation rate.
Boats are generally always subject to a more or less strong decline in value and are therefore not suitable as an investment. However, there are of course nuances that are important to consider or at least to know when buying. As with cars, there are such and such brands. As a general rule, the more widespread a brand or type of boat is, the greater the loss in value. However, the greater the chance of selling the boat again quickly. This rule of thumb therefore applies to all major series manufacturers: Bavaria, Beneteau, Jeanneau, Hanse and Dufour.
Accordingly, it is also clear that smaller manufacturers, more exclusive brands and more specialised yachts appeal to a smaller customer base and are therefore more difficult to sell, but are usually more stable in value and more expensive. These include yachts such as Grand Soleil, Hallberg-Rassy, J/Boats and X-Yachts. I would also include everything in the direction of luxury brands, specialised performance manufacturers and blue water sailing.
The decision in favour of a certain brand and a certain type is therefore decisive for the resale value and the chance of resale. In principle, you can't go wrong with yachts from the major series manufacturers. Depending on the brand, however, there are some areas of specialisation. For example, the major French brands are naturally in the majority in France and the Mediterranean, while brands such as Bavaria, Hanse and Dehler tend to be more popular in northern European areas.
Depreciation after the boat purchase
Yachts generally always lose value first. It can be assumed that a boat loses 30 per cent of its value immediately after delivery, when the first foot is set on deck. So the first season hurts the most. The yacht is immediately considered a second-hand boat and is devalued. But don't worry, it doesn't go down that steeply after that. This is because the value then stabilises and only falls slowly. Now it depends on how good the condition of the boat is.
Yachts in the second year after delivery still have an active warranty, and yachts less than three to five years old should still have some active warranties for certain equipment. Active warranties and guarantees are good resale arguments and thus have a value-stabilising effect.
Unfortunately, there is no universal formula for estimating the value of a yacht, as the factors mentioned vary so much. In general, however, it can be said that a standard boat will not fall in value significantly after 10 to 15 years - with appropriate maintenance, good treatment and care, of course.
Diagnosis: Foot disease
I would like to finish by warning you about a disease that affects 99 per cent of all sailors: foot disease. The symptoms of this ailment manifest themselves in the owner suddenly and very painfully having 10 feet too little on the dock. The onset of the first symptoms can be diagnosed in the first or second season with the new boat.
In the case of foot disease, a steadily worsening course is to be expected, which leads to a constant, ever-burning, irrepressible longing for a new, larger boat in many victims of this insidious disease. The result is incessant talk about it, bookmarking all the websites relating to the new boat and visits to trade fairs with hours spent on board the larger boat.
Many sufferers can never be cured - they can only be cured if they push back the foot disease over time through stoic calm and composure or, usually after three to five years, get those same 10 missing feet by buying new ones.
About the author: Lars Reisberg
After a career in various advertising agencies, Lars Reisberg worked as a marketing and sales manager for a boat dealer and most recently sold 100 yachts himself in around three years. He recorded his experiences in a book that will be published soon. Today, Reisberg works as a freelance content specialist for clients in the boating industry. Together with his two children and friends, Reisberg will soon be sailing on his new yacht, which is 10 feet longer than his old one.
