Member Article

Purchasing a yacht should be a pleasurable experience given that the craft in question is most likely to be used for the owner’s leisure pursuits. Yachts, however, whether they are second-hand, new, large or small, have one thing in common. They are expensive. However, many purchasers whether they are paying £10,000 or £1,000,000 are sometimes less cautious than perhaps they should be when buying what is in effect a “toy”. The leisure industry has historically, by its very nature, organised itself along fairly informal lines and that is shown in agreements to buy yachts, with many folk, and even yacht brokers, not using any proper form of agreement. This is something that is slowly changing mainly because of the advent of new regulations pertaining to yachts and in particular yachts for commercial charter, and also because, as the prices of these luxury items increase, the legal ramifications of something going wrong becomes more prevalent. What then are the important points a purchaser should consider when buying a new or used yacht and what are the pitfalls the unwary can fall into? The New Yacht – This should be a fairly straightforward process, from viewing the yacht in much the same way as you would view a new car, making a decision to purchase and then entering into agreement with the builder or distributor. Ownership of the boat is not in dispute but the process can be more complex if one is purchasing the yacht to order rather than buying a stock or production boat, for instance a Beneteau is in effect “off the shelf” rather than built to order.