Buyer’s guideThe right boat starts with the right programme.
Buying a boat, the right way
Compare beyond the asking price
Buying a new or used boat is not just about the model and the price. Anticipate real use, the berth, upkeep, insurance, fuel and the equipment you cannot do without.
Define your sailing
Day trips, fishing, racing, cruising or living aboard.
Work out the full budget
Purchase, berth, upkeep, fuel, insurance and winter storage.
Check the boat
History, papers, technical survey and sea trial.
01 · The programme
The programme comes before the model
A boat is chosen by what you will do with her, not by her name. The programme drives the length, the hull, the engine and the number of berths, and the length in turn drives the marina berth, the licence and the annual cost. The same budget buys a very different boat depending on whether you go out for the day or sleep aboard.
The day out
A clear deck, a sunpad, a bathing ladder. Open boats and RIBs are made for this: you leave quickly, you are back in the evening, servicing stays simple.
Fishing
A clear working deck aft, stowage, a hull that takes a chop and an engine that is easy at low revs. A wheelhouse shelters you when the day starts early.
Weekends aboard
A proper berth, a galley corner, a separate heads. That is the cabin boat, and that is where insulation, ventilation and fresh water become criteria.
Cruising
Range, living volume and a hull that takes weather. Flybridge, cruising yacht or catamaran: the choice is made on the speed you want and on running costs.
02 · The budget
The purchase price is not the budget
The asking price is the starting point. What decides peace of mind is what comes back every year. These figures can be worked out before buying, marina by marina and model by model, they vary a great deal from one coastline to another.
The berth
Paid yearly, based on length and beam. It does not transfer with the boat: the marina allocates it, with its own rules and often a waiting list.
Routine servicing
Haul-out and antifouling, anodes, oil changes, engine servicing, winter storage, relaunch. A well-kept boat costs regularly; a neglected one costs all at once.
Fuel
It is worked out per hour under way, not per litre: consumption at cruising speed, multiplied by the hours you will really do in a year.
Insurance and equipment
Insurance depends on value, programme and area. Required safety equipment depends on how far offshore you sail.
03 · The check
What to check before signing
A used boat is judged on three things: her paperwork, her history and how she behaves at sea. All three are looked at before the offer, not after.
The paperwork
Registration document or navigation title, circulation card, purchase invoice or previous bill of sale. The hull number (HIN) on the transom must match the title.
The history
Service invoices tell the boat’s life better than any description: engine hours, parts replaced, winter storage, damage repaired.
The inspection
Hull and underwater body, deck and hardware, water and electrical circuits, electronics. On a RIB, the tubes and their seams; on a sailing boat, the sails, the rig and the keel.
The sea trial
Cold start, revs under load, how she holds a course, vibration, harbour manoeuvres. That is the only moment a boat tells the truth. On a significant purchase, an independent survey before signing is the norm.
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Browse the boats for sale, or describe the one you are looking for: type, size, programme, area.