After-survey negotiations are a difficult and trying job for everyone involved, from the yacht broker to the buyer and seller.  Why?  Because buyers and sellers often lose sight of the fact that every yacht-no matter the condition-has a value.  And determining what that value is…well, that is where the friction comes in.

Inexperienced buyers might claim that a catamaran “failed survey,” reject it and end up back on the market. In truth, very few yachts actually fail survey unless they are salvage jobs. And if they don’t fail, what happens? They just finish up the survey process with a host of problems or issues, nearly always repairable or correctable-but at what cost?

BRISTOL VALUE

I always counsel buyers of yachts to first establish the “Bristol value” of any catamaran brand or model they are considering. In other words, if you were in love with, say, a 2007 Lagoon 440, what is the most someone would ever pay for such a boat with the same equipment and engine hours, were it maintained by the most fastidious owner imaginable? If the value of this Bristol Lagoon 440 is $500,000 in the current market, you will obviously want to pay less for a 2007 that is rated less than Bristol. But how much less? First, you need to calculate what it would take to correct the defects to make her as close to a 10 as possible, then subtract those costs from $500,000. This is an inexact process of course, but a very worthy one to undertake before you decide to accept a boat, flat out reject a boat, or even accept a boat with conditions and price reductions. That said, what it costs one sailor to refit a boat can vary widely, and the location of the repairs can also play a role here. Repainting a yacht in New England is considerably more costly than doing so, for example, in Trinidad.

Here is the sad truth: very few brokers or surveyors are equipped to establish the “Bristol value” of a given yacht unless they specialize in that type of yacht. The greatest value a specialist broker brings to the table in any yacht transaction is the depth of his or her understanding of market values. This is largely why The Multihull Company sells only multihulls and does not list monohulls, powerboats or sport fishing boats. TMC brokers have very little idea what those sorts of crafts are worth, or what issues and problems arise with the various brands for sale. Brokers who list and sell “anything that floats,”or what I have come to call “location brokers,” simply do not have the hands-on expertise or understanding of market values that a specialist broker can provide. They most certainly have no business attempting to represent someone as a “buyer’s broker,” yet we see it occurring more and more these days. Sadly, when one of these sorts of brokers comes to buy a boat from one of TMC’s sellers, we know in advance that he or she will be ill equipped to assist the buyer if after-survey negotiations prove necessary. And they nearly always do.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

If a buyer decides to purchase a 15-year-old catamaran and expects a perfect survey, his expectations are already well out of line. Similarly, if a buyer decides to buy a later model ex-charter cat because that is what he can afford, he should not expect to have the sort of survey that would arise from, say, a four-year-old boat owned by a retired airline pilot. The hardest task for any yacht broker is to sell very old or well-used yachts that have not been properly taken care of. Sure, they sell for a lot less money, but there is a very good reason for those low prices. No broker, I assure you, ever wants to see a client purchase a yacht that will constantly drive him crazy or cost him far more to sustain and maintain that he anticipated. That said, well-used catamarans can and often are a good value for the right sort of buyer. Sometimes this has less to do with their financial situation than their tolerance for small problems and competency to repair things by themselves.

In my experience, there are three general types of surveys:

1. THE NEAR PERFECT SURVEY. The least common, but most refreshing, surveys occur on boats that are usually less than seven years old and have been fastidiously maintained by a private owner. During the course of the survey, almost everything works and the surveyor is struggling to find a problem of any real merit to report. When this sort of survey occurs, the yacht is generally accepted “as is” with perhaps only a minor request. She may not be Bristol in every respect, but she is an 8 to 10 on the condition scale.

2. THE AVERAGE SURVEY. The most common survey is a survey that reveals no real serious structural problems, but a host of little things here and there that add up-a radar system that is not working, an autopilot off track, a loose rudder bearing, a problem with one of the fridges, and on and on. This boat is a 5 to 7 on the condition scale.

3. THE BAD SURVEY. Very seldom do they arise-and they usually come as a surprise to all-but the bad survey is a yacht that has relatively large areas of delamination in the hulls, large areas of moisture incursion in the core, cracked bulkheads or mast base compression. And of course, sometimes the engines and generator are clearly found to be at the end of their lives. If the problems found were not structural, it is pretty easy to place a price tag on the needed repairs, and sometimes it is still worth moving ahead with a purchase-if the price of the yacht is negotiated down enough to enable proper repairs. But if real structural problems arise, I generally prefer that my clients just walk away. This boat is a 3 to 5 on the condition scale.

REPAIRS AND CREDITS

After every survey, there are generally always a few things that are not operating well or operating at all. As a general rule, I believe it is the responsibility of the seller to either repair and/or credit a buyer for things that were on the inventory but which are not working. If the seller discloses such inoperable things in advance of the signing of a contract, that is a different story. There are two ways to deal with these “deficiencies”or inoperable items.

First, the seller may agree to prove them operational, at his or her expense, prior to closing. Alternately, the seller may credit the buyer for the replacement of the item or items so he can repair and/or replace them himself. Either option is fine, but I have generally found it is much cleaner and easier to settle on a credit off the price of the yacht so the buyer can repair it as he or she wishes. Which path is taken depends upon the position of the buyer and seller.

Sadly, nobody can ever predict how a seller or buyer will behave after a survey. Many sellers will only agree to repair things and never offer a credit. Others will do neither. I always caution buyers that you cannot and should not expect a seller to adjust the price of his boat after a survey. In fact, in many countries, price adjustments never occur. No broker can entirely mitigate the risk of an intransigent buyer or seller. But here again, having a clear understanding of the value of the yacht is absolutely vital to securing an agreement.

One problem I have found that occurs regularly in after-survey negotiations is that buyers often focus on cosmetic things that are more a part of normal wear and tear than real defects in a boat. If they are buying a 10-year-old catamaran, they must expect she will not show as new. Another issue that comes up is the repair or replacement of broken gear. Take, for example, a radar system that is inoperative on a 10-year-old boat. If the seller agrees to try to repair it, but later finds it is broken and must be replaced, is the buyer entitled to a new radar? If he was buying a new or near new boat, I would probably say yes. But on a used boat, some factor of depreciation must be used. I have tried to adopt what I call the 7% rule. I depreciate marine items that must be replaced on a boat 7% per year. Meaning a buyer would get a 30% credit toward the purchase of new radar if it were indeed the case that the 10-year-old radar had to replaced. This only works when the buyer and seller agree up front to such a depreciation method. And it again comes back to the same issue: If the seller has placed his boat under contract at what he believes is a fantastic price, he is generally not going to be receptive to offering credits or repairs after a survey.

KEEPING THE PEACE

As I said before, what really leads to problems after a survey is a gap in perception between a buyer and seller over what the boat is worth “in the condition it is in.” That, I am afraid, is where the broker must step into the treacherous waters of advising both the buyer and the seller of what he feels is fair and reasonable. Usually, if you have rational gentlemen and gentlewomen on both sides, most problems can be resolved. But I have sold enough yachts over the years to tell you that many deals break down over an unrealistic demand from a buyer, or an unrealistic refusal from a seller. And sadly, it is most certainly the case that some people were trained to believe there are no win/win situations in life, so you had better always be the winner and the other guy the loser. While I do not agree with this philosophy, I encounter it often enough to know that unpleasant after-survey discussions will always be a part of the business. The best I can do is listen, arbitrate, and hope for a solution both buyer and seller can live with.

A good yacht broker, in the end, is a good arbitrator. Hopefully he has enough experience with the yachts he is selling or buying to have a handle on what a yacht in X condition is worth after a survey, repaired or not. He may then step in and craft up a terms of acceptance everyone can live with.

That said, sometimes a yacht should simply be rejected. If it has serious structural issues, or such a wide range of problems that the seller refuses to address, it may be best to walk away. In most instances, yachts are accepted with a range of provisions. Seller is to repair x and x, or seller is to credit buyer with x amount to make repairs himself. It can be a time consuming process for all parties to arrive at a resolution, but it is well worth the time. No buyer wins when he pays for a survey and haul and rejects a yacht, nor does a seller or broker win for having to go through it. Failed deals are a loss for all.

For any yacht broker, buyer and the seller, the completion of acceptance is always a relief, a happy time for all. Now they can move on to the steps of closing the deal and obtaining insurance and documentation!

FOURTEEN THINGS YOU SHOULD DO TO SELL YOUR BOAT QUICKLY AT BEST POSSIBLE PRICE

By Phillip Berman and Andrew Holland

Every sailor who calls a brokerage company to list their yacht for sale has the same agenda – sell my boat for the highest possible price in the shortest possible time with the least amount of hassle.

With that common theme comes a common range of mistakes that work against the seller’s best interests. Here are fourteen things you should do to sell your boat quickly and still fetch the best price:

1. Hire an Expert Broker

Years in yacht sales have taught me that good brokers sell boats, weak ones do not. As I have managed many brokers over the years at my own company, it is evident to me that yacht brokering is a profession that requires a wide range of skill sets to perform with success. Those skill sets are normally obtained over years of apprenticeship, but often through the aegis of professional organizations such as The Yacht Brokers Association of America, the Florida Yacht Brokers Association or the California Yacht Brokers Association. Any truly successful North American yacht broker will be licensed and bonded in either Florida or California, and likely carry the Certified Professional Yacht Broker credential from the Yacht Brokers Association of America.

There certainly is no question that you really should be taking advice from a broker who is in the market on a daily basis selling boats just like the one you are trying to sell. Familiarity matters because a broker who can’t confidently advise you on pricing, or a potential buyer’s sailing requirements is crippled when it comes to the final moments of a deal as most hinge on a buyer’s and seller’s belief they are entering into a fair deal.

As yacht sales are now a totally global business, you also want a broker who is working at a company that employs a wide range of marketing messages globally – boat show presentations, print, online, and social media, etc. Check the broker’s web presence and MLS listings. You can also check their website traffic rankings through www.alexa.com to make sure your yacht has the best exposure to clients. If the brokerage you are working with comes up consistently at the top pages of the major search engines without having to pay for it you can be assured they are selling a lot of yachts annually.

Make sure your listing agent has a highly professional assistant and a strong back shop that can reach him or field calls on his or her behalf. Also confirm that your broker is a part of a skilled brokerage team that can assist him when he or she is out of the office. Successful brokers are travelling often to attend surveys and sea trials so they need an expert team to support when they are away from the office.

Of course, ideally, you will have good chemistry with your yacht broker; enjoy him or her, as you will be spending a considerable amount of time together on the phone, in emails, and during showings or sea trials. There is no reason at all that the process of selling your boat needs to be painful and you might as well make sure your broker is someone you like and enjoy.

2. Price Your Boat To Sell

If you price your boat too high she will not sell and in fact, over time, as she sits on the market, will get harder and harder to sell at any price. A professional yacht broker should provide you with a reasoned and very careful report of recent sold figures for boats such as yours, how they differed, and why they sold for what they sold for. He should offer you his advice on what is a proper retail price for your boat in the current market based on her condition, equipment, year, configuration, and location.

Many sellers wrongly assume that every upgrade they have made to their yacht adds value to it but, sadly, this is generally not the case. While there are many items that do in fact add value to your boat for resale they seldom fetch back what they cost to purchase or install.

In the end, the very most important factor in the sale of any yacht is her price, overall cosmetic condition inside and out, her interior configuration, location, and mechanical condition.

3. Locate Your Boat Where She is Easy To Show and Sell

How fast your boat sells is most certainly tied largely to her price and condition. But her location can also play a major role in how fast she sells and for how much. In the United States, the hot spots for selling are the major yacht cities of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Annapolis, Newport, RI, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego. These cities are easy to get to and a buyer can often see several different yachts on the same visit. In the Caribbean we find that the Virgin Islands, St. Martin, and Grenada are the best locations to place our yachts for sale. In Europe the South of France and Turkey are the best locations to sell as they are easy to get to, warm enough year round to complete a sale, and have a wide range of large shipyards where a survey can be conducted.

That said a yacht can be sold almost anywhere. I am often amazed at the locations where we have sold catamarans over the years – a mud flat in Costa Rica, Tonga, Fiji, Singapore, Seychelles, Langakwi, North Africa, you name it. It is simply the case that whenever we have a yacht for sale where there are few other boats for a buyer to inspect on the same trip we tend only to get showings to buyers who already know the boat brand, know they want that brand, and are flying in because they want that boat and are simply confirming her condition or coming to do a proper survey.

While some sellers may balk at this, we always suggest that they allow us to produce a Catamaran Condition Index on their boat. With this report we rate her overall condition in advance of a survey. Many buyers half a world away may be very interested in your boat, but they have one lingering question: What condition is she really in?” Often the only thing that keeps a buyer from investing the time and money to fly to see a boat is this very simple question. Any brokerage firm that can honestly and accurately assist a buyer to answer it is miles ahead when it comes to crafting a sale. No buyer wants to take a long flight to learn that the boat he thought was a cream puff is really a very worn out charter boat.
One issue that really does present problems is when boats are located where it is not only hard to visit them, but hard to survey them if a buyer gets serious. Have you ever tried to haul a 30-foot catamaran in Tahiti? Cannot be done. Unless there are facilities to haul and survey your cat easily near her listing location selling her will be doubly complicated.

Finally, make sure your broker has a few sets of keys to your boat, or keys that are stored in a lockbox with a code your broker can share with others. Many buyers just pop up at the last minute wanting to see your boat without much notice to the broker – if we cannot get the keys, or have a problem getting the buyer onboard, it is always unfortunate. You want every showing of your boat you can possibly get. So make it as easy to organize as you possibly can.

4. Describe Your Boat In Careful Detail

Whether you list your boat for sale in a popular location for showings or an isolated one it is vital that you work with your broker to provide him with every scrap of information you have on her history, good and bad. Buyers want to know everything they can – engine hours, gen hours, brand of electronics, recent refit history, damage history, where you sailed her, who has owned her, charter history if any, etc, etc. Buyers are sitting on the internet at 3 am looking at boats all over the world and they want it all – so why not give it to them?

Getting very detailed information is even more vital if you are selling a lesser known brand or a custom or semi-custom boat. Who built it? Who designed it? How was it built? Can I stand up in the salon if I am over six feet tall? Etc. I often joke with my brokers about what I call the “Chinese Water Torture Treatment of Yacht Sales.” The emails that come in to us on a daily basis from buyers demanding the most arcane information are mind boggling at times. And often, of course, these buyers have no budget for this boat or will not be buying for many years, etc. They expect the answers, however, regardless of their seriousness or readiness to buy.

At our company we go to great pains to try and dig everything we can from our sellers, but often we find they do not take this process nearly as seriously as they should. We list all of our yachts to the public on our websites without asking visitors to register, to make it as easy for them to see if they like a boat or not, and to answer as many questions as we can in our presentations.

Many yacht brokerage companies force people to register for deeper information, in a sort of bait and switch effort to secure leads, but we believe this is not consumer friendly and aggravating. Frankly, if a buyer is self-shopping on the net, and not working with a buyer broker, we prefer he only contact us if he is serious about a boat – has very specific questions he must have answered to know if it is something he wants to take more seriously.

5. Photograph and Video Your Boat Properly

There is no question that we always want to have as many pictures as we can get of any yacht we have for sale, and whenever a boat is close to us, we take them ourselves, and also do a video walk-through. Hopefully these are pictures that do not show a boat that is cluttered with junk all over the place. While I personally believe that pictures are seldom a very good way to determine a boats condition, many people on the internet tend to think so. The requests we get for “more pictures please” is rather constant, so my advice at the start to any seller working with us is the more the merrier. Videos are even better as they give a very good idea of the flow of the yacht, her spaces, inside and out.

Sample Vessel Walkthrough of a Multihull Company Listing

6. Disclose Her Damage History, if any, Up Front With Your Broker and Potential Buyers

It boggles my mind how often yacht sellers fail to disclose to us their accident history, or sugarcoat them. I was recently involved in a sale where a few moments before I planned to send the seller an offer from a buyer I asked him very pointedly, “Before we go into a survey, is there anything you wish to disclose to me?” After a long pause he admitted he had had a serious collision with a barge and his entire port hull had to be rebuilt. What was he thinking not to have shared this with me and our buyer long before is hard to fathom.

Such “failure to disclose” is problematic for several reasons. The first is that any serious damage history is almost surely going to be revealed in a survey, and the moment this occurs the buyer is rightfully going to be very upset and question the integrity of the seller and the broker(s). Secondly, in North America, failing to disclose any damage that might impact the sea worthiness of a yacht, or her resale value, is a violation of the law. I believe this is why so many sellers who are selling damaged boats, or hurricane repair jobs, do it in the Southern islands of the Caribbean where the standards are lax and consumer protection laws quite limited. (Not to mention brokers who do not have licenses, or bonds, or dedicated escrow accounts.)

In short, honesty really is in the best policy when selling anything.

7. Be Certain Your Broker is Marketing Your Boat Properly On A Wide Range of Fronts

The current market for catamarans is a truly global market. Most of the yachts we sell, for example, can easily be delivered anywhere in the world on their own bottoms. As such, the marketing of yachts today has to be global, both in terms of print advertising and web advertising, as well as boat show presence. Many buyers have as long as a four-year buying cycle, coming to boat shows to see boats, meet brokers, decide which company or broker they are going to work with when buying a new or used catamaran.

Of course, all the marketing in the world is of little good if your broker does not respond to emails on a daily basis, respond to calls and emails on the weekends, etc. Buyers are now shopping 24/7 and they expect and demand immediate attention. When they want to see a boat, they want it organized. When they want information, they want it fast.

Whether a call comes in from France or Australia, your broker must be fluent in discussing the issues associated with buying the boat, flagging her, surveying her, getting her delivered, insured, etc. In the end most sales hinge primarily on the person who takes the calls for you, responds to inquiries, and attends to the questions and needs of the potential buyers in the most professional manner possible.

8. Show Your Boat Properly

The cheapest and best thing you can do to sell your boat is to have her professionally buffed, waxed and detailed, and to have her cleaned once a week until she sells. It continues to amaze me how few of our sellers do this, despite our protestations. The next most important thing to do is have your engine rooms detailed so that they are spotless, to have all rust removed from any parts and painted, and to repaint any bow or stern lockers that are dirty or mildewed. Finally, remove all the clutter you can from your boat, store only what you must on her, and have her looking spotless inside, with all beds made up nicely and with good ventilation running at all times. Cosmetics continue to matter more than anything else – frankly, a lot of buyers are simply not experienced enough to see past a boat that needs a good buff and wax and detail. Leave nothing to their imaginations – show her as well as she can show.

Make sure the heads are spotless, smell good and have no mildew or mold. Remove all clutter, clean out lockers. Cover up any holes in the bulkheads remaining after pictures were removed. Clean the bilges and ensure that they are dry, clean and odor-free.

We have seen time and time again a deal fall apart because a piece of equipment did not work and the seller knew in advance and did not tell his broker. If your water maker does not work, do not put the water maker on your equipment list. This means that the surveyor does not need to test it and the Buyer cannot complain that it does not work when it was never included in the sale in the first place.

9. Lower Your Price When You Are Not Getting Showings or Offers

Boats go market dead pretty fast. If you price your boat too high to start, or in a location that makes her hard to get showings, and your broker is not contacting you to discuss recent inquiries, she is either priced too high or you need to move her, very fast, to a location where she can sell more easily. Often when I am representing buyers I look very specifically for just such yachts for sale. Is she lying in a location that is hard to see her, or survey her? Has she been on the market a long time for this reason? If so, and the seller hasn’t gotten any offers, this is often a boat to offer on.

The long and the short is, if your boat isn’t selling, and it is not due to location, you need to lower her price until you start to get a lot of interest and some offers. It is always better to turn down offers that are too low than to get none at all.

I have always said, and say it still, “Every boat has a value, whether she is on top of a reef with a few winches to pull off or brand new off the shipyard floor. As long as she is priced properly for the current demand, she will sell.”

10. Negotiate Like a Gentleman When You Get an Offer

People getting involved with yacht sales often get a bit too personal over it all, and sometimes sellers get upset and behave badly, assuming all sorts of ill intent from a given buyer when there is none. And vice versa. Whenever I get into a sale I often have no idea how a buyer or seller will behave in the heat of negotiations. But if there is one thing I have learned it is this: anger is never helpful or profitable in business. If you get an offer, you accept it, reject it, or counter it with the terms and price you can live with. If you find an offer upsetting then simply refuse to counter it. If you are selling the boat for far less than you had hoped that is not the buyer’s fault. You may have paid too much for her. You may have added on options that are not bringing you back the money they cost to install and purchase. The market conditions may have deteriorated since you bought, etc.

The only advice I can give to sellers who are upset about the price they are getting for their boats is to ask them to recall all the months and or years they spent on her, what it would have cost them to charter her for this time, and to see and place a significant value on that. We buy boats for life enhancement, not as investments. Our boats are an investment of faith in many respects; they are tied to spiritual gifts not financial returns.

11. Prepare For The Survey Properly

Never allow your boat go into a survey unless you have had her props cleaned, her bottom recently cleaned, and all of her engine and generator fluids topped off, etc. If something is broken prior to a survey, and it needs to get fixed, fix it for goodness sakes or it will only show up as a negative in the survey. There is simply nothing more important than getting your boat as prepared as possible for a good survey. Many deals fall apart because a piece of equipment did not work and the seller knew in advance but did not tell his broker
Finally, change your oil. Replace all of your oil and fuel filters. Top off all of your fluids. Top up your batteries. Fix all leaks and repair all broken items on the inventory. Now is not the time to be cheap.

12. Attend the Survey With Your Broker and the Buyer

Problems always arise in a survey, you can count on it. But some problems arise in a survey because the brokers or the surveyor are not fully apprised of how to operate your boat. To my mind it is always a very good idea for the seller or his skipper to be present at a survey, to answer questions, explain operations, and to examine any potential defects the surveyor points out to the buyer. Should negotiations on a problem need to take place after the survey there is nothing more helpful than knowing exactly what the problem was and what the surveyor believes is the best way to correct it,

13. Respond to emails and requests for information from your broker, documentation agent, and lawyer when you prepare to close.

After you finally have an acceptance of yacht it is vital that you focus on the many details of transferring title with your broker. It is important that you remain in easy reach by phone, email, and courier express services, and often also in close range of notarial offices. I am often surprised at how many sellers we have take off to far flung places after the survey where it is nearly impossible for them to work closely with us in expediting the closing process.

14. Make the Process as Pleasant as Possible for Yourself and the New Owner of Your Boat

There is no reason at all why the process of a yacht sale should not be pleasant for both the buyer and seller and everyone involved. While there may be issues that arise that require serious negotiations, they should always be carried out in good faith and with a pleasant attitude. Yacht sales are very often emotionally charged events for both buyers and sellers. Keep it positive and a positive result is far more likely to occur.

Mistake #1: Searching for the largest, Cheapest Catamaran in your Budget

When shopping for a catamaran you should always buy the largest, most inexpensive boat, right? This is the very definition of a bargain, is it not?

Well, maybe not.

People tend to think bigger rather than smaller and feel confident that buying a lot more boat for a lot less money is smart. And in some ways this makes sense when shopping for a catamaran, as even very large cats are considerably smaller inside than a buyer’s home or apartment. From that perspective, more storage space can be alluring.  But adopting this mindset when shopping for the right cat is actually the worst way to purchase a vessel.

It is generally wiser to get the smallest and newest boat to serve your needs and budget. Consider the fact that big, inexpensive catamarans often need a substantial refit and will always cost more to sustain, maintain, insure, move, and slip. The older and cheaper a boat, the higher risk of a costly surprise lurking just around the corner, regardless of how professionally the boat was surveyed prior to purchase. Costs scale almost logarithmically with larger boats.

Mistake #2: Buying a Boat that Does Not Bring You Real Pleasure.

If you are a sailor and truly enjoy sailing, then buy a catamaran that really sails. As the late Harry Chaplin put it, “It’s got to be the goin’ not the getting there that’s good.” Sailing isn’t only about arriving at places; it’s about enjoying the time it takes to get to them. So you must both be proud of your boat and “connect with her” when you are sailing.

As a general rule, the larger and more comfortable boats are at anchor or the dock, the slower and less comfortable they will be underway. This is especially true with catamarans. What brings you the most pleasure, however, should never be forgotten when you decide which catamaran to buy. A great many buyers regret settling for a boat that had a lot space and volume, but that they never truly enjoyed sailing. On the other hand, do not sacrifice too much comfort for the sake of speed. Finding balance is absolutely vital if you want to remain happy with your purchase.

Mistake #3: Buying a Boat that is Uncomfortable.

If you’re buying a catamaran to live abroad, make sure you find one you actually enjoy living aboard. This sounds simple, but remember—the vessel must be a pleasure to cook on, to sleep on, or to simply sit upon while staring into the night sky.

So do you forget about mistake #2 now? No, but balancing these concerns is at the heart of making a good catamaran purchase decision. Balancing interior volume vs. performance is critical. Complicating the matter is the fact that there are usually more than a single head and heart weighing in on this decision. If one partner, for instance, wants to turn the boat into a home away from home and the other wants to dash from port to port with full wind in the sail, then those battling visions have to be reconciled to meet the reality of the marketplace. And before you get discouraged, recognize that it is possible to find the right boat—it just requires lots of meaningful discussion between all interested parties.

Mistake #4:  Getting the Wrong Catamaran for Your Voyaging Agenda

There is no ideal catamaran that is not all full of compromises, but there are certainly boats that are far more suited to the voyages you have in mind. Once the voyage and use is decided, ask some hard questions: Is the payload sufficient for the gear I want to carry? Are the accommodations adequate for what I need? Is she fast enough for my needs? Does she have the cruising range and speed under power for the types of trips I plane to take?

Remember: In order to know if a boat suits your needs, you must know exactly how you’ll use her. Any yacht broker will tell you that if he or she knows how a client is going to use a boat and what real budget is, it is infinitely easier to find the right boat and have a much happier customer. (Hint: Any yacht broker who is not asking you a lot of questions about who you are, how you will use your boat, etc, is more than likely a salesperson pushing what he has to sell, rather than an adviser who has your best interests at heart).

Mistake #5: Getting a Boat that is Too Much to Handle and Maintain

People who buy boats come with a wide range of competencies and talents. Some are quite skillful sailors and seaman who have great handling and navigational skills. Others have much to learn and are eager for the guidance. Still others are pretty good sailors, but not very strong mechanically and struggle to maintain their boats properly.

When buying a boat, it is critical to make sure you can handle it and to know that it will not prove too daunting to sail or maintain. Consider that near-coastal sailing and island-hopping are, to some extent, more demanding from a seamanship standpoint than blue water sailing. When you are day sailing or island-hopping, you may raise and lower your sails twice a day and make many maneuvers. When blue water sailing, you might raise your mainsail on day one and remain on the same tack and with the same reef for 10 or more days. To some extent, a blue water boat can and should be larger—it is not going to be so taxing or difficult to sail long distances and will give you a better turn of speed and more payload capacity than a smaller boat.

So, making sure you have a clear idea of your own skill sets or your plan to address any shortfalls is as critical as knowing where and how these skills will be applied during your journey. Take the time to be honest with yourself, your crew and others when assessing your talents. Then look at your dream agenda. Do they match? If not, what do you need to do to make certain they do? What do you need to adjust on your dream list in order to buy the yacht that best matches you? ever find of a boat of this brand and vintage, regardless of her year of build. Chances are such a boat cannot even be found.

But it is important to know, if such a boat did exist, what is the most someone would ever pay for her in the current market, in her current location? Then, when you go in search of a used boat you must subtract from that Bristol value all the things that keep her from being worth top dollar. Does she need new engines?  A new generator?

Mistake #6: Taking Boat Owner Web Blogs Too Seriously

We have all learned to apply some degree of skepticism to what we read on the Internet. But it is wise to also consider the old adages about buying and selling and loving and hating boats when trolling the web for insight on particular models, and even certain travel agendas.

The blogger may not have extensive boating experience or perhaps does not fully grasp the pros and cons of the particular catamaran model he or she bought. Perhaps there was a better boat for him or her than the one settled upon, but he or she may want to share some insight nonetheless. Be careful about reading too much into these often emotionally-charged declarations of love or hate. Of course, there is good information on blogs, but it is wise to blend it with more seasoned and exacting intelligence on the varieties of boats out there and then pair it with your own set of needs and talents when asking yourself what boat to buy.

Mistake #7: Failing to Establish the “Bristol” Value of the Used Catamaran

When you are shopping for a boat, you can look at images of a variety of models online and read the specifications of boats from all over the world. But the one thing you can’t do by looking at these images is to assess the value of the boat in the condition it is in right now. 

This value will vary enormously by brand, year, configuration and the condition and inventory of the yacht for sale, as well as the market conditions and currency valuations at the time of purchase. Every boat has a value, whether it is sitting upside down on top of a reef or resting at the dock after rolling out from the shipyard.

The trick when buying a used boat is to establish her “Bristol” value.

So what is a Bristol boat? A Bristol boat is a boat that has been maintained and operated by a perfectionist—perhaps a former military pilot or a nuclear safety engineer. In other words, it is the best possible example you could ever find of a boat of this brand and vintage, regardless of her year of build. Chances are such a boat cannot be found. But it is important to know, if such a boat did exist, what is the most someone would pay for her in the current market, in her current location? Then, when you go in search of a used boat you must subtract from that Bristol value all the things that keep her from being worth top dollar. Does she need new engines? A new generator? Fresh paint? New standing rigging? The list is long, and a wise buyer is able to take a calculator onto a boat and have a very good idea of what it might cost to take any boat he or she is interested in and put her into Bristol condition. Usually, such an analysis generally leads to four.

Conclusions:

Most used boats can’t be brought back into Bristol condition without far exceeding Bristol value, so beware of the fixer upper. If you can’t afford a Bristol boat, make sure you never put more money into the boat than her Bristol value, or else you will be upside down when you go to sell her.

If you lack the budget to get a really top condition boat, do not get drawn into the trap of thinking it has to be Bristol to do its job. In other words, if you can live with a boat that has some cosmetic issues, live with it. As long as she is seaworthy and serves your needs, she does not have to look brand new. Do not overinvest in your boat and it will pay off when you sell. If you are a perfectionist who simply cannot live with anything less than a perfect boat, a new boat may be better suited for you. (And that too will be imperfect, but that is another article!) The fact is, boats always need care and maintenance to sustain their value and seaworthiness. Be sure to properly balance each. Never forget that boats come in a range of qualities. There are BMWs and there are mid-level Fords, and you can’t take a lower-level yacht and make her a higher-level yacht without overspending. You need to know yourself well to avoid falling into the trap of trying to turn an average boat into something far nicer. In the end, budget will often be the determining factor here, and you are always left, to some extent, with the same choice: either get a smaller, higher quality yacht or a larger, lower quality yacht. Accept your choice and get down to the business of having fun.

Go to Part Two

Mistake #8: Miscalculating the Value of a Catamaran

Since establishing the Bristol value of a yacht is so vital to making a good purchasing decision, you need to get an accurate idea of what that value is. This has gotten a lot harder in the Internet age because there are many more vendors, more for-sale-by-owner sellers, and no central agency that is truly attempting to collect, verify and track prices.

Sadly, some brokers have a vested interest in sustaining the value of a brand they sell new, so they fail to report sales. This has made it very difficult for lenders, insurers and legitimate yacht brokers to say with confidence what a given boat is worth. For this reason, the best option is to find a broker who specializes in the types of boats you are interested in—someone who makes a market in such boats on a daily basis and who has a strong grasp on what is selling and for how much and why.

Of course, this must be a broker you can trust. Make sure you return your broker’s expertise with loyalty and it is likely that you will be happy with your purchase on multiple levels. Remember—it matters not what the boat is being offered for, but what the boat will sell for.

 Mistake #9: Thinking You’re Getting a Great Deal When You’re Not

To a certain extent, the price an owner or broker asks for a boat is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what the boat is worth, based on what the market is paying for that type of boat and year, in that location, in that market. So how do you judge a good deal from a bad one? Does it merely boil down to buying the boat for considerably less than the asking price?

A good deal can only be ascertained by three things: knowing the price of a Bristol example of that boat, knowing the defects that keep her from being Bristol, and knowing what it might cost to place her into Bristol condition. Getting the right assessment of the marketplace is critical to ensuring that you are truly “seeing” the value of the deal you just got.

Mistake #10: Flying all Over the Place Before Establishing General Condition and Price

Many buyers feel they have to see a boat up close before they can make an offer on it. It is not uncommon for potential buyers from Europe or even Australia to flying to buy a yacht without having first done some basic homework. This can be a costly leap of faith. The smarter thing to do is to have the desired yacht evaluated prior to a survey, either by a trusted broker or a local surveyor. This does not mean that you need a complete survey, but having a set of pictures and a careful list of visible defects is helpful.

Only after this is done should the potential buyer, in advance of a survey, make an offer on the boat pending inspection. There are several reasons to do this. First, you can find out what the seller is really prepared to sell for before you fly to see the boat. Second, you will have the boat under contract—and thus off the market—until you conduct a personal inspection and a survey that meets your satisfaction. And finally, this is the only risk-free way of knowing what a boat will sell for while being assured that it will be yours to buy if she is what you hope she is. It even allows you the time after the survey to insure it, document it, deliver it, etc.

Mistake #11: Failing to Understand the Brand’s Impact on its Resale Value

Culturally, buyers in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia buy “one-offs,” or custom boats, more frequently than American or European buyers. The upside to this is that local, customized boats will be easier to sell in New Zealand or Australia. The downside is that selling such a vessel in Europe or the U.S. will be harder and the downward pressure on the price will be extreme.

 Why? A custom boat will be quirky because whoever built it could not find their ideal boat from a production builder. The nuances that made it just right for the original owner often become troublesome for the next buyer. It takes a fully experienced professional to assess the value of a one-off boat. Also, one-off boats are often not built to any given survey code or standard. A one-off built in New Zealand, for example, is sometimes not built to either CE (European code) or ABYC (American code). When that boat goes up for sale in another part of the world, a surveyor will apply the codes of his classification society. This is often why one-offs are difficult to sell once they depart a specific region of the world.

 That said, the vast majority of very high-performance catamarans are often one-offs, or limited edition builds, simply because the buying pool is so small that builders cannot make them profitably for mass-production. But there is a big difference between selling a one-off from a well-known designer (i.e., Morrelli & Melvin, Mark Van Petegem and William Lauriot Prevost, Roger Hill, Alexander Simonisor Tony Grainger) and a little known designer or first-timer. It is also easier to sell a boat that was built at an established shipyard known for building high-quality custom catamarans on a limited scale. Take all this into consideration and draw on the council of a trusted advisor to make your decision.

Mistake #12: Choosing the Wrong Surveyor

A licensed yacht broker (sadly, most countries allow people to become brokers without examinations, licenses, bonds or codes of ethics) has a fiduciary responsibility to honorably and ethically reveal information that could be detrimental to a buyer before an offer is made on a yacht. But, it is sometimes the case that a seller will not fully disclose such information to the broker, or downplays the extent of a yacht’s damage history. For this reason, it is important that the buyer hire a competent surveyor to protect his interests by assessing the boat’s true condition. If the boat needs to meet a standard, say for insurance purposes, then the surveyor may need a specific qualification.

Ask yourself if your surveyor is experienced in the exact type of vessel you are considering before you hire him or her. After the survey, there will be a list of “issues” with the boat. This does not mean the boat should not be purchased, but the “issues” need to be considered in the final purchase price.

Ideally, you will find a surveyor who has experience surveying the type of boat you are buying. A good surveyor will hammer test the boat to check for potential areas of delamination, run a moisture meter to check for elevated readings in the yacht’s core, carefully inspect the bulkheads and thru-hull fittings, and test every mechanical device. If he is unsure of something or finds an issue of concern, he will sometimes recommend bringing in an expert for a second opinion, i.e. a rigging inspector or mechanic. On rare occasions, the surveyor may feel that some sort of invasive testing is required, and in this instance the seller will have to give permission to the buyer to do so.

Do not assume it is the job of the surveyor to do anything beyond finding problems. Many surveyors are simply not qualified to place an accurate value on a used yacht because they themselves may not have reliable sold figures upon which to base their evaluation. Sadly, some surveyors’ lead buyers to reject boats they should have bought, and to accept boats they shouldn’t. In the end, remember that every boat has a value in the condition it is in. When you can establish that value properly, you’ll assume far less risk.

 Mistake #13: Choosing a Broker Without Adequate Experience

 Boats are specialized vessels. Catamarans, fishing skiffs and monohulls fetch radically different prices in the used boat market. Make sure your broker primarily sells the type of boat you wish to buy, and verify the agent has dedicated broker escrow accounts, a solid reputation, licenses, insurance and bonding. A professional broker should be able to provide you with verifiable “sold” comparable figures for the type of boat you are considering and help you understand the current market before you make an offer. He or she can tell you what the range of value is for the boat you are considering.

A broker should also have each and every yacht pre-inspected and offer a written report before you estimate its value, make an offer or fly a long distance. Working with a real expert will make all the difference in the world. A good catamaran broker will refer sellers to other companies when they wish to sell a monohull or a power yacht, for instance, because he can’t add value for the seller or buyer when discussing such yachts.

Mistake #14: Failing to Relax into the Experience

When I first started working with buyers or couples setting off on their dream voyage, I thought I could tell who would be successful and who would struggle to adapt. But I was often surprised by the people who make a great success of their life as cruisers, and equally surprised by those who fail to get the most enjoyment from their adventure son the water. I think a lot of people fail to take it easy enough at first, to slowly build their confidence and competency. If you are sailing on a boat with a fearful crew or skipper, it is going to be very hard to enjoy yourself. How you start the journey, and how you acclimate your family and friends or spouse to the cruising life, will make all the difference.

In this regard, the islands of the Caribbean are truly an ideal place to start, with their consistent weather and winds, clear water, easy navigation, and plenty of safe harbors to tuck into when the weather gets nasty. So take it easy, allow your confidence to grow, and expand your horizons when you know you are ready.

Back to Part One

SHOPPING FOR A CATAMARAN ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE 6 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN CHOOSING A YACHT BROKER

IS THE BROKER YOU ARE CONSIDERING A TRUE EXPERT IN CATAMARANS OR TRIMARANS?

Many brokerage companies claim to offer “buyer brokerage” services, but their brokers are not Multihull experts. Any yacht broker who sells a powerboat one day and a single hulled sailboat the next cannot be a true “buyer broker.” At The Multihull Company every broker is a true expert – all we do, year-in and year-out, is sell catamarans and trimarans. We know the pros and cons of all the new and used cats on the market and have attended multihull surveys for years. We know the current market conditions for various catamarans and trimarans, as well as the most expert surveyors, lenders, insurers, and shipyards that specialize in multihulls.

IS THE BROKER YOU ARE CONSIDERING A WELL TRAINED, ETHICAL PROFESSIONAL?

At The Multihull Company our brokers are members of the Yacht Brokers Association of America and follow the strict code of ethical and professional conduct of YABA. In addition, several of our brokers have been certified with the CPYB (Certified Professional Yacht Broker), a credential which is awarded only to yacht brokers who have years of experience and have passed a rigorous three hour examination that covers every aspect of professional yacht brokering. To learn more about our expert staff of catamaran and trimaran experts, click here.

WILL MY ESCROW DEPOSIT REMAIN SECURE?

The Multihull Company holds dedicated escrow accounts in Florida and Pennsylvania. When you make a deposit on a yacht with The Multihull Company you do so with the security of knowing that, should you reject a yacht, your deposit will be returned instantly. Do not become one of the many buyer horror stories found on the internet – do not send a deposit to a broker overseas as you may never see those funds again. We work only with American contracts which can be enforced in American courts and with your deposit sitting safely in a dedicated American escrow account.

WILL THE BROKER I AM WORKING WITH ACTIVELY CO-BROKER ON MY BEHALF?

Many brokers and brokerage companies push clients into purchasing in-house listings. In our view, no broker or company can honorably serve a buyer if he is not actively exploring the wide range of Multihull listings that best suit his clients’ needs. Any broker that simply pushes buyers toward “in-house listings” is a salesman, not a yacht broker. Here at The Multihull Company we take pride in the fact that we are “old school” yacht brokers. We know that the strength and growth of our company rests with happy clients, which explains why 80% of our business over the past three years was generated through referrals.

WHO WILL ADVISE ME ON TAX, DOCUMENTATION, TITLING, AND IMPORTATION ISSUES?

In the Multihull business, a great many catamarans and trimarans are built abroad and sold abroad. While a yacht broker cannot offer you the final word on taxation or serve as your accountant, an experienced broker who conducts multiple offshore transactions each year has a wealth of information on how to properly flag and title yachts to avoid unnecessary taxes or duties and how to properly and safely handle the transfer of title.

IS THE BROKER A SKILLED NEGOTIATOR WHO HAS ATTENDED HUNDREDS OF SURVEYS?

One of the most difficult dimensions of yacht sales is frequently “after survey” negotiations. It takes enormous knowledge and skillful negotiating skills to bring buyers and sellers together. A good broker will smooth out the rough spots and find equitable solutions. A good broker will also tell a buyer when it is time to “walk away” from a boat or a seller and look for something else.

If you are in the habit of attending boat shows, as I am, it becomes obvious that most catamaran manufacturers would like you to believe they have created the perfect yacht. The general drift of their sales pitches is nearly always the same: “Plenty of room and safety for mom and the kids, loads of performance for dad.” Unfortunately, such hyperbole is not at all helpful when we are trying to decide which sort of catamaran is best for us. While choosing the right catamaran is a highly personal matter, most of us can avoid a serious buying blunder if we pay careful attention to the following ten commandments of catamaran buying:

Commandment #1

Thou shalt buy a multihull suited only for thy present needs—not future dreams

Because sailing is a romantic enterprise, it attracts a wide range of dreamers, myself included. The downside is that there is often an enormous gap between our dreams and the reality in which we find ourselves. Many people I speak with tell me they are planning to take a long-distance cruise. “When?” I ask. “Oh, as soon as I retire…I’d say in four or five years we’ll be headed for Tahiti.” Alas, the four or five years often stretch to 10. So there they find themselves sailing a large offshore yacht on the Chesapeake for 10 years. Sure, they may make it to Maine or the Bahamas from time to time, but the big offshore multihull is essentially underutilized on most weekend sailing excursions. A smaller and less seaworthy multihull would probably do the job just as well for a lot less expense.

Commandment #2

Thou must always remember that comfort at anchor will come at some expense to speed and comfort underway

At sailboat shows the catamarans sit peacefully at protected docks with fresh flowers on the saloon table, designer duvets on the beds and candles scenting the air. It is all about features, esthetics and price at the boat show. As I joke with my staff, “It’s about the Corian, not the core.” How big are the beds, the sinks, the showers, the galley these are the sorts of things most buyers focus on, particularly those who are new to boating. Forgotten is the fact that this 15,000- to 40,000-pound object has to be pushed through the water—preferably by the wind. While many buyers often tell me, “I don’t care about performance,” it isn’t long after they set to sea that they come to understand that the spacious, comfortable boat they fell in love with at the boat show is not so comfortable underway—and dreadfully slow. So think very, very carefully about your sailing agenda. Many lower cost, spacious catamarans are fabulous for sitting at anchor or puttering up and down the Caribbean or ICW, but there are likely much better choices for the voyager who intends to cross oceans or cover 1,000 or more miles a year.

Commandment #3

Thou shalt avoid buying a multihull until thou hast conducted a sea trial in heavy air

A two-hour demo sail on the Chesapeake Bay is a bad way to determine how your dream cat will sail when the barometer starts to plummet and you are too far from shore to run for cover. Yet most people buy sailboats—multihulls or otherwise—without sailing the boat in a stiff breeze or real seas. Yet until you sail a boat in a breeze and large waves you cannot adequately measure the quality of its reefing systems, rig and sails, or the way she handles under sail or power, etc. In large catamarans it is especially important to sail upwind for an hour or so in a stiff headwind to see how well she points—and how hard she pounds. Low bridge deck clearance or too much weight or too little beam can make sailing a catamaran upwind unpleasant. In some instances, if you are buying a well-known brand of multihull, you can learn the truth about her sailing characteristics from knowledgeable sailors or brokers. But I still highly recommend a heavy air sea trial. Heavy air never lies. Sometimes you can take a test charter on the catamaran brand you are considering in the Caribbean or South Pacific. If this is possible, it is a great way to learn exactly how the boat sails in varying conditions.

Commandment #4

If thou plans on serious cruising, or will often sail where beating upwind is necessary, thou shalt consider a catamaran with daggerboards

After sailing and racing multihulls for over 30 years I can say with absolute confidence that—all things being equal—trimarans and monohulls are quicker upwind than catamarans. They generally sail a good five to seven degrees higher. I can also say with equal confidence that a daggerboarded catamaran sails considerably faster and makes far less leeway upwind than a catamaran with keels. In fact, daggerboarded cats point nearly as high as most monohulls and sail much faster upwind. For many sailors up-wind performance is not a significant consideration. This is certainly so for those who place a catamaran in charter. In fact, catamarans with keels make better charter cats because you never have to worry about broken daggerboards. Keels also offer a good deal of protection for the rudders—another huge plus when your boat is regularly being sailed by novices. If you happen to cruise off the California coast, however, where Mexican waters are frequented, upwind performance is crucial. Sailing up the Baja shore-line is a long and arduous upwind slog. Similarly, if you are sailing on an extended cruise, excellent upwind sailing performance is beneficial for safety as well as personal comfort. Off wind speeds will also be higher on a daggerboarded cat due to reduced drag, steering will be more responsive and lively, and you will be able to reach shallower anchorages. The largest negative to daggerboards is that they are very costly to add to a catamaran and therefore few builders offer them, particularly the larger production builders who must sell more than half of their production into charter programs.

Commandment #5

Thou shalt carefully consider load capacity when buying a multihull

When a naval architect sets out to design a catamaran one of his chief goals is to design the narrowest possible hulls required to carry the intended load. If the hulls are wider than necessary, the boat will be slower than necessary. If the hulls are too narrow, the design will suffer dramatically in performance when the boat is overloaded because narrower, flat-sided hulls respond negatively to excess load. A designer who is working with a builder using the most advanced materials to shed overall construction weight (say, an epoxy Gunboat catamaran) will design considerably narrower hulls than he would for a builder using less costly, heavier building materials (say a Lagoon or a Robertson & Caine). Yet no matter what materials are chosen for the construction, the boat must be carefully designed to have the buoyancy required for the user’s load needs. In short, if you feel the need for televisions, microwaves, computers and scuba gear, be sure to get a multihull designed to handle this extra weight. If you want good sailing performance, however, you will most certainly need to spend more to purchase either a very light, high-tech catamaran, or a longer, narrower design to displace the greater loads you intend to carry. If performance is of no concern you can purchase a shorter, heavier, fatter-hulled cat at far less expense. As always, you must think very carefully about how you will be using your boat before you can make an intelligent decision.

Commandment #6

If thou hast just four to five weeks a year to sail, consider putting a catamaran into charter

There are many excellent catamaran owner charter programs on the market. Yet none of them make financial sense unless you have the time to use your boat at least four to five weeks a year. If you really can break away this often some charter programs are highly attractive.

Commandment #7

If thou must build a custom catamaran, thou must anticipate custom problems and custom expenses

I often get calls from men—it is almost always men—who are not satisfied with the range of choices from production builders in the catamaran market. Generally, these men are dear to my heart because they are passionate sailors who crave a level of sailing performance not offered by most builders. Yet I always caution such buyers that custom boats tend to create custom problems and generally end up costing far more time and money than the buyer ever anticipated. Sadly, when it comes time for them to sell their dream, the custom catamaran is often sold at a significant loss because the boat is unbranded and unusual—she was, after all, custom built because no builder felt there was a market large enough to place such a design in production. On the flip side, for those buying a used catamaran, custom catamarans and trimarans can be a fantastic bargain on the brokerage market.

Commandment #8

If thou cannot afford a new boat, beware of the fixer-upper

The majority of those I counsel woefully underestimate how much it costs to sustain, slip and repair a 40-foot plus catamaran. And nearly everyone—I mean everyone!—labors under the assumption they can “do a lot of the work myself.” If you are very handy, and have plenty of time on your hands, there is indeed some work you can do yourself—but a whole lot more you can’t. One courtly, retired client I worked with told me he was interested in buying a wonderful old Prout catamaran he saw listed in Florida. He wanted to add daggerboards to each hull, chop off the keels, upgrade the electronics, add new sails and paint her. The cost of the boat was $130,000. He reckoned he could get this done for about $20,000. “No way,” I protested. “It will cost $20,000 just to repaint her.” He thought he could add the daggerboards and trunks for about $5,000. I told him the boards alone would cost at least $5,000—and the trunks even more. I told him he was looking at a minimum of $50,000 to refit this boat properly. Even if he did most of the work himself (hundreds of hours) it would still cost $25,000. The fact is, when you have a beamy multihull that can only be hauled at a few select yards, your negotiating posture for services is pretty weak. If you need to ask “How Much” you are already in deep trouble. In short, be very careful when estimating refitting costs and the value of the fixed-up multihull on the used market. Often, a careful analysis of the facts shows that many people pay far too much for fixer-uppers. Hard won experience has taught me that the Bristol-condition yacht is nearly always the best way to go when buying a used catamaran.

Commandment #9

Thou shalt buy a multihull that is easy to sail

Raising and lowering a 900-square-foot mainsail, or reefing it in a blow, takes some energy—even with great reefing systems. Which means it may take a few crew members to use your boat—especially if you are headed off-shore. Do you really want to spend time sailing with inexperienced friends for crew (what if it gets nasty?), or experienced crew you hardly know? Believe me, it is best to find a multihull rigged for single or double handing. If you cannot sail it with your spouse or partner, your ability to enjoy sailing is severely crimped. In most instances, this means buying the smallest multihull you can find that suits your cruising needs and pocketbook. If you need a 45-foot plus cat it often means adding electric winches, dual furling headsails or perhaps a self-tacking jib.

Commandment #10

The faster thou can sail, the safer thou shall be

Speed is seldom given serious consideration as a safety factor, but it ought to be. Everyone wants to know if a boat can take a pounding, but seldom ask if a boat can avoid one. One of the great safety advantages of a multihull over a monohull (in addition to unsinkability) is that it can attain much higher speeds. And the faster you can sail, the less exposure you have to dangerous storms. In fact, with modern satellite communications and weather routing services, a performance catamaran that can pull 12 knots running before a storm can easily sail away from just about any sustained winds over 50 knots.
Unfortunately, many catamarans on the market today are very slow and made even slower because the bulk of them were rigged for the charter trade. These underpowered rigs are a major drawback for serious warm water cruisers because 70-percent of your sailing will be done in winds of 12 knots or less. To overcome this problem I highly recommend adding a bowsprit to carry a permanently mounted roller-furling screecher. This easily handled sail will boost your multi-hull’s sailing performance dramatically and there-fore greatly add to your safety if you need to reach or run away from bad weather. On longer passages the increased speed will also en-able you to carry less provisioning.

These 10 commandments are obviously general. There are exceptions to each of them. I simply hope they will generate a bit of deeper reflection that will spare at least a few prospective catamaran sailors from a bad experience or a costly mistake.

We all know that boats, unlike real estate, tend to depreciate. For those who are about to buy a catamaran, the question is: How much will it depreciate? Here at our brokerage firm it is pretty common for someone to call and ask, “How much am I going to lose over the next two years if I buy this boat?”

Alas, no honest broker could answer this question with deep conviction because a wide range of factors—always shifting and unpredictable—impact the resale value of used catamarans. Nevertheless, my experiences as a catamaran broker have given me a pretty clear picture of the most important issues that are currently impacting used catamaran values. They are currency fluctuations, condition, configuration, brand, new construction costs, and options that add value. Let’s discuss currency first, as it plays an especially powerful role in the catamaran market.

Currency Fluctuations

Since the majority of catamarans are built outside the U.S., and nearly 60 percent of them in France, the dollar/euro exchange rate plays a critical role influencing new and used catamaran values. When you buy a French built catamaran, you are to some extent making a euro play.

Certainly the cost of a new French cat dramatically impacts the value of used ones. For example, when the euro was very soft against the dollar three years ago, a Catana 431 could be bought new for a little under $500,000. Today that same boat costs at least 30 percent more if purchased new. As such, if you bought a Catana 431 several years ago you would be able to sell her today for close to what you purchased her for. The demand for the 431 remains strong and supply low. The cost of a new 431 is simply out of reach for many buyers so they must shift their attention to the brokerage market.

The same is so if you had bought a South African cat when the rand was weak against the dollar, as it also was four years ago. A used Voyage 430 or 440 has hardly depreciated over the past few years as the cost of getting a new one has gone up so much.

In short, if you think the dollar will get considerably stronger against the euro or the rand after you buy your new boat, you are taking a risk that depreciation will be higher than normal. You will, after all, be buying a depreciating currency. On the other hand, if you think the dollar will grow weaker after you buy a foreign built cat, getting her now could be a very wise decision if you are able to sell before the dollar bounces back. Right now, the prospects for the dollar over the next few years are not looking good. This month it softened to $1.50 to the euro, a mighty plunge over the past few years. This has created a bit of a feeding frenzy of foreign buyers coming to North America to purchase the larger, internationally branded cats on the brokerage market being sold in dollars.

Condition

I was talking with our Connecticut broker the other day, Tom Kintz, about this article and he laughed: “If you want to avoid depreciation take care of your boat.”

And Tom is certainly right. The surest and fastest way to see the value of your boat go downhill is to treat her poorly. Survey after survey indicates that a general failure to follow the most simple rules of yacht maintenance end up costing sellers a lot of money. Changing engine oil and filters, generator oil and filters, taking care of the sail drive oil, the seals on the sail drives, changing out the zincs…. Many of these most basic maintenance chores are overlooked by many sailors and it truly does impact resale in a very significant manner.

AnchoredBecause condition plays such a powerful role in yacht depreciation, and because most buyers recognize that a well cared for yacht is like a well cared for airplane, there is a powerful antipathy in the boat buying community towards purchasing anything that spent much time in bareboat charter. It is just assumed that an ex-charter boat is going to be pretty beat up. As such, if a boat goes into charter, even if it isn’t poorly cared for or abused, its resale value will instantly be negatively impacted.

I happen to believe that this general impression of charter boats is misguided. Boats are managed by a wide range of charter companies, and some of them do a much better job maintaining their fleets than others. Also, some boats get a lot more use in charter than others. There are plenty of very well maintained ex-charter boats on the market and often times an ex-charter boat can represent a pretty good value when buying a used catamaran. In the end, however, the true condition of a boat (chartered or non-chartered) cannot be ascertained until an objective surveyor has performed a rigid survey.

Configuration

The layout of the cat you buy will strongly impact her resale value. At the present time, the supply demand curve looks like this:

1. Highest Demand: Owner version catamarans that have never seen bareboat charter. True owner version boats, configured for personal rather than charter use, did not become popular until the end of the 90s. Right now an owner version cat will fetch considerably more money on the used market than any other configuration.

2. Second Highest Demand: Owner version catamarans that have seen light charter. The demand for an owner version often trumps the desire to avoid an ex-charter cat. In other words, if the price is right, most buyers these days will do anything to have that owner version—even if it was in charter.

3. Third Highest Demand: Four cabin, two head catamarans that have never seen charter are the next best thing to an owner version for most buyers. Many cats in the late 90s came in this sort of configuration and it is far more desirable on the aftermarket to have two central heads, which are much larger than four small heads.

4. Fourth Highest Demand: Four cabin, two head catamarans that have seen some charter. For the most part, as noted above, when a buyer hears charter he fears abuse.

5. Fifth Highest Demand: Because so many catamarans are sent into charter fleets there are always a lot of heavily used four cabin, four head boats on the market. Sadly, these boats are in low demand, high supply and tend to drag down the value of similar models that were never in charter or configured in either two head or owner version layouts. Fact is, the Internet shopper looking for that “bargain” cannot understand why an owner version of the same year as a charter version should fetch $40,000 to $80,000 more. As such, while he might really want a non-chartered boat, or an owner version, he cannot justify spending the extra money to get one—or simply cannot afford it. That said, when he goes to sell the four cabin, four head boat, his resale value will remain low as he will always compete with the latest “phased out” offerings from the larger charter outfits.

Brand

Brand is obviously a very important factor to consider when thinking about depreciation. When it comes to selling a used cat the great value of a well-known brand is that buyers do not have to fly to the Caribbean or Europe to decide if they like a Lagoon 410, or a Moorings 4500, or a Catana 471. As most catamaran buyers attend at least a few major shows prior to making a purchase, it is likely they will be familiar with the brands that are shown regularly. For this reason, I tell clients who want us to sell a used catamaran that is not well branded, or custom built, to please bring her to our Florida or Annapolis locations where she can be easily seen and shown.

At the present time, the strongest charter/cruising cat brands in North America, in no particular order, are as follows: Lagoon, Moorings (Robertson and Caine), Fountaine Pajot, Voyage, Gemini, and Manta. Each of these brands has a dedicated sales force, advertising and consistent boat show presence. For many years Privilege Catamarans had a strong North American presence, but they have not been showing catamarans here consistently for the past few years.

The strongest non-charter, performance cruising cat brands are Catana, Dolphin and Outremer. Maine Cat also has a new open-bridge deck cat that is certainly a real sailing catamaran. Buyers for these sorts of cats are equally concerned with how the boat sails as with how it lives at the dock or mooring. They tend to be more experienced yachtsmen who are converting from a monohull to a catamaran or upgrading from a previous catamaran. Few place their boats in charter and intend to do serious blue water voyaging. While the market is smaller for such catamarans (I estimate about 20 percent of the total catamaran market), the supply of used performance cruising cats is always a lot lower. True performance cats are never getting “phased out” of charter fleets in bulk. As such, resale value for used owner version Catanas, Outremers and Dolphins is generally very strong.

There really are only two production built super high-performance catamaran brands sold in North America at this time: The Gunboat from South Africa and the Dolphin 60 from Brazil. This dimension of the market can be likened to the Ferrari in the car market; there is a very small pool of buyers who will not be satisfied with anything but super high performance under sail. Of course there are always a wide range of custom-built cats on the market for the high performance buyer, including designs by Chris White, Ian Farrier and a host of Australian designers. Resale value on such “unbranded” yachts—which are built by a range of different builders—generally varies enormously as the quality of the build varies a great deal.

South African and Australian Brands

Other than Moorings/Robertson & Caine, Voyage, Dean and Gunboat, the bulk of the South African builders have, to date, not invested heavily in branding. They have, for the most part, sought to sell their boats factory direct to avoid the costs associated with establishing a serious dealer network and costly print advertising. This has led to somewhat inconsistent marketing, after-client care and fluctuating resale values on the used market.

This does not mean that there are not any good quality, modestly marketed and branded South African cats. St. Francis Marine has operated on a small scale for years. The same can be said for Admiral Yachts, Maxim Catamarans, Parlay Catamarans and Knynsa Catamarans.

Australian catamarans have never been able to make much of a dent in the North American market. Seawind is by far the most successful brand and they have shown their boats consistently the past few years at North American boat shows.

New Construction Costs

In addition to brand recognition, used boat prices are strongly influenced by new boat prices. Whenever new boat prices rise, used boat values are lifted. One thing that has strongly influenced new boat prices over the past two years, in addition to currency fluctuations, has been the rising cost of fiberglass, resin and foam, which are petroleum based. Raw material costs have gone up all the way around in the marine industry. As long as new construction costs keep soaring, used boats will depreciate less and a lot more slowly. And some will actually appreciate.

Options that Add Value

Many sellers assume that the more options you have on a boat, the more you will fetch for her when you sell. This is not always the case. When buying a new boat the less you option her, the less depreciation you will have over the first two years of ownership because the way the boat is configured will be to your taste, not someone else’s. A nearOverlooking Cats new or two-year-old boat placed on the used market will always compete with the new boats. If the new boat price does not rise substantially two years after you buy, many buyers will get a new boat the way they want it unless your catamaran is selling for at least 10 percent less.

The problem with the fully optioned boat, I have learned, is that new boat buyers seldom run the numbers as carefully as they should on what a truly well equipped new catamaran actually costs. If they see a year 2006 model for sale that has $80,000 of options and it is selling for just a bit more than a 2008, they still tend to gravitate toward the new model.

In a standard cruising cat from Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot, Moorings, etc., the trend has been for the boats to become more and more like homes. Many catamaran buyers today are first time yacht owners looking at their cats as second homes. They are more concerned with comfort at anchor than comfort and speed underway.

As such, the options that add the most value to these buyers are:

Upgraded engines—because these cats have keels and relatively full hulls, they do not perform as superbly upwind as a cat with daggerboards. As such, many of the owners simply prefer to motorsail upwind.
Upgraded refrigeration and freezer
Generator and air conditioning
Icemakers
In an owner version configuration, upgrades of electronics, radar and watermaker also add value to the boat when sold used.

You will get less value from:

Upgraded sails such as Spectra
Upgraded bowsprit and screecher
Solar panels and wind generator
Carbon mast and boom
Spectra rigging and halyards
Electric engines. The jury is out on this one; it is a lot safer from a resale standpoint to stick with diesels in my view.

In performance cruising cats you will get the most value from:

Efficient refrigeration
Top electronics and radar
Spinnakers and screechers
Solar panels and wind generators
Single sideband radios or satellite radios
Watermakers
Upgraded anchors and storm gear

You will get a bit less value from:

Full carbon rigs
Upgraded sails such as Spectra
Upgraded engine size
Air conditioning and generator

In Conclusion

All things being equal, I have found that a well branded cat typically will not sink in value much more than seven percent a year after the first two years of ownership. And maintenance costs will remain low for the first four to five years. Over the past three years most good catamarans have not depreciated at all in dollar terms due to the strength of the euro and rand, which have raised new boat prices and lifted brokerage prices.

I have also come to see that most well built cats never sink much below half their replacement value if they are maintained in good working order. In other words, a 1992 45-foot cat is seldom going to sell for much less than $200,000 unless she is really in need of a total refit. The problem, of course, is that while depreciation flatlines, maintenance spikes! I see far too many buyers make penny wise and pound foolish choices in this regard. They focus far too much on the entry price and never enough on the maintenance price and exit price.

At present the demand for catamarans is very high because people are now fully aware of the enormous advantages of a catamaran over a monohull for living aboard. Also, as gas prices climb, a number of buyers drawn to trawlers are looking to catamarans that motor and sail nicely at the typical speed of a trawler yet cost considerably less to buy and operate. While I cannot predict the future I believe the demand for well built and properly designed catamarans will continue to grow in the years ahead.

There is no sure-fire way for any broker to tell a buyer how much he will get for his cat when the time comes to sell. Sales were almost dead after September 11th here in the U.S. and another serious upset could do the same again.

In the end, I believe too many of us let money get in the way of our happiness. Often, I have buyers come to me saying they just do not have enough money to get the boat they want. My advice is always the same:

“Just get a boat. If you cannot afford a cat, get a monohull. I can assure you the sunsets in St. Lucia look every bit as lovely from the deck of an 80-foot cat as they do from a 35-foot cat. Or, yes, a $30,000 1964 Pearson Alberg 35. The fish are the same too. And the azure water. And the bars and restaurants. You can do it on a 1994 Lagoon 37 for $150,000 and have a bang up good time. If you want to wait to get the dream boat, that is your choice. Just do it before you can’t.”