2001 Sunseeker Predator 56?

[Jonny TVR]

I'm starting to come around to the idea of buying something like a Sunseeker Predator 56 for £200 to £300K.

My idea is to keep it somewhere I can easily fly into from Exeter/ Bristol most of the year. Somewhere as South as possible in the med so its as warm as possible for the longest. Somewhere that has some fantastic coastline to explore and anchor off at thats not too far to sail to. I have three children 13, 11 and 8 so enough space for us all to sleep on. To charter it out a few weeks of the year to cover the running costs (too optimistic?). I know Marinas vary in cost but I think its worth paying for the right location and dry stored in the winter. I had in my mind around £20k a year for maintenance, insurance, marina and depreciation. How much on fuel?!

[Jonny TVR]

Rangeroverover said:

Have a word with Eddie Woods at Sunseeker Malta, I've known him since I was a kid (now 55) Malta great place to keep a boat, not too expensive plenty of marinas and destinations, also only 70 miles to Sicily.

sounds good but don't think there any direct flights to malta

[Jonny TVR]

Petrus1983 said:

The Malaga coastline is the most obvious choice - lots of moorings and plenty of flights from Bristol.

If I was to choose though the areas around Croatia/Montenegro are lovely - others on here will have better knowledge though.

Thank you .. I could also catch flights from Exeter which is 10 minutes from my house and because its such a small airport you can arrive an hour or less before it departs. Malaga is also quite far south which is good, its just whether the coast line is attractive enough and relatively easy to get to

[Jonny TVR]

Rangeroverover said:

I also live about 10 mins from Exeter and the Malta flights are slightly more expensive than the Bristol ones, worth the difference for the ease of use.

If you are going to go the Ltd Co/Charter route for tax and finance have a look at what the charter rates are in various locations.

If you want more detail PM me, I used to be involved in this sort of thing

Thank you.

Can you charter these boats without crew? If I did 15 days a year this could be an expensive way of doing it. My idea was to buy one and charter it out myself for a few weeks a year to pay for a good part of the running costs.

I would be paying for the purchase with a dividend from my business probably.

[Jonny TVR]

dvs_dave said:

That size boat I'd be looking at a Pershing 56. 50+ kn, surface drives, Italian style

I'm new to boating and not sure of your experience, but one thing that's struck me early is that driving the thing is quite boring under most circumstances. Something that's spacious, luxurious yet goes like the clappers gives you that adrenaline hit when you fancy it.

Looked it up and they look just right .. just twice my budget though at 500k+

[Jonny TVR]

dvs_dave said:

Boats are frighteningly thirsty, even small ones. You really need to understand just how much they cost to run beyond just general mooring and maintenance. Fuel can be a massively underestimated out of pocket expense, especially on a bigger boat with a tasty power plant.

so round trip from Malta to Sicily would be £2K in fuel!

[Jonny TVR]

Pershing 50 is looking like my favourite at the minute. Very stylish and quick. Don't think I need the extra space of the 56. Next question is where.