Budget smaller yacht charter

[maser_spyder]

Hi All,

Just a business plan I'm thinking out at the moment.

From looking around the yacht charter companies on the south coast, it works out to be a fairly expensive week/weekend if there's just two or you, or a family. If there's three couples / large family, it's not so bad, but it did get me thinking....

I have a source of very well priced ex-charter yachts.

Assuming these were fully refitted and recommissioned before charter, with all the latest electronics and gear, would there be a market for 'cheaper' charters?

The market I'm looking at is slightly different to what's available already. You can take your pick of 2007 38' Bavarias at £1000 for the weekend, but what about a smaller, slightly older boat for couples or small family?

I would be looking at 25-33' yachts, nothing older than 2001. Fully refitted, refurbished and well looked after.

Prices would be about half what you normally pay, due to the boats costing a lot less to buy initially.

Is there a market? Would you pay £400 for a weekend sailing for the whole family? Would you be prepared to pay a lot less for taking a 2001 yacht instead of a 2007 yacht?

I must say, I won't be doing this for the money, rather a lifestyle change. I've been relatively successful in business and don't need the income, I would just like another business that's much more relaxed than what I do at the moment!

Would appreciate any thoughts.

[AnotherClarkey]

maser_spyder said:

Hi All,

Just a business plan I'm thinking out at the moment.

From looking around the yacht charter companies on the south coast, it works out to be a fairly expensive week/weekend if there's just two or you, or a family. If there's three couples / large family, it's not so bad, but it did get me thinking....

I have a source of very well priced ex-charter yachts.

Assuming these were fully refitted and recommissioned before charter, with all the latest electronics and gear, would there be a market for 'cheaper' charters?

The market I'm looking at is slightly different to what's available already. You can take your pick of 2007 38' Bavarias at £1000 for the weekend, but what about a smaller, slightly older boat for couples or small family?

I would be looking at 25-33' yachts, nothing older than 2001. Fully refitted, refurbished and well looked after.

Prices would be about half what you normally pay, due to the boats costing a lot less to buy initially.

Is there a market? Would you pay £400 for a weekend sailing for the whole family? Would you be prepared to pay a lot less for taking a 2001 yacht instead of a 2007 yacht?

I must say, I won't be doing this for the money, rather a lifestyle change. I've been relatively successful in business and don't need the income, I would just like another business that's much more relaxed than what I do at the moment!

Would appreciate any thoughts.

I think it makes sense, a 25-30 footer is a lot less intimidating for an occasional charterer than something up at the 40' mark. Condition is more important than age - decent, well maintained gear is much more important to a small family crew than some superficially shiny tat.

[maser_spyder]

AnotherClarkey said:

I think it makes sense, a 25-30 footer is a lot less intimidating for an occasional charterer than something up at the 40' mark. Condition is more important than age - decent, well maintained gear is much more important to a small family crew than some superficially shiny tat.

Thanks Clarkey, duly noted. We'll be running it as a family business, so will be keeping the boats up together ourselves rather than relying on staff, that way we can make sure all odd jobs are always up together. We'll plan to budget for every new boat to have a complete refit before commissioning, then it's just a case of annual refitting and weekly maintenance.

When can I book you in for?