Buying a nearly new yacht

[JeremyF]

I'm driving 5 hours each way tomorrow to look at a nearly new boat being sold privately, and I hope not to go back there again before I take ownership.

How do I check if it fully paid for. Is there an equivalent of the car buying service that checks on the status of any outstanding loans?

Is there an intermediate survey, that just checks on the build integrity, but doesn't spend hours looking at the equipment and state of the upholstery? I guess what I want is the equivalent of a Home Buyers Report.

I guess it should be sold on a standard RYA contract

Anything else I should look out for?

Thanks for the advice



Jeremy Flynn

 

[WayneS]

You can get an "Insurance Survey" done which just looks as the basics. Hull integrity, Mast, Rig etc etc. I recently paid £6/ft for one.

I don't know if you can check to see if there are any outstanding loans etc but the "Bill of Sale" that the seller signs should say that they warrant that it is free from encumbrances etc.....

Good luck

 

[AndrewB]

The RYA put out some excellent advice on the legal aspects of buying second-hand - a booklet costing around £4 which contains a model contract and bill of sale you can use.

If the yacht is Part 1 Registered (NOT SSR) it is possible to check the ownership and financial credentials of the yacht. Otherwise there is no certain way. If it is being sold through a well established broker, they will provide you with safeguards.

Otherwise you are own your own. Take the maximum time allowed by the RYA contract over the purchase and beware of a seller in an undue hurry, check with the marina how long they have known him, look at what documentation he has, old bills relating to the yacht; maybe ask for references from his yacht club, look up lists of stolen yachts, use a local surveyor who may know about dodgy items etc etc. But there is no certain safeguard.

 

[graham]

Personally I would prefer to do the paperwork at the sellers home.At least then you will have his address and get a feel for what he is like.

Otherwise it smacks a bit of buying a car at a motorway services.

If the boat is near new all the original paperwork should still be available.

I dont know if any solicitors specialise in that sort of work.

Also even though the condition of all the yachts equipment is going to be" as new" You need to be carefull to make an inventory of what is included.I bought a boat where the previous owner removed bits and pieces that I had expected to remain.

Best wishes for a smooth transaction and some good sailing.

 

[Whiskey2]

I had a basic survey on a Moody I purchased two months ago, still cost £280 though! It had a new engine, instruments and rigging so I needed to know what the bits I couldnt see were like. I think that is all you will need on a nearly new boat. I saw your old Moody on a bouy in Portsmouth harbour last weekend. Mel.

 

[quaelgeist2]

Maybe too late - but I needed some time combining your posts. Assuming it's a fairly new Bav34 you went to see, then
IMHO you should definitely make sure to either
- get a very credible story why he/they sell or
- definitely have a survey done.
Bav is well known for (almost) mass-production with pretty varying quality. Beware of a bad one that may otherwise still look good. The interesting cases with BAVs, well discussed on German boards (try a search for Bavaria on the chats of Yacht.de , boote-forum.de) include rudder, keel, deck-hull connections, bulkheads, etc.
Definitely warranting a survey ;-) - otherwise apparently fast and nice boats.

chris

 

[david_e]

I understand that there is no cast iron gurantee that it will not have monies owing to it. The SSR (have never seen or used one) is insisted on by Finance houses, you could call the main ones to check, try the supplying dealer to check (do this first) and/or do an audit trail of the various owners etc.

Good luck