What would typically be included with a used sailing yacht?

[johnalison]

Unless otherwise specified, I would expect the boat to be ready to sail but not necessarily have domestic stuff. I would expect a workable suit of sails, certainly winch handles, and an anchor, as well as equipment appropriate for the boat, such as a compass and possibly electronics and radio. In other word, I think the buyer should be able to turn up with his own lifejacket and a packed meal and sail it home if this only involves a day sail. There is nothing wrong with the boat being short of this so long as it is specified, but of course it is the buyer’s responsibility to establish the facts.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

When I sold my last boat primarily for health reasons but I was also finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to sail where and how I wanted to, I sold the boat with everything from charts both electronic and paper that covered Norway, Iceland and everything in-between down to the Azores including France Spain, Portugal Ireland and Scotland and more pilots included. The yacht was fully equipped with a 2 year old Avon airlock inflatable and 6Hp outboard 2 reels of 100M 20mm Octoplait a massive amount of spares and tools, Hydrovane and god knows what else. The only thing that I took off the boat was the bedding and two sets of Teng sockets. The boat was priced at the top end of what other examples were being advertised at but everything was included and that amounted to several thousand pounds worth of "extras" In the end the buyers ably assisted by a more than pedantic survey argued for a £5K reduction and one of the things they and their surveyor listed was replacement of OOD flares, the year before I had bought a new Paynes Wessex Ocean pack but kept the expired one so there were two poly bottles of flares one just 1 year OOD the other in date.
I sold through grated teeth and should I ever be in a position of selling a boat I will strip it to the bare minimum and either sell or throw away what I take of the boat.

 

[johnalison]

When I sold my last boat primarily for health reasons but I was also finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to sail where and how I wanted to, I sold the boat with everything from charts both electronic and paper that covered Norway, Iceland and everything in-between down to the Azores including France Spain, Portugal Ireland and Scotland and more pilots included. The yacht was fully equipped with a 2 year old Avon airlock inflatable and 6Hp outboard 2 reels of 100M 20mm Octoplait a massive amount of spares and tools, Hydrovane and god knows what else. The only thing that I took off the boat was the bedding and two sets of Teng sockets. The boat was priced at the top end of what other examples were being advertised at but everything was included and that amounted to several thousand pounds worth of "extras" In the end the buyers ably assisted by a more than pedantic survey argued for a £5K reduction and one of the things they and their surveyor listed was replacement of OOD flares, the year before I had bought a new Paynes Wessex Ocean pack but kept the expired one so there were two poly bottles of flares one just 1 year OOD the other in date.
I sold through grated teeth and should I ever be in a position of selling a boat I will strip it to the bare minimum and either sell or throw away what I take of the boat.

I will be in the position of selling my boat before too long. I think that what I shall do is include in my specification a reasonably generous selection to make the boat readily saleable but keep in reserve readily portable items which I will include if the buyer is acting decently, since by then I will have been forced to give up sailing. and the amount I could get from many low-cost items might not repay the effort of actually selling them, otherwise I may offer them here for free!

 

[Momac]

I would expect the hole in the water which the boat occupies to be included.
Plus everything that is on board at the time the boat is viewed.

 

[B27]

In my experience, it varies a lot and you should be careful of expecting anything that's not specified.
You should make your offer subject to inventory.
I've been in the position where a seller was 'too busy' to write an inventory, but not too busy to come around after the sale wanting stuff back, claiming it had been borrowed from someone else!

Have a look at broker listings for similar boats to see the variation.

There may be 'stuff' included that's not on the boat, old/spare sails, yard cradle, engine spares, winter covers?

 

[Daydream believer]

..

 

[davidej]

Anyone selling a boat is almost invariably told to remove their own “junk “ and preset it as it would have been in a showroom.

I am considering giving up at the end of this season so should I put all the life jackets, cleaning materials, engine spares etc etc into a skip ?

 

[Tranona]

No. If giving up put everything with the boat except perhaps things that you know you can sell quickly on their own. Let the new owner get rid of the junk if they don't want it.

 

[srm]

I am considering giving up at the end of this season so should I put all the life jackets, cleaning materials, engine spares etc etc into a skip ?

No, advertise it as being complete with all equipment and spares.

The new owner of my boat was pleased that he was getting a complete package. I pointed out that the inflatable lifejackets needed servicing before use. I also took some engine spares I had forgotten were in my store that were gratefully received a month or so after the sale.

It is probably better to remove things like part used cleaning materials, food items, old rags etc. along with your personal gear and anything you want to keep so when viewed the boat is presentable and everything seen on board goes with the boat.

The new owner's girlfriend did notice that I had removed a small ornament that must have caught her eye when first looking at the boat so check before showing the boat.

 

[ylop]

I would expect the hole in the water which the boat occupies to be included.
Plus everything that is on board at the time the boat is viewed.

That was how ours worked - BUT there will be situations where someone is still sailing the boat regularly whilst viewings are happening. You wouldn’t expect them to remove their personal lifejacket, rented liferaft, or even the dinghy used to reach its mooring every time you view it. I would expect it to be clear either from a detailed inventory or a simple list of exceptions what is included.

 

[justanothersailboat]

Anyone selling a boat is almost invariably told to remove their own “junk “ and preset it as it would have been in a showroom.

I am considering giving up at the end of this season so should I put all the life jackets, cleaning materials, engine spares etc etc into a skip ?

Surely not - the engine spares are a valuable addition to the boat and not much use outside it. I don't think useful things in lockers are the "junk" here - surely they mean personal and domestic items in the cabins.

There's got to be a happy medium somewhere. Previous owners of my boat managed to offload some real junk onto me, but I'm glad I had the chance to pick it all over and make my own decisions.

 

[flaming]

I'm staggered at how many people think that winch handles should be included.

If I ever sell my boat, there's no way those handles are staying on board. They're all Lewmar one touch mushroom things purchased separately. They would absolutely come with me to the next boat. Ditto lifejackets, dinghy etc.
My rule of thumb would be that if it's bolted to the boat, or specifically made for that boat, then it should be included. So sails, instruments, cushions, sheets and guys etc. But the stuff that's designed to be used by, or worn by, a person is not a boat item. In race boat world you would not, for example, expect to get the NAV PC and tablet etc. That goes with you to the next boat. You'd only expect to talk about that if the seller was getting out of sailing and had no need for it, but you'd expect to be negotiating a price, not seeing it included.
I'd also leave some fenders, and a couple of warps, but the large collection of spare warps etc that live in my garage would be staying there.... Flares etc, maybe, would depend on if I was moving straight to another boat and needed them.

Different maybe if I was getting out of boat ownership and needed to get rid of a ton of stuff... But assuming I'd still have a boat of some sort, then no way that stuff goes with the boat.

 

[NormanS]

I'm staggered at how many people think that winch handles should be included.

If I ever sell my boat, there's no way those handles are staying on board. They're all Lewmar one touch mushroom things purchased separately. They would absolutely come with me to the next boat. Ditto lifejackets, dinghy etc.
My rule of thumb would be that if it's bolted to the boat, or specifically made for that boat, then it should be included. So sails, instruments, cushions, sheets and guys etc. But the stuff that's designed to be used by, or worn by, a person is not a boat item. In race boat world you would not, for example, expect to get the NAV PC and tablet etc. That goes with you to the next boat. You'd only expect to talk about that if the seller was getting out of sailing and had no need for it, but you'd expect to be negotiating a price, not seeing it included.
I'd also leave some fenders, and a couple of warps, but the large collection of spare warps etc that live in my garage would be staying there.... Flares etc, maybe, would depend on if I was moving straight to another boat and needed them.

Different maybe if I was getting out of boat ownership and needed to get rid of a ton of stuff... But assuming I'd still have a boat of some sort, then no way that stuff goes with the boat.

Well, you may be staggered, but winches without handles are useless, so the boat that you're selling is unusable.
Would you also take the handles off the seacocks?

 

[johnalison]

I'm staggered at how many people think that winch handles should be included.

If I ever sell my boat, there's no way those handles are staying on board. They're all Lewmar one touch mushroom things purchased separately. They would absolutely come with me to the next boat.

I'll have to disagree with you there. If the boat is being offered with sails, then the winch handles are part of the same system. I can understand that if you have some that are superior to the norm and expensive you would want to take them, but unless clearly specified I think that at least basic handles should be with the boat. My only experience is with selling boats, since my boats have been bought new, but it never occurred to me not to include handles, which were in any case not really appropriate for my next, larger, boat.

 

[MontyMariner]

When I sell my boat, it will be because I am giving up sailing due to age / infermenty so all will go, but what I will probably do is make an inventory of all the add-on items such as tools, mains gen, shore battery charger, tv, hard and inflatable dinghy and o/b, + + + ~ and put a price on them as a job lot.
Some of these items are worth around a grand a piece.

 

[flaming]

Well, you may be staggered, but winches without handles are useless, so the boat that you're selling is unusable.
Would you also take the handles off the seacocks?

The stove is also useless without a kettle or a saucepan, would you expect a kettle and a saucepan?

The seacocks are a completely different matter, you don't buy special handles for them at £100 a pop.

There's no way I would buy a boat and expect absolutely everything it needed to leave the dock to be included. Great if they are, but you can't expect it.

 

[srm]

I'm staggered at how many people think that winch handles should be included.

I do.
But then I have sailed for quite a few years and understand what is essential to work a boat safely. During the last half century five sailing yachts have passed through my ownership. Every one of them came and went with enough gear to be functional, including winch handles.
Obviously you are emotionally attached to your "designer" handles, but it would be seamanlike to leave the boat with a couple of basic winch handles along with a few fenders and a couple of warps.

 

[flaming]

I do.
But then I have sailed for quite a few years and understand what is essential to work a boat safely. During the last half century five sailing yachts have passed through my ownership. Every one of them came and went with enough gear to be functional, including winch handles.
Obviously you are emotionally attached to your "designer" handles, but it would be seamanlike to leave the boat with a couple of basic winch handles along with a few fenders and a couple of warps.

Winch handles are essential to work a boat, absolutely agreed, I had noticed that in my 40 years of sailing..... I'm just really surprised that so many people seem to think that equipping a boat in a seamanlike manner to leave harbour is the responsibility of the old owner, not the new one.

If I bought a boat and there was a winch handle left on it, then great, but I certainly wouldn't expect it.

 

[Laser310]

I'm staggered at how many people think that winch handles should be included.

If I ever sell my boat, there's no way those handles are staying on board. They're all Lewmar one touch mushroom things purchased separately. They would absolutely come with me to the next boat. Ditto lifejackets, dinghy etc.
My rule of thumb would be that if it's bolted to the boat, or specifically made for that boat, then it should be included. So sails, instruments, cushions, sheets and guys etc. But the stuff that's designed to be used by, or worn by, a person is not a boat item. In race boat world you would not, for example, expect to get the NAV PC and tablet etc. That goes with you to the next boat. You'd only expect to talk about that if the seller was getting out of sailing and had no need for it, but you'd expect to be negotiating a price, not seeing it included.
I'd also leave some fenders, and a couple of warps, but the large collection of spare warps etc that live in my garage would be staying there.... Flares etc, maybe, would depend on if I was moving straight to another boat and needed them.

Different maybe if I was getting out of boat ownership and needed to get rid of a ton of stuff... But assuming I'd still have a boat of some sort, then no way that stuff goes with the boat.

Did you see my first post?

Had you been that guy, you would have said: "sorry.., no handles"? Bear in mind, it was literally up a river, with no place to buy winch handles within about 30 miles.

It wasn't an inexpensive boat - a little more than 40,000 GBP for a 30ft boat.

I guess if you make it clear to the new owner that when he arrives to sail his new boat away, he needs to bring winch handles, then okay...

Sails are a different matter - these are something that are expensive enough that they can have a big effect on the sale price. They are usually itemized, and might be carefully inspected before the sale.

I've seen laptops/tablets with expensive nav software included with race boats - it just depends. a year ago, I looked at an XP 38 - carbon mast.., full race sail inventory.., custom ORC prod, that was selling with a laptop and Expedition license. Owner was getting a bigger race boat, but wanted to sell a turn-key offshore setup, i guess because he thought it would bring a premium, or expedite the sale. It also included the boat trailer full of extra lines, older sails, spare parts, life raft, dehumidifier..., everything that goes with a race program.

 

[flaming]

Did you see my first post?

Had you been that guy, you would have said: "sorry.., no handles"? Bear in mind, it was literally up a river, with no place to buy winch handles within about 30 miles.

It wasn't an inexpensive boat - a little more than 40,000 GBP for a 30ft boat.

I guess if you make it clear to the new owner that when he arrives to sail his new boat away, he needs to bring winch handles, then okay...

Sails are a different matter - these are something that are expensive enough that they can have a big effect on the sale price. They are usually itemized, and might be carefully inspected before the sale.

I've seen laptops/tablets with expensive nav software included with race boats - it just depends. a year ago, I looked at an XP 38 - carbon mast.., full race sail inventory.., custom ORC prod, that was selling with a laptop and Expedition license. Owner was getting a bigger race boat, but wanted to sell a turn-key offshore setup, i guess because he thought it would bring a premium, or expedite the sale. It also included the boat trailer full of extra lines, older sails, spare parts, life raft, dehumidifier..., everything that goes with a race program.

Well had I been turning up to collect my new boat I would have brought winch handles. Along with life jackets, flare pack, handheld VHF and anything else I might want for a delivery that wasn't on the inventory, or safety critical items who's condition I hadn't had time to evaluate. Had I been that gent I wouldn't have had a cheap handle to give you, so yes I probably would have had to say "sorry, don't have any to give you". I'd have probably offered you a lift to a chandlery though. On the assumption that I have the number of handles I want for my new boat, why would I leave some in the old boat, only to have to buy them for the new boat?

And yes, I've also seen "turn key" boats being offered. But they're normally advertised as such. Plenty of others that aren't though. I've also known boats where the advert makes clear that the storm sails are not included in the sale as they'll fit the sellers new boat. One where it made clear that the carbon tiller was not included... I think if you're buying from someone who's quitting sailing then you might hope to get a lot more kit, but if the seller is getting a new boat, they're going to want to keep most of the "stuff" aren't they?

The point really is that you should be making sure of exactly what is included as part of the negotiation of the deal. If it's not bolted to the boat, and not mentioned on the inventory, then why would you assume it's included?