Why are boats so expensive ?

Madhatter

Madhatter

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In my surfing around the net looking for a boat I could afford I am truly amazed at the prices of some boats pushing 30 to 40 years old "and no MOT". I looked at one within my price range - what a shed " a working inboard diesel " in bits ," a bit of TLC" all varnish work was almost bare and waterlogged ,paintwork peeling, "stainless rigging replaced in 2008 " 1 newish backstay and 3 frayed ,1 rusting ?? I could go on in fact it was that bad I never even bothered with the sails just drove home again.
In the end I have decided to buy a project boat at least I know what condition it will end up being.
Back to my question why are boats so expensive, new, used whatever and worse still parts and mooring costs are almost prohibitive for the ordinary man in the street.
 
sarabande said:
gee, MadH, what have you gone and bought now ? :)
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LOL ,I am still waiting to go and collect my Debutante from Newhaven .Can't wait to get started on my "Paupers boat".

PS
Have you seen the very brave man in Minehead who has started a chandlers in the middle of town and is also looking at secure boat storage and workshop facilities just up the road.:eek:
 
I reckon with boats the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Ergo it's often more expensive to buy a 'project' and finish it off than to just buy a boat in good condition in the first place (plus at least then you get to go sailing straight away)
However, I do acknowledge that there are people who just like 'messing about' with boats....
 
Madhatter said:
In my surfing around the net looking for a boat I could afford I am truly amazed at the prices of some boats pushing 30 to 40 years old "and no MOT". I looked at one within my price range - what a shed " a working inboard diesel " in bits ," a bit of TLC" all varnish work was almost bare and waterlogged ,paintwork peeling, "stainless rigging replaced in 2008 " 1 newish backstay and 3 frayed ,1 rusting ?? I could go on in fact it was that bad I never even bothered with the sails just drove home again.
In the end I have decided to buy a project boat at least I know what condition it will end up being.
Back to my question why are boats so expensive, new, used whatever and worse still parts and mooring costs are almost prohibitive for the ordinary man in the street.
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I thought exactly the same as yourself when looking for and then having got my boat. But it really does pay to look around in both cases, just swallow the lies and disinformation- seek and yea shall find was my motto. My first year of owner ship cost a lot, I have now reduced that by 75% and ex the usual annual costs of antifouling etc a mooring and winter storage cost 900.00 euro. A bargain in the still expensive dublin area. In my experience some people wont tell you of the cheaper options around-whilst others are very generous with info.
 
Boats were relatively more expensive in the past due to the builders being rubbish at business and cost control, and design was form and function driven rather than manufacturing cost. Like 1 inch thick GRP.
So, those boats current loving owners have an overblown idea of their 'value'.

Besides, the newspapers are right. All boats are 'luxury yachts', so therefore you have to pay, and pay well for the privilege.
What most owners on a budget dont realise is the running costs.
For the same reason you can buy a Lexus, 7 Series, Jag XJ8 for a grand. Its not the buying, its the running, or in the case of boats, add in the mooring.

I can moor my boat in my cruising area for 200 quid a year, but it comes with restrictions on use, like there is no water except for 1 hour a tide.
For 500 quid, I can have an all tide swinging mooring but not muxh else facility.
For 1200 quid, I can have a fully serviced swinging mooring with water taxi and YCs chandlers and all facilities.
For 2000 I have a pontoon in a creek with all facility except a bit of a lack of water a couple of hours a day.
For 4 grand, its all singing all dancing, and Madame will be happy, providing she doesn't see the bill.

BTW, it costs just as much to re-rig my newish 35 footer, as it does the old 35 foot snotter project. The re engine project costs the same too, and the triangular white table cloths hanging off the upright pole. Come to think of it, the pole is the same replacement cost too.

This is a sport demanding financial commitment, we are all in it because we love it, and we cut our outlay to meet the needs as best we can. But there is a pecking order, because there is always someone with a bigger available budget.
 
Part of the problem is that it has always been expensive... but in the past we have been rich.

Look back to the 00's and the boom years... and the pound was high, we were getting good wage increases.... everything...

But 2 years of zero pay increases... commodities getting expensive... new boats more so because of the fall of the pound... and suddenly we are all maybe that bit worse off and working harder... and the real cost of sailing is being hammered home.

A lot of peeps have been complaining about marina costs... but in my experience these have come down in real terms over the past 3 years..(At least for us..)
 
Why are boats, & all the kit that goes with them so expensive?
One reason is because too many people are daft enough to pay the stupid prices asked. One only has to trawl through the magazines to realise what a con a lot of them are. For instance, the latest copies are showcasing a jacket which include a couple of panels which light up using internal batteries. And the cost?......over £400! For a jacket. Which will probably never light up in the water anyway. Or take the reviews of 'passage planning software', which conclude that paper charts are better anyway, but how many people will already have forked out hundreds/thousands for the latest 'must-have' kit?
 
Perhaps we have caused part of the problem ourselves?

New boats take any thousands and thousands of man-hours to build, and each one of those hours costs far too much in this country. The boat builders pay their employees a small part of that rate but then have to add loads to cover pensions, taxes, national insurance, ridiculous insurance premiums driven by over zealous health and safety fascists, council taxes inflated by public sector final salary pension schemes, financing costs to support city bonuses, and spiralling energy costs that no one seems to understand.

Oh, and as we don't make anything in GB anymore, all of the components come from overseas at an unfathomable exchange rate.

P.s. Sorry about the rant. Too much Jeremy Clarkson on tv this Christmas.
 
People will always do that. Big TVs, bigger houses, faster cars, latest Wii, it goes on and on.
It's human nature. You have to really work at being stisfied with what you have. What you actually need.
 
Madhatter said:
LOL ,I am still waiting to go and collect my Debutante from Newhaven .Can't wait to get started on my "Paupers boat".

PS
Have you seen the very brave man in Minehead who has started a chandlers in the middle of town and is also looking at secure boat storage and workshop facilities just up the road.:eek:
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My Debutante was my SECOND cruising boat. I couldn't afford it straight off, I had a £450 project boat first that I sold for £750 to but the Deb at £950. Rich sods like you are always whingeing!
 
Madhatter said:
Back to my question why are boats so expensive, new, used whatever and worse still parts and mooring costs are almost prohibitive for the ordinary man in the street.
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Yachting never was a sport for the ordinary man in the street though it is if anything becoming more so now that it used to be. After all the average pay is what - maybe 25k before tax and with all the expenses of living to be taken out of it. And the cost of a marina berth maybe 5k average. Even with a club berth its easy to see total annual costs approach 5k. Mine do ( stand by for lots of posts saying " I do it on £43 a year":rolleyes: )

Why are old boats so expensive? I dont know. I have never understood why they dont depreciate like other consumer durables - say cars. Particularly now they are mass produced by the likes of Bav rather than being a skilled "coachbuilder" type trade. And the thing that always surprises me when boat buying is how unrealistic some sellers are about the condition of their boat.
 
I would say the market is wide open for a visionary builder to knock em out by the thousand, possibly even in the UK. A Branson or Dyson type of visionary is required. Jeanneau and Beneteau have gone some way but I'm sure more could be done with innovative construction methods and engineering. The way the world is going I guess our yachts will soon be coming with noodle steamers built in.
 
Madhatter said:
LOL ,I am still waiting to go and collect my Debutante from Newhaven .Can't wait to get started on my "Paupers boat".

PS
Have you seen the very brave man in Minehead who has started a chandlers in the middle of town and is also looking at secure boat storage and workshop facilities just up the road.:eek:
Click to expand...

your lucky i started with a Silhouette Mk 2 towed her home behind my mini van from Battle to Cambridge ( 3rd gear ;) )
 
savageseadog said:
I would say the market is wide open for a visionary builder to knock em out by the thousand, possibly even in the UK. A Branson or Dyson type of visionary is required. Jeanneau and Beneteau have gone some way but I'm sure more could be done with innovative construction methods and engineering. The way the world is going I guess our yachts will soon be coming with noodle steamers built in.
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I really can't see that.
Even roto-moulded dinghies are not really cheap, because masts, sails and gear all cost money.
When you look at a bill of materials for even a basic yacht, it is hard to undercut a good used boat.
We are happy to buy our houses secondhand, we should do the same with our boats, and expect them to have long 'working' lives.
There are two reasons that new boats are expensive:
Small boats don't sell well, it is more profitable to build bigger ones
It is what the market will bear. Cheap moorings are all full, and if you can afford £5k for marina fees, you can afford £50k+ in capital cost in these days of low interest rates.
Depends what you call expensive of course.
How would you get the cost down? What is the Tata Nano of yachting?
 
sailorman said:
your lucky i started with a Silhouette Mk 2 towed her home behind my mini van from Battle to Cambridge ( 3rd gear ;) )
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Yes but I bought my little Sunspot 15 from Blackwater ( I thought it was the one on the south coast But no it was the East coast one LOL) but still I was not disappointed as it is a cracking little boat and well worth the 500 mile round trip.:D
 
Madhatter said:
Yes but I bought my little Sunspot 15 from Blackwater ( I thought it was the one on the south coast But no it was the East coast one LOL) but still I was not disappointed as it is a cracking little boat and well worth the 500 mile round trip.:D
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I couldnt afford one ( i had the new brochures ) settled for the Silhouette that was rotten around the gunnel's i later found:mad:. mended her sailed her the summer & sold @ £300+ profit in September :D:D
 
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