Would you buy an Ex charter boat?

[Boatbuoy]

There are so many boats on the market and i have limited experience on sailboats except Westerly Konsort 32' which i sailed regularly a few years ago. Have owned boats all my life all with engines and my last boat was a Bayliner 2252' Hardtop, it was a great boat except for the following, no shower. hot water,filling with petrol! not enough room for me and kids! I quickly realized that i wanted a bigger boat for longer periods afloat without the expense of refuelling every 200 mile or so! I loved sailing and am in a position next year to 'go for it' But i have a problem..... which boat!?? There seem to be really good deals in Greece even after you have added the tax! Ex charter but as long as the equipment has been serviced and hull is sound i guess there are savings to be made....or am i missing something?. Any thoughts/help appreciated:

 

[Carmel2]

Met a chap this year who is totally happy with his boat that has come out of the charter market, he had one thing to say "It's 35 ft so the w anker weekend boys are not interested.

 

[RupertW]

I'd be far happier buying a charter boat at the end of its charter life than joining one of those schemes that involve paying for one from the beginning. When we were looking for a boat 3 years ago we saw a few charter boats with big repairs done, hopefully done well.

We bought a pre-scuffed charter boat in Croatia for what we thought was a very good price (and still do). ALthough only 10 years old it have been cannibalised for the rest of the flotilla so we knew it was a project. All structurally sound and exactly what we needed (well much bigger than I thought we needed but fitted the 4 cabin, 2 bathroom requirement of my wife). So we have got it towards a decent standard with elbow grease and injections of money when we have some to spare.

The main thing is that we have had excellent sailing from the start til now, in a slowly improving boat.

 

[Boatbuoy]

(well much bigger than I thought we needed but fitted the 4 cabin, 2 bathroom requirement of my wife). So we have got it towards a decent standard with elbow grease and injections of money when we have some to spare.

The main thing is that we have had excellent sailing from the start til now, in a slowly improving boat.[/QUOTE]

Yeah! Size is crucial. I reckon I could handle a 44ft Bavaria with in mast furling and genoa with a couple of modifications. Would be kept on a swinging mooring and would be occupied most of the time. Maintenance is not a problem as I can pretty much do everything myself except for the lift and antifoul. Will seriously consider the ex charter market I could go for a Bavaria 44 and have money left to modify/upgrade for shorthanded sailing. Did the broker have details of damage and repairs to the boats you were interested in? or was the information hard to come by?

 

[neil1967]

We have a yacht in charter at the moment (with a small charter firm, not one of the big ones). This is her 6th year and I reckon if you were to look at her you would think she was 2-3 years old, despite 18-20 weeks use per year. She has been really well looked after (small charter firms can't afford to have unreliable boats). There's never been a drop of oil in her bilges - the engine's immaculate and the interior teak is touched up every winter. The anchor chain is end-to-ended every season (how many of us do that?) The only area where she's starting to show use is in the cushions in the cabins. So, I would say that a charter boat could be a very good buy, but as with any other boat purchase, condition is every thing.

Neil

 

[ratbag]

i bought a 2003 bavaria 36 that had been chartered by fairview of hamble. pretty happy with my purchase no more problems than i would expect, my thoughts at the time were that it had been well maintained & probibally better than a boat that had been hard raced.
problems i have had are the autohelm needs replacing (common enough) one rope clutch & the plastic yoke in the furled
that was until this year when a bearing in the gearbox broke & the whole box needs replacing, dont know if i've just been unlucky with this or is it a result of charter abuse?
other than that i've had 4 good years with her,

 

[Tranona]

An ex charter boat in Greece can be a good buy, but they vary from company to company. Many like mine are owned by private individuals and arguably are better looked after than company owned boats. The big advantage if you want to keep a boat out there is that they are usually well equipped for sailing in that environment. Many of the management contracts have clauses that define what comes with the boat when it finishes the (usually) 6 seasons term which might include recent new sails. Be prepared to do some cosmetic work - upholstery for example can take a beating, but usually charterers live outside so interior woodwork is usually fine, but regularly used domestic items like lights, showers, loos etc can need work. Potential for damage when docking and running aground is high, but rigs and engines are usually fine because conditions are not too demanding and engines get lots of light running and regular servicing.

If you don't feel confident to do a good survey yourself, worth flying a surveyor out from UK. Make sure you get good title and be clear about who pays the costs of transfer and how the VAT is paid.

It is probably not worth buying out there if you are intending to keep the boat in UK as the time/cost of getting it back is likely to eat up any savings, unless you treat the passage back as a (long) holiday. Also the spec is not ideal for UK waters - for example no heating.

Happy to answer any specific questions.

 

[charles_reed]

Usually charter companies have a more realistic view of the value of their boats, than do private owners so prices tend to be lower. With the better charter companies the boats are better serviced and maintained than most privately owned boats.
All those I've met, who've bought charter boats 2nd hand, have been very satisfied with the value for money they've had.
There are certain charter companies which it is as well to avoid, being notorious for their lack of planned maintenance.
The drawbacks of all charter boats is that their layouts favour berths over stowage space, sails are low-end mass-market (their limited wardrobe will repay a visit to a good sailmaker) and interior fit-out is basic.

 

[andrewAB]

I have owned a 34 foot ex-charter from S**Sail for 2 years and spent 12 weeks aboard around the Ionian over 3 seasons. Very happy with the boat and systems. It was comforting to buy the UK registered, VAT paid, boat through UK broker - all covered under UK contract law and no lawyers needed. Luckily I was able to find an owners version so have bigger aft bed and shower/WC to keep SWMBO happy. BTW financially I think just charter makes much more sense if your use is less than 4 to 6 weeks a year. However, ownership becomes the justification for more use!

 

[SeamanStaines]

Our catamaran is ex charter. I would caution that charter companies are very good at regular maintenance and systems however my experience is that if something breaks mid season it is 'bodged' to get the boat back out working and sometimes these get forgotten and not fixed properly at the season end. I am still finding these some five years later!

My experience also is that the surveyors where very good at documenting what you already knew, but not at finding silly little problems, that prove expensive to properly fix. You need to also spend a full day yourself with a knowledgable mate, just looking to find the things you can persuade the charter company to fix before you buy it.

 

[Jamesuk]

Yes I would bargains

 

[Boatbuoy]

Yes! there are very competitive prices. Will be going over early next year to see a few brokers and see what's available, Thanks for your replies.