Practical writing for people buying, selling and owning sailing yachts and catamarans. No filler, no invented statistics — just the decisions and checks that matter on the water.
Most disappointing yacht purchases are not caused by a hidden defect. They are caused by buying the wrong boat for the way it will actually be sailed. This guide walks through the decisions and checks that matter, in the order they matter.
Buyers decide which boats to visit from photographs and specifications, and decide what to offer from what they find on board. Preparing well costs a few weekends and changes both outcomes.
The purchase price is the one number every buyer knows and the least useful one for planning. What determines whether ownership is enjoyable is the annual budget: berthing, maintenance, and the components that quietly age out whether you sail or not.
The monohull-versus-catamaran argument is usually framed as a question of taste. It is really a question of use: where you sail, who sails with you, where you keep the boat, and what you are willing to spend on it every year.
A first viewing is not a survey, but it is where most bad buys could have been avoided. This checklist separates what any careful buyer can observe from what genuinely needs a professional, so you spend survey money on the right boat.
