Buyer’s tool

The real cost of owning a yacht.

Buyers obsess about the purchase price. The shock is the running cost. Plug in a yacht below and see the honest annual number — crew, dockage, fuel, insurance, refit reserve, management. Plus the break-even charter weeks needed to carry it, and a frank verdict on whether ownership makes sense for your intended use.

Pick a yacht for sale (optional) Selecting a yacht prefills the value, length, and type. Or skip and enter manually below. Purchase price (USD) Length (ft) Type Primary cruising region Your personal use (weeks/year) How many weeks will you and your guests actually be aboard? Charter-back weeks/year Weeks you’d let the yacht out on charter. Zero = no charter program.

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How we calculate

No magic. No sales pitch.

These figures come from public broker publications — Camper & Nicholsons’ cost-of-ownership white papers, Fraser Yachts’ annual benchmarks, Northrop & Johnson’s superyacht running-cost guides. Every line is a conservative industry average, not a promotional number.

Crew — head-count scales with length and type, ~$65k–$110k all-in per crew/year (salary + uniform + food + travel + insurance).
Dockage — per-foot annual berth fees averaged across the region. Mediterranean ~$700/ft, Caribbean ~$350/ft, Southeast Asia ~$280/ft.
Fuel — engine hours × gallons-per-hour at cruise. Motor yachts dominate; sailing yachts are a fraction.
Insurance — 1.2% of hull value (industry blended rate).
Refit reserve — 2.0% of hull value set aside annually for the 5-year cycle.
Management — yacht management firm fees, ~$85k–$210k/yr depending on size. Self-managed under 80 ft.
Misc / overhead — communications, charts, permits, owner travel, operating-expense management.

The break-even calculation assumes the owner nets 55% of gross weekly charter rate (after 15% broker commission and operating ops/APA reconciliation). Realistic charter weeks per region are capped to season length — honest about what a charter program can and cannot do.