Yacht Cost

Yacht Cost

Buy, Maintain, Charter

Are you considering buying a yacht and wondering how much they cost, both to purchase and to maintain?

Purchase Cost

The purchase cost of yachts vary with their age, style, condition, amenities and exponentially - not linearly - with length. This is because double the length means not double but six times the weight and displacement, as well as additional intricacies in engineering and interior design.

For example, new 20-foot yachts cost under $50,000 but 30-foot weekenders run around $200,000 and new 50-foot cruisers around $1 million, while 100 footers top $8-10 million. The price climbs exponentially for yachts that exceed 100 feet. New 250-foot yachts run $50-70 million. Zeus, Larry Ellison's former Katana, is in this range.

New 350 to 450-foot megayachts like the Rising Sun, Luna, Pelorus, Radiant, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Octopus cost 3 to 5 times more, between $200 million to $300 million. The 531-foot Dubai cost $400 million while the slightly longer Eclipse cost $485 million. The 591-foot Azzam and the shorter but unusually wide Dilbar III (the successor to Dilbar II) both cost about $600 million, while the Gigayacht will top $1 billion. The table below lists ten of the longest yachts in the world today.

YACHT	LENGTH	BUILT	FOR	OWNER
Gigayacht	728 feet		$1 billion
Azzam	591 feet	2013	$630 million	Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan
Eclipse	533 feet	2010	$485 million	Roman Abramovich
Dubai	531 feet	2006	$400 million	Mohammed bin al Maktoum
Rising Sun	453 feet	2004	$300 million	David Geffen
Octopus	414 feet	2003	$250 million	Paul Allen
Luna	377 feet	2010	$300 million	Farkhad Akhmedov
Pelorus	377 feet	2003	$300 million	Samuel Tak Lee
Radiant	361 feet	2009	$286 million	Abdullah al Futtaim
Dilbar II	360 feet	2008	$263 million	Alisher Usmanov

Maintenance Cost

The annual cost to insure, operate, maintain and store a yacht averages roughly 10% of its purchase price, so every ten years, you will end up paying for your yacht all over again. Operating a megayacht like those above includes hiring and maintaining a crew of up to eighty, who live onboard year-round.

Charter Costs

Crewed yacht charters are priced either "all inclusive," which means all food, water, drinks, fuel and other consumables are included (dock fees and tax are still extra), or "plus expenses," which means the consumables are billed in addition.

Crewed charter cost for a small yacht typically start at $10,000 to $15,000 per week and rise quickly. For example, chartering a crewed 150 footer for a week can cost $100,000 to $500,000, "plus expenses."

Almost all megayachts, including those above, are registered as charter vessels but never actually available; the charter registration lets their owners to avoid property tax.

So, how much should you spend on your yacht?

That depends on your perspective. If your wealth is self-made, click here. If you've been blessed with it, click here.