2021 has seen the Superyacht industry turn into more of a buyer’s market than ever before. Whether you are an owner or frequent charter guest, there are pros and cons to both. The deciding factors are each individuals’ reasons for wanting to spend time cruising the world’s oceans as well as what they would like from their yachting experience.

Being a yacht owner allows you to have a yacht that is outfitted, designed and set up to have all the comforts and personalisation you would want from your home away from home. It allows you to carefully select each and every piece of equipment, furniture and facility you would like on board.

You will also be able to enjoy the 5-star service that comes from having a crew who know exactly how you and your loved ones like to enjoy a day on board. Your chef will already know your favourite meals, the deck crew will know which water sports activities you love, the captain will know your favourite anchorages and the interior team will know exactly how you like your coffee in the morning.

Owning a yacht allows you to go on holidays to all corners of the globe, exposing you and your loved ones to once in a lifetime adventure. It is an investment into your lifestyle and allows you to cruise to remote locations in the comfort of your own private yacht.

Owning a yacht can be profitable by setting her up as a commercial vessel, which allows the yacht to be chartered. Thereby offsetting some or all of the annual running costs of the yacht such as refits, surveys and crew salaries.

Owning a yacht allows you to be more spontaneous as you do not need to book holidays in advance. It also ensures that for each and every yacht holiday you go on with your loved ones, you get a yacht that caters to your every need whereas when chartering, you may not get the exact yacht you would like due to availability.

From the build process to the legalities of yacht ownership to annual maintenance facilities, the yachting and maritime industry employs tens of thousands of people. Therefore, commissioning a new build yacht or simply purchasing a yacht helps to keep people employed as well as puts money back into various sectors of multiple economies.

Last but not least, the pride and joy that comes from fulfilling a lifelong dream of yacht ownership is invaluable.

Many people still prefer to charter yachts for a number of reasons. The most common being that owning a yacht can be very expensive when taking into account the annual costs of maintenance, paying and housing a full-time crew, running costs of a yacht such as fuel and berthing fees and lastly, all the repairs required to keep the yacht to an extremely high standard.

Even though this year has seen a record number of yacht sales, some people may still prefer to charter due to the fact that the increase in sales has decreased the possibility of buyers finding the exact yacht they would like as well as potentially overpaying due to high demand.

Chartering allows you to test out a variety of yachts before owning one yourself. It will give you a very good idea of the size, make and model you would like as well as what equipment and facilities you and your loved ones utilise on a yacht holiday.

Chartering allows you to enjoy the yacht with none of the responsibility that come from owning a yacht; things, as a charter guest, would not even cross your mind such as annual surveys, inspections and insurance.

Lastly, charter provides a more diverse yachting experience as you are able to charter a different yacht each time. One year, you could find yourself on a luxury yacht cruising the French Riviera and the next, on an explorer yacht in Alaska. You are able to choose the type of holiday you would like without having the expense of moving your yacht from one part of the world to the next.

Whether you enjoy owning your own yacht or chartering a different yacht each year, being able to travel the world in 5-star luxury is unlike anything you have ever experienced.