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I'm curious what the process is for rich people wanting to buy a yacht. I can't personally imagine ever wanting one. If I was rich I'd just rent one if I wanted

I'm curious what the process is for rich people wanting to buy a yacht. I can't personally imagine ever wanting one. If I was rich I'd just rent one if I wanted to experience it (maybe they aren't for rent). AFAIK none of these people have any time to use them. Further, for me at least, if I was a billionaire, I'd much rather stay at some posh penthouse in the center of town than some inconvenient boat on the water. My fiction is some yacht mafia comes up to you and says "You're buying one or else".

YaBomm 5y ago
Pissing contest with other billionaires?
the-dude 5y ago
I dabbled in watersports for a bit ( sailing ). If it flies, floats or <censored>, rent it.
- hughrr 5y ago
  Yes watercraft have another saying: the best days of owning a boat are the day you get it and the day the insurance pays out after it sinks
  - bayindirh 5y ago
    Two unrelated friends said the same thing after owning yachts for a long time. > Best yacht is your friend's yacht. One was racing and had many 1st place finishes too. Both sold out all floating assets.
  - the-dude 5y ago
    Another Dutch one I know : Koop een boot, werk je dood. translates loosely to : Buy a boat and work on it will be a deathmarch. Except in Duch, it rhymes.
    - CaptainJustin 5y ago
      Could you also translate that "Buy a boat, work yourself dead" ?
      - vidarh 5y ago
        Or "to death", yes. Same sentence structure works fine barring the occasional word order change in most Germanic languages (e.g. Kjøp en båt, arbeid deg til døde/til døds" in Norwegian. I can't find a way of making it rhyme in other Germanic languages, though. (incidentally work/werk have cognates in German and Scandinavian languages too, but only as nouns (Werk, virke, verk etc.), hence the shift to "arbeid" in the Norwegian version; and "buy"->kjøp or e.g. German kaufen is extra odd, with English having retained a Germanic form while the others inherited a latin loan-word; yes I know this is a total digression...)
  - rich_sasha 5y ago
    Less novel but also true: you don’t own a boat, a boat owns you.
    - hughrr 5y ago
      Also applies to cats!
      - rich_sasha 5y ago
        Cats and boats, I have no desire to own either. Sorry, be enslaved to either.
  - alamortsubite 5y ago
    Mine is, "sailboats are for people with sufficient financial savvy not to own horses."
    - hughrr 5y ago
      Horses are terrible. My sister is an equine speciality vet so is taking advantage of that fact.
- Tehdasi 5y ago
  Another one: Boat stands for Bust Out Another Thousand.
- detritus 5y ago
  "A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into".
satellite2 5y ago
I think you underestimate how rich some are. I think the process is much more like everyone else, trying to buy something slightly more exciting each time. After the sixth smartphone you buy it becomes much more like a chore and less like a fun buy. So when you're bored with real estate you start shopping boats and when you're bored with boats you start with aeronautic/spatial.
viraptor 5y ago
> I'm curious what the process is for rich people wanting to buy a yacht. Most likely you tell your PA to organise it. But otherwise there seem to be a few companies making large custom yachts - you can see them in some seaside towns. The most obnoxious "we'll build anything for cash" I've seen was Sunseeker in Poole, UK (see https://maps.app.goo.gl/TCcRnqkCFKWLY6WF8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/TCcRnqkCFKWLY6WF8) - they have a large number of multi-deck absurdly big boats on display all the time. > than some inconvenient boat on the water The inconvenient yacht designed to your desires and containing any equipment you want, that you hire the crew and a good chef for and just say where you want to get on / off? Yeah can't imagine enjoying that either ;)
brnt 5y ago
There's rich, and there's superrich. This is a boat for the superrich. The superrich don't have to choose between a yacht and a penthouse, they have both in every city they frequent. They also do not necessarily use them themselves, the are often used to host and bribe (politician can have a month on the fully staffed yacht). A friend used to be an electrician for a company building such yachts. Good money!
rosndo 5y ago
> Further, for me at least, if I was a billionaire, I'd much rather stay at some posh penthouse in the center of town than some inconvenient boat on the water. Ah, you’ve just never visited Costa Smeralda :) One of the most beautiful places on earth, but the hotels are terrible and will still charge you over 10k euros a night. The only way to enjoy good quality accommodation and service is to go on a yacht. (Also a wonderful place to visit with a tent or perhaps a small sailboat, just stay away from the hotels and most local restaurants unless you want to pay 300 euros for a pizza)
- MikeDelta 5y ago
  I guess billionaires could still pay for that, but it sounds great to have your own place that you can move anywhere along any coast in the world, where you can entertain your guests and where service and privacy is exactly the way you want it.
  - rosndo 5y ago
    It’s not a problem of being able to pay for it, I spent hundreds of thousands on an all-expenses-paid site inspection. The client was happy to cover because they were planning a 5M+ wedding. Despite the frivolous spending, I didn’t really have a good time. Money was no object, but I still felt like I was constantly being taken advantage of. The big problem I had with Costa Smeralda was that despite the outrageous price tags, I was staying in a marriott room that would’ve gone for 200€ anywhere else. Eating a 300€ pizza that would cost £15 in central London. It wasn’t like Courchevel, which carries similar price tags but also feels truly special. From what I understood the Costa Smeralda properties only survive because of very old money folks whose parents were going there every year since before WW2. Besides me the youngest customers were in their 60s, there won’t be any left once they die off. Perhaps the rumored Aman property will change this? I don’t know. At least the yacht guarantees that the experience will be exactly what you wanted, even if you pay through the nose for it. It’s a portable ultra-luxury hotel you bring with you.
vidarh 5y ago
They're statements, not meant to be practical for the most part. You can literally buy lightly used smaller cruise ships substantially cheaper than most super yachts - the cost is in customized expensive interior and in operating the thing with a large crew, not in the "bare" ship structure per se. They're attractive to some exactly because the barrier to having one is far higher than for a luxury penthouse, to the point that the biggest ones are known by name and recognisable wherever they go because there are so few of them.
animal531 5y ago
I've watched a few youtube sailing channels a few years ago. For these people (unlike the billionaire), they're all living on their boats. Basically it's not about the sailing, but about the ability to move around the world (picking and choosing the weather/seasons you want), experiencing new places, being very into water sports and activities etc. So basically think having your posh penthouse, but moving it around the world.
shantara 5y ago
I asked myself the same questions about the world of yachts and this article answered them very well: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-lonely-life-of-a-yacht-influencer https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-lonely-life-of-a-yac... >See, the power of owning a magnificent yacht like that is in how you’re telling the world that you’re beyond buying and selling. You have more money than there is money to have. You’ve transcended. There are no frontiers left for you on dry land
WanderPanda 5y ago
If you have any desire for free movement then it payed out having a boat during covid. Pretty much the only way to leave your country at times
davidjytang 5y ago
The rich is likely just buying it for the experience of buying a yacht.

YaBomm 5y ago

Pissing contest with other billionaires?

the-dude 5y ago

I dabbled in watersports for a bit ( sailing ). If it flies, floats or <censored>, rent it.

hughrr 5y ago
Yes watercraft have another saying: the best days of owning a boat are the day you get it and the day the insurance pays out after it sinks
- bayindirh 5y ago
  Two unrelated friends said the same thing after owning yachts for a long time. > Best yacht is your friend's yacht. One was racing and had many 1st place finishes too. Both sold out all floating assets.
- the-dude 5y ago
  Another Dutch one I know : Koop een boot, werk je dood. translates loosely to : Buy a boat and work on it will be a deathmarch. Except in Duch, it rhymes.
  - CaptainJustin 5y ago
    Could you also translate that "Buy a boat, work yourself dead" ?
    - vidarh 5y ago
      Or "to death", yes. Same sentence structure works fine barring the occasional word order change in most Germanic languages (e.g. Kjøp en båt, arbeid deg til døde/til døds" in Norwegian. I can't find a way of making it rhyme in other Germanic languages, though. (incidentally work/werk have cognates in German and Scandinavian languages too, but only as nouns (Werk, virke, verk etc.), hence the shift to "arbeid" in the Norwegian version; and "buy"->kjøp or e.g. German kaufen is extra odd, with English having retained a Germanic form while the others inherited a latin loan-word; yes I know this is a total digression...)
- rich_sasha 5y ago
  Less novel but also true: you don’t own a boat, a boat owns you.
  - hughrr 5y ago
    Also applies to cats!
    - rich_sasha 5y ago
      Cats and boats, I have no desire to own either. Sorry, be enslaved to either.
- alamortsubite 5y ago
  Mine is, "sailboats are for people with sufficient financial savvy not to own horses."
  - hughrr 5y ago
    Horses are terrible. My sister is an equine speciality vet so is taking advantage of that fact.
Tehdasi 5y ago
Another one: Boat stands for Bust Out Another Thousand.
detritus 5y ago
"A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into".

satellite2 5y ago

I think you underestimate how rich some are. I think the process is much more like everyone else, trying to buy something slightly more exciting each time. After the sixth smartphone you buy it becomes much more like a chore and less like a fun buy. So when you're bored with real estate you start shopping boats and when you're bored with boats you start with aeronautic/spatial.

viraptor 5y ago

> I'm curious what the process is for rich people wanting to buy a yacht. Most likely you tell your PA to organise it. But otherwise there seem to be a few companies making large custom yachts - you can see them in some seaside towns. The most obnoxious "we'll build anything for cash" I've seen was Sunseeker in Poole, UK (see https://maps.app.goo.gl/TCcRnqkCFKWLY6WF8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/TCcRnqkCFKWLY6WF8) - they have a large number of multi-deck absurdly big boats on display all the time. > than some inconvenient boat on the water The inconvenient yacht designed to your desires and containing any equipment you want, that you hire the crew and a good chef for and just say where you want to get on / off? Yeah can't imagine enjoying that either ;)

brnt 5y ago

There's rich, and there's superrich. This is a boat for the superrich. The superrich don't have to choose between a yacht and a penthouse, they have both in every city they frequent. They also do not necessarily use them themselves, the are often used to host and bribe (politician can have a month on the fully staffed yacht). A friend used to be an electrician for a company building such yachts. Good money!

rosndo 5y ago

> Further, for me at least, if I was a billionaire, I'd much rather stay at some posh penthouse in the center of town than some inconvenient boat on the water. Ah, you’ve just never visited Costa Smeralda :) One of the most beautiful places on earth, but the hotels are terrible and will still charge you over 10k euros a night. The only way to enjoy good quality accommodation and service is to go on a yacht. (Also a wonderful place to visit with a tent or perhaps a small sailboat, just stay away from the hotels and most local restaurants unless you want to pay 300 euros for a pizza)

MikeDelta 5y ago
I guess billionaires could still pay for that, but it sounds great to have your own place that you can move anywhere along any coast in the world, where you can entertain your guests and where service and privacy is exactly the way you want it.
- rosndo 5y ago
  It’s not a problem of being able to pay for it, I spent hundreds of thousands on an all-expenses-paid site inspection. The client was happy to cover because they were planning a 5M+ wedding. Despite the frivolous spending, I didn’t really have a good time. Money was no object, but I still felt like I was constantly being taken advantage of. The big problem I had with Costa Smeralda was that despite the outrageous price tags, I was staying in a marriott room that would’ve gone for 200€ anywhere else. Eating a 300€ pizza that would cost £15 in central London. It wasn’t like Courchevel, which carries similar price tags but also feels truly special. From what I understood the Costa Smeralda properties only survive because of very old money folks whose parents were going there every year since before WW2. Besides me the youngest customers were in their 60s, there won’t be any left once they die off. Perhaps the rumored Aman property will change this? I don’t know. At least the yacht guarantees that the experience will be exactly what you wanted, even if you pay through the nose for it. It’s a portable ultra-luxury hotel you bring with you.

vidarh 5y ago

They're statements, not meant to be practical for the most part. You can literally buy lightly used smaller cruise ships substantially cheaper than most super yachts - the cost is in customized expensive interior and in operating the thing with a large crew, not in the "bare" ship structure per se. They're attractive to some exactly because the barrier to having one is far higher than for a luxury penthouse, to the point that the biggest ones are known by name and recognisable wherever they go because there are so few of them.

animal531 5y ago

I've watched a few youtube sailing channels a few years ago. For these people (unlike the billionaire), they're all living on their boats. Basically it's not about the sailing, but about the ability to move around the world (picking and choosing the weather/seasons you want), experiencing new places, being very into water sports and activities etc. So basically think having your posh penthouse, but moving it around the world.

shantara 5y ago

I asked myself the same questions about the world of yachts and this article answered them very well: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-lonely-life-of-a-yacht-influencer https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-lonely-life-of-a-yac... >See, the power of owning a magnificent yacht like that is in how you’re telling the world that you’re beyond buying and selling. You have more money than there is money to have. You’ve transcended. There are no frontiers left for you on dry land

WanderPanda 5y ago

If you have any desire for free movement then it payed out having a boat during covid. Pretty much the only way to leave your country at times

davidjytang 5y ago

The rich is likely just buying it for the experience of buying a yacht.