I spent some time onboard the beautiful 86-foot powercatamaran Bell’Mare during the recent Genoa charter show, chatting with the captain and crew about the differences between chartering “regular” powerboats and catamarans.

The captain mentioned that Bell’Mare is often charged one and a half times the regular dockage fees at some marinas simply because as a catamaran design, she’s about twice as wide as some “regular” powerboats. Marina owners, who typically charge for dockage by the foot, have to use a slip designed for a 150-foot-long “regular” boat to accommodate an 86-foot catamaran as wide as Bell’Mare, so they figure they’re losing out on a fat bit of profit if they don’t charge the catamarans more.

This, of course, translates into fees that are passed on to you, the client, at the end of your weeklong charter yacht vacation. It’s certainly something to be aware of, as extra dockage fees could push your overall costs higher than expected.

“On the other hand,” Bell’Mare’s captain said, “because of our efficient catamaran design, we use less fuel than most motoryachts–almost half as much in some cases. So from the client’s perspective, the expenses come out about the same overall.”

Well put.

Bell’Mare is part of the fleet at Fraser Yachts Worldwide. Look for my exclusive First Impression here on CharterWave soon.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Charter Yachts, charter tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.