The European-based charter company Ocean Independence recently announced five new additions to its charter fleet–and four of the motoryachts are less than 100 feet long. That makes them potentially “good buys” in the Mediterranean this summer, as some clients from outside of Europe look to downsize from larger charter yachts because of the euro’s strength against the dollar.

Here’s a look at the four “entry-level” newcomers to the fleet:

The 40-knot speedster Hardwork II is 88 feet long and takes six guests at a lowest weekly base rate of 42,000 euros.

The 80-foot Champagne O’Clock (what a great name! see photo below) takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of 40,000 euros.

The 75-foot Alexsophie takes eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of 30,000 euros.

The just-shy-of-74-foot Momas takes six guests at a lowest weekly base rate of 24,000 euros.

To learn more about booking any of these yachts in the Ocean Independence fleet, contact any reputable charter broker.

Caribbean charter – aboard the Java   121.1’/ 36.92m  
During the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show this past October I had the pleasure to meet with a referral client.  He saw the Java, 121.1/36.9m , 5 strm Broward at the show.  A few weeks after the show he called me to advise that this would be the ideal vessel and crew for his family vacation in the Spring of 2008.  So here we are six months later and the family is aboard the yacht, enjoying everything… especially the food!      

The crew on this yacht is exceptional.  They have to have high energy and organized just to keep up with the owner’s expectations.  I have had the pleasure of chartering this yacht several times over the past four years.  It has been a pleasure to work with the manager and captain of this yacht each time. The current captain was the mate who took over for the old captain who is now sailing his own yacht around the world.  (There is the passion of the sea for many of us in the yachting word… and a topic for another blog.)

I want to thank the owner of the yacht for understanding the needs of the charter brokers.  He keeps his product in top shape. He maintains a happy crew.  This is yacht  is exceptional value - five staterooms with an on deck Jacuzzi in the Caribbean.   They will ship to the Med for the summer and have a full schedule.

Thank you Mr. Owner, yacht manager and excellent crew!  I will have more business for you again soon.            

I had an interesting back-and-forth yesterday with the owner of a charter yacht that I have known for several years, and whose operation I respect. This yacht owner has invested a great deal of time in making a website where you can go to book a vacation directly, without the use of a charter broker.

The owner expressed, well, exasperation with my continually urging CharterWave readers to do the opposite by always booking through a reputable charter broker.
“This is the only business in the world,” the yacht owner said, “where a person can develop a product that’s good but isn’t supposed to market it directly to the public.”

I can understand how frustrating this must be to the yacht owner, but it is, in my opinion, the reality of the charter vacation business. If I were to book this particular yacht–which I know to be on the up-and-up–I would do so through a charter broker. I wouldn’t even give it a second thought.

The reason is that when you book a yacht charter, you are signing a contract and exchanging money with the person who owns the yacht. The owner is, by definition, usually somebody who has far deeper pockets than you do. If something should go wrong during your charter, you’re going to need someone on your side to help you get your due from the yacht owner. That someone is a reputable charter broker, whose job is not just to help plan your vacation, but also to ensure that your legal and financial interests are protected.

There are a good number of yacht owners out there (not to mention more than a few websites) working very hard to cut reputable charter brokers out of the business. From my perspective, this will accomplish nothing beyond damaging the industry itself. When people who can afford a $20,000-per-week vacation enter into a business arrangement with a person who owns a $5-million charter yacht, there needs to be a system of checks and balances in place to keep things fair. There needs to be a middleman. The financial resources each party brings to the table are simply too disparate to trust to goodwill alone.

The system of checks and balances that has evolved during the past few decades centers around reputable charter brokers, who do a pretty good job of keeping charter yacht owners honest. That’s why we’ll continue to connect you with them here on CharterWave–and why, hopefully, good yachts like the one whose owner contacted me will respect the idea that they should continue to work with them in the future.