2 guides in 2 stages · figures recomputed 5 Nov 2026
Guides to buying and owning a boat.
Written from the market we measure, so the numbers in them are real and kept current. Start from where you are.
Start here
£14,450a year, 10 m sailing yacht 10 to 19 years old, South Coast marina berth, before engine servicingWhat it really costs to own a boat in the UKBerth, insurance, maintenance and depreciation, line by line, with your own bill.£131,000to aim for on a 1990 Grand Banks 42 Classic asking £141,950How much should I offer on a used boat?Reading an asking price, finding the gap, and making an offer a seller takes seriously.
02
How much should I offer on a used boat?Reading an asking price, finding the gap, and making an offer a seller takes seriously.£131,000to aim for on a 1990 Grand Banks 42 Classic asking £141,9504 min readBuying
From the first viewing to the handover: what to offer, what to check, and what catches buyers out.
03
What it really costs to own a boat in the UKBerth, insurance, maintenance and depreciation, line by line, with your own bill.£14,450a year, 10 m sailing yacht 10 to 19 years old, South Coast marina berth, before engine servicing4 min readOwning
What it costs, where to keep it, and how its value changes year by year.
05
Value a boatA Gauge Estimate and likely range for one boat, from its model, year and hours.Sailing catamaran pricesEvery well-observed catamaran by length and price, with the builders that hold value.£372,500median asking price of 1,847 sailing catamarans, in today's pricesSailing yacht pricesEvery well-observed sailing yacht by length and price, with the builders that hold value.£72,500median asking price of 10,992 sailing yachts, in today's pricesMotor boat pricesEvery well-observed motor boat by length and price, with the builders that hold value.£142,000median asking price of 36,277 motor boats, in today's pricesPower catamaran pricesEvery well-observed power catamaran by length and price, with the builders that hold value.£448,000median asking price of 590 power catamarans, in today's pricesRIB pricesEvery well-observed RIB by length and price, with the builders that hold value.£39,500median asking price of 724 RIBs, in today's pricesTools
Pages that work the figures out for one boat, or one kind of boat.
Terms we use
The words that recur in listings and on this site, in one line each.
- Gauge Value
- The median asking price of a model, from every boat of it we have observed in the last seven years, restated in today's prices.
- Gauge Range
- The middle half of those asking prices: a quarter of boats ask less, a quarter ask more.
- Gauge Estimate
- What a particular boat is likely to be asking, from boats of the same model built within a few years of it.
- Market Gauge
- How the market as a whole is moving: boats listed now, the price level against a year ago, cuts and days listed.
- Gauge Report
- A paid, printable report on one boat: its estimate, its comparables and what to offer.
- Firm
- A figure from 25 or more boats.
- Indicative
- A figure from 8 to 24 boats.
- Provisional
- A figure from 5 to 7 boats.
- Asking price
- The price a boat is advertised at. Not what it sold for.
- Days listed
- How long we have seen a boat advertised so far. Not the time it took to sell.
- Price cut
- A boat asking less than it did at least two weeks earlier on the same site.
- In today's prices
- Older asking prices restated by their year's market factor, so boats seen in different years compare fairly.