Guide · owning
What it really costs to own a boat in the UK
A 10 m sailing yacht 10 to 19 years old, typically asking about £61,000, costs about £14,450 a year to keep on a South Coast marina berth, before engine servicing: £1,200 a month. The biggest line is the berth at £5,750; depreciation, which never arrives as an invoice, adds another £2,750.
Your bill, line by line
Change the boat and the bill changes with it. Every rate is cited at the end of this guide; typical asking prices, engine hours and the depreciation stand-in are measured by Hull Gauge.
6 of 7 lines priced · range £9,300–£19,650 from the cited low and high rates · each line is rounded; the total is rounded from the exact sum
Depreciation here is a stand-in: the typical yearly rate of models with boats this age, not this boat’s own curve. Every model page shows its own.
An estimate from cited rates and our own measurements, not a quote. It leaves out finance, upgrades and the unexpected, which you should budget for too.
Total £14,450 a year, £1,200 a month.
The number that matters
Divide the year’s bill by the days you actually go out. That is what each day on the water costs you, and it is the number to hold against a charter.
At 20 days a year, each day on the water costs £720. Hold that against what a week's charter of a similar boat would cost you.
At 20 days a year, each day on the water costs £720. Hold that against what a week's charter of a similar boat would cost you.
Each cost, explained
Berth: the line you choose
BerthFinder's survey of UK marinas puts an annual South Coast berth at £2,500–£6,500 for a typical cruising yacht, the East Coast at £1,500–£3,500, Scotland at £800–£2,500 and inland moorings at £600–£1,800 before the waterway licence. Marinas that publish a rate per metre charge from £310 (Inverness Marina) to £947 (Exmouth Marina) a metre a year. Where we cite a marina's own tariff, the bill above uses it, so switching the region shows that marina's figure. A swinging mooring costs a fraction of a marina berth but needs a tender and a calm day to reach it.
Depreciation: the line nobody budgets
It never arrives as an invoice, so it is easy to forget, but for a 10 m sailing yacht under 10 years old it is the largest line in the bill. Across the 371 models whose depreciation we can fit, eight in ten lose between 2.5% and 8.5% of their asking price for each year of age. Every model page shows its own rate; the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, for example, loses about 4.8% a year. The bill above uses a stand-in: the typical rate of models with boats of the age you choose, not your boat's own curve.
Maintenance: budget by age
A common rule is 2%–5% of the boat's value a year for a boat under 10 years old, rising to 5%–10% for an older one. The percentage rises because the value falls while the rigging, sails and engine still wear out at the same rate. A rigger we cite, ML Masts & Rigging, budgets for a re-rig every 10 to 15 years; standing rigging and sails are the big-ticket items to plan for.
Insurance: 0.5%–1.5% of value
Most UK policies price on agreed value, cruising area and experience. Insurers may ask for a survey on older boats, which is worth having anyway.
The ones people forget
A lift-out, pressure wash and antifoul each spring. An engine service. Liferaft servicing, flares, gas certificates and a first-aid kit that's in date. Chandlery that seems small until you add it up. On inland waters, the navigation licence.
By length
The same choices as your bill above at 5 lengths, each at its own typical asking price and the default engine hours. Biggest line on your bill right now: the berth.
| Length | Typical asking price | Berth | Depreciation | Everything else | Total a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 m | £37,500 | £5,000 | £1,700 | £3,700 | £10,400 |
| 10 mnearest yours | £61,000 | £5,750 | £2,750 | £5,950 | £14,450 |
| 12 m | £138,000 | £6,900 | £6,250 | £12,800 | £25,900 |
| 14 m | £147,500 | £6,900 | £6,650 | £14,050 | £27,600 |
| 16 m | £248,500 | — | £11,250 | £23,000 | — |
a dash: not priced for that length (see the bill above for the reason); a row without its berth or typical asking price has no total · typical asking prices, not sold prices
Six ways to spend less
- Swap the marina for a mooring
A swinging mooring costs a fraction of a marina berth. You trade convenience for a tender trip. We have no cited mooring rate yet, so the bill above prices marina berths.
- Keep it ashore or in a dry stack
Dry-stack storage takes the place of the berth and ends antifouling; many yards launch on request.
- Buy a few years older
A 10 m sailing yacht 10 to 19 years old, typically asking £61,000, loses about £2,750 a year on our stand-in rate, against £6,050 for one under 10 years old asking £120,500. Most of the difference is the lower price, not a slower rate.
- Move up the coast
The same 10 m sailing yacht berthed at Tidemill Yacht Harbour on the East Coast costs about £1,850 a year less to keep than on the South Coast, on the tariffs we cite.
- Share it
A syndicate of three or four owners splits every fixed line on this bill. Agree the calendar and the maintenance budget in writing first.
- Do the easy jobs yourself
Antifouling, oil changes and winter layup are well within most owners’ reach.
Questions
How much does it cost to keep a boat in a UK marina?
BerthFinder puts an annual South Coast marina berth at £2,500–£6,500 for a cruising yacht, the East Coast at £1,500–£3,500, Scotland at £800–£2,500 and inland moorings at £600–£1,800 before the waterway licence. Marinas that publish a rate per metre charge £310 to £947 a metre a year.
What percentage of a boat’s value does it cost to run each year?
For the boat in this guide, about 24% of its typical asking price a year, including depreciation, before engine servicing. On older, cheaper boats the percentage is higher because fixed costs like the berth don't fall with the value: 39% for the same boat 20 years old or more.
Is it cheaper to charter than to own a boat?
It depends on how often you go out. Divide the yearly bill by the days you spend on the water and set that against a week's charter of a similar boat: for the boat in this guide, at 20 days a year, each day costs £720. We have no cited charter rates yet, so we don't print a break-even.
What is the biggest cost of owning a boat?
It depends on the boat's age and where you keep it. For a 10 m sailing yacht on a South Coast marina berth: under 10 years old, the largest line is depreciation at £6,050, then the berth at £5,750; at 10 to 19 years old, the largest line is the berth at £5,750, then maintenance at £4,600; at 20 years old or more, the largest line is the berth at £5,750, then maintenance at £1,900.
Sources
- Lake Yard price list 2026: Lake Yard marina berth, 10-12 m (1 Apr 2026 - 31 Mar 2027); Lake Yard: lift, hold, pressure wash, relaunch, plus antifoul labour (from 1 January 2026); Engineering labour, Lake Yard (from 1 January 2026). Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- BerthFinder: Marina berth, East Coast (2026); Inland mooring (2026); Marina berth, Scotland (2026); Marina berth, South Coast (2026). Accessed 21 Sep 2026.
- Exmouth Marina berths: Exmouth Marina, annual berth (2026). Accessed 21 Sep 2026.
- Inverness Marina charges 2026/2027: Inverness Marina, annual berth (2026/2027 season). Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- Tidemill Yacht Harbour charges: Tidemill Yacht Harbour, annual berth (2026). Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- Boating Magazine, "Calculating Boat Fuel Consumption": Marine diesel at cruise (2019-09-30). Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- Littlehampton Marina fuel prices: Marina diesel, 60/40 declaration (as of 01.09.26). Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- Velos Insurance; Admiral Yacht Insurance: Comprehensive boat insurance (2026). Accessed 21 Sep 2026.
- Boatsetter: Maintenance, newer boats (2025); Maintenance, older boats (2025). Accessed 21 Sep 2026.
- CDT Marine price list: Engineering labour, CDT Marine. Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- Marine Engine Servicing service guide: Labour, Marine Engine Servicing. Accessed 22 Sep 2026.
- ML Masts & Rigging: Standing rigging: budget for a re-rig. Accessed 24 Sep 2026.
- Hull Gauge depreciation curves: 371 publishable curves fitted on observed asking prices, recomputed nightly. How they are computed.
- Hull Gauge typical asking prices by type, age band and length, in today's prices: 58 UK boats for this guide's example boat.
- Hull Gauge engine hours and power from listings: hours by age for 103 UK sailing yachts, power for 204 boats of this length.
Each rate carries the date we last read it at its source; they are checked by hand. Spotted an out-of-date figure? corrections@hullgauge.com