Buying a used boat: viewing, budget and documents

1. Start with your cruising plans and berth

A boat for outings on Lake Geneva faces different constraints from a long-distance cruising yacht. List your sailing areas, number of people aboard, comfort requirements and the manoeuvres you can handle. Separate essential equipment from improvements you can make later.

Check beam, draught, air draught and lifting facilities before choosing a model. A berth mentioned in a listing is not an agreement to transfer it: ask the marina directly about conditions, availability and fees.

2. Compare genuinely comparable boats

Shortlist similar models, build periods and versions. Compare private or charter use, currency, stated tax status, location and included inventory. A boat with recent electronics is not equivalent to one whose equipment needs replacing.

Confirm that the price is current and the boat available. An asking price is not a completed sale price. Without verified comparable sales, do not infer a precise valuation or a guaranteed negotiating discount.

• Price, currency, stated taxes and supporting evidence.
• Recent maintenance, outstanding work and quotations.
• Included equipment, exclusions and possible handover date.

3. Arrange a viewing, sea trial and appropriate survey

Ask to inspect the boat before its engines are warmed up, with access to bilges, machinery and structural areas. Agree a written scope with an independent marine surveyor: afloat inspection, lift-out, trial, engines, rig, electrics and access limitations. Visual inspection alone cannot answer every question.

Compare engine hours with invoices and any hour-meter replacement. Record defects without diagnosing cracks or leaks yourself. Where structure or safety may be involved, have a professional specify the conditions under which a trial is safe.

4. Check the boat's identity and sale documents

Match the hull number, model and documents. Verify the signatory's identity and authority to sell, any co-owners or finance, and ownership history. How to check rights over a boat depends on its registry and country.

For permanent import into Switzerland, Swiss customs explains declaration and registration evidence; the cantonal authority then handles admission. Confirm requirements before buying, particularly abroad. In France, the official recreational-boating portal covers, among other things, purchase and sale declarations for privately used sea-registered vessels.

Swiss customs: permanent import into SwitzerlandService Public: recreational sea-boating formalities

5. Cost the project before committing

Add the negotiated price, survey, lift-out, transport or delivery, formalities, work, insurance and berth. Include a reserve suited to the uncertainties. Obtain dated quotations: a universal maintenance percentage conceals major differences between boats.

Specify trial and survey conditions, inventory, deadlines, deposit arrangements and what happens if results are unsatisfactory. Have important commitments reviewed by a qualified professional in the country of sale. Do not transfer money solely on a screenshot of bank details or a sense of urgency.

6. Prepare a documented handover

At handover, compare the signed inventory with what is actually aboard. Collect keys, manuals, invoices, evidence of agreed work and documents needed for formalities. Confirm insurance and responsibility from the transfer date.

Plan a gradual familiarisation. A satisfactory survey does not remove the need to understand the boat's systems or prepare its first trip. Keep unresolved questions in the file and obtain written answers rather than letting buying enthusiasm obscure them.