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Our team has been on both buy side (pre-purchase surveyors and advisors) and sell side of numerous vessels bough and sold through auctions. Yachts and commercial vessels of various size and conditions have gone through our desk. We have been able to observe, evaluate and appreciate all the advantages and disadvantages of buying and selling through auctions. Our final conclusion, after weighting pros and cons, is that it is probably the very best way to sell or buy a vessel. Regardless, if you are a broker or professional or if you are the principal (buyer or seller). In this post we would like to give you the details and reasons why we came to such conclusion.

Why are yacht auctions great if you are a seller:

  1. TIME:

    Some data published by large yacht broker house suggest that over a certain size ( 30mt ) the average time to sell a yacht is 18 months from its first listing now this likely to be 50%-60% less at about 6 – 9 months for vessels between 13-25 meters but this is an even more price sensitive segment. The sale average time an auction is 1 – 1.5 months as published by YachtBid.com who in the last 5 years managed to sell 85% of the vessels auctioned.

  2. THE COST OF TIME FOR ON THE SELLER

    It goes without saying that yachts/vessels have running costs every month even at the dock. To simplify let’s assume 10% a year of the value of the yacht is the burning rate of the vessel X valued at 1 million euros. (without taking into account weather-induced damage that may occur when a yacht is idle and/or unattended and is not always covered by insurance) So €100k in running cost per year means that if the sale process takes 6 months the seller has an added cost of €50’000 + the risk and potential cost of weather-induced damages. This means that an offer of 950k in one month from the auction start is as valuable (if not more) than €1 million 6 months later.

  3. THE COST OF TIME FOR THE BROKER (viewings):

    Auctions have set viewing dates and a limited amount of time to schedule extra viewings or inspections by definition therefore the people that are interested in viewing a vessel (and eventually do a sea trial, inspection survey) have a limited amount of time to schedule it so they are forced to be decisive and efficient about it. Such process also proves how serious a buyer is about the vessel.  A limited viewing and inspection time frame saves hundreds of hours and thousands of euros (especially if the vessel is far from the broker/seller) in travel costs for each individual that expresses some interest in the vessel and may also be just day-dreaming that one day he/she may buy it and truly just using the Yacht viewing as an excuse to take a holiday in some lovely yachting destination where the vessel is located.

  4. PRICE AND PAYMENTS:

    The general notion is that at auction you buy at a lower price. In most cases this may as well be true, however because of; 1) the running cost and added depreciation and decay a vessel can quickly generate costing a lot to the owner and 2) the negative effect that it can have on value to see a boat listed for sale for a year or more. At auction you may just end up getting a much more fair treatment by the market. There is also the issue of payment terms.

    A lot of buyer and sellers agree on some instalments with a lump sum at the beginning. In the case of auction the buyer has to have already arranged to have the full amount. He/she will need to wire the full amount by auction end. This amount is invoiced by the auction house and received in full. The auction house acts as an escrow account. The seller at this point signs a document, whereby he/she/they take delivery of the vessel and full charge of all associated costs and liabilities. Once that is signed the auction house immediately wires the full amount to the seller, without any further hassle or delays and usually within 48hours the full amount is available in the seller bank account.

  5. RESERVE PRICE AND OFFERS TOO LOW: 

    Auctions can run in two ways either with a low base price and a hidden reserve price above which the seller implicitly accepts the offers exceeding such reserve price or with a slightly higher base price and no reserve price at all whereby the seller reserves the right to accept or refuse the highest offer. Auctions have a setup cost just like on ebay. However, on such high ticket items it is very minor. It barely even compares to the cost of showing a boat to 15 different people in the course of 6 months even if that means fuel cost only to the boat and back.


Why are yacht auctions great if you are a buyer:

Let us tell you a real story: once we were instructed as surveyors from an English buyer to do a pre-purchase survey on a 1991 Italian-built 87 feet fly bridge yacht laying in the port of Ibiza, the asking price was €400k it had some work to do but it was sea worthy nonetheless, furthermore, it had 77 days of day charter fees to showcase for at an average price of 6,000 euros/day so the numbers showed it was quite a good deal. We conducted a full pre-purchase survey we delivered the report to the client and the client instructed us as buyer representatives to complete the transaction with the selling broker offering the full asking price to be paid in one payment only. In other words, the ideal situation for a seller.

The asking price paid in full nearly no negotiations, other than the mooring, the buyer wanted to take too. We did as instructed and we were fully paid for our surveyor services + the travel costs of course. We offered the full amount to the seller and the seller almost literally disappeared for 2 months after. So to sum-up the buyer had spent money with us + taken days to come and see the boat. He sustained the cost of sea trial. However, the buyer could not complete the sale for reasons that were completely  unexpected. Later on the seller re-appeared proposing a Spanish-only vessel sale agreement. The seller wanted the full payment before signing a change of ownership commitment. Clearly that was not conceivable for an English client even if one assumes good faith.

  1. BUYER HAS SAFETY OF SMOOTH TRANSACTION:

    At auction the process is clear. Agreements are standardised to international legal standards. The process is explained clearly from the very beginning. There can be no surprises or changes of mind. Once the highest bidder offer has been officially accepted (within max 48 hour from auction closing). The buyer money is safely kept in escrow in a dedicated account until the buyer is signing the delivery. Once the seller has verified that the specification and pre-purchase inspection match the condition at delivery and inventory that constitutes part of the sale. The boat changes hands.

  2. PRICE: 

    Some auctions are done because sellers wants out fast. He/she is willing to take a little less money  than the market value, but faster. Some other auction require a fast sale because of a bankruptcy of a company. Some other maybe because of a divorce case, that imposes turning assets into liquidity. In some other cases boats require work. So the new owner must be someone who has the knowledge, time or simply willingness to carry on such works. In the majority of auction there is a price advantage as a buyer. The ability to act fast and buy quickly always brings a price advantage to the buyer. Furthermore, the YachtBid.com team for instance has careful consideration that the description of the vessel matches the most recent status of the vessel if a vessel is listed for sale for 9 months the pictures and videos you see may not match reality anymore so price becomes an issue of lengthy and tiring negotiations.

  3. VIEWINGS AND INSPECTIONS: 

    At auction the buyer can simply book one of the viewing dates. Otherwise he can schedule make an appointment to view the boat. The vessel and professional personnel is ready and available to show the vessel. In private sales, without a nearby broker fully appointed with keys to the vessel. It is often difficult to schedule a viewing. Futhermore most likely the seller doesn’t have much time to use the vessel. Therefore, he/she is quite busy and hard to reach.

The value of rarity in Yacht Auction: Yachts have History with Celebrities

When it comes to yachts oftentimes they are unique and not part of production series. Some of them have the added value of some very special owners or guests in their history. For instance on YachtBid.com very recently former Frank Sinatra and Virna Lisi’s yacht was sold (see image below)

Frank Sinatra YACHT

NORDIC STAR FORMERLY OWNED BY FRANK SINATRA AND COMMISSIONED NEW BY VIRNA LISI

If you are the owner of a vessel interested to sell through auction contact us directly Auctions@RodriquezConsulting.com or phone +44(0)7445308622


If you are an established broker or a marine professional and you would to establish a working relationship for multiple auctions where you are the presenting broker email Malta@yachtbid.com or phone  +31 (0) 20 8945579 

 

UPDATE: The updated list of vessels with a preliminary budget for the completion of construction of each vessel. The budgets are to be intended with new engines, new components and labour offered by our team in Italy.  

Lot Name and Hull N Base Price Budget for Completion End of Sale Winning offered  Wired by Notes
7 Aicon Open 62-15 € 48.000,00 € 570.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
8 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 62-16 € 57.400,00 € 570.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
14 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 62-33 € 33.600,00 € 570.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
15 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 62-34 € 24.000,00 € 570.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
16 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 62-35 € 22.700,00 € 570.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
17 Imbarcazione Aicon Fly 64-25 € 19.900,00 € 650.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
18 Imbarcazione Aicon Fly 64-89 € 26.700,00 € 650.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
19 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 72-33 € 48.700,00 € 850.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
20 Imbarcazione Aicon Open 72-34 € 33.300,00 € 850.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
22 Imbarcazione Aicon Fly 80-11 € 41.900,00 € 1.200.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
24 Imbarcazione Aicon Fly 85-24 € 49.600,00 € 1.300.00 Feb Preliminary Budget
25 Imbarcazione Aicon Navetta 110-11 € 26.500,00 € 4.200.000 Feb Preliminary Budget
26 Imbarcazione Excalibur 380 € 1.600,00 € 100,00 10/12/2019 17.00 04/12/2019 18.00 N/A
29 Imbarcazione Morgan 55-11 € 21.200,00 € 625.000 Feb Preliminary Budget

Once it was Aicon Yachts and it was designing and building, award winning yachts sold worldwide including a line of open/coupe fast yachts (Aicon 62 and Aicon 72) that made several appearances on the  U.S. TV series CSI. Its designed was imitated by several other yacht builders. It built for and delivered to NBA stars like Glen Rice (Aicon Yachts 64 Flybridge named G-Force) and several other celebrities.

– PLEASE READ THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE ON THE AICON YACHT AUCTION –

To make the long story short the crisis took its toll on Aicon Yachts and not too long after its IPO on the Milan Stock Exchange the company had to file for bankruptcy.

Important NOTE: At the end of 2020 the Aicon Yacht brand was bought and will likely see a new era of yacht production therefore the brand is likely to get sustained in its market value : READ ARTICLE 

Aicon Yachts Navetta 110

Aicon Yachts Navetta 110

Aicon Yachts was a client of our firm much before the IPO, therefore we are very familiar with their production lines, production managers, designers, engineers and a great deal of the very valuable contractors and employees that made this company great during its award winning times. It was indeed quite an impressive growth from 0 to over 100 units per year in less than 10 years. Despite the unlucky epilogue of the company itself there are still hundreds of people enjoying their Aicon Yachts in all corners of the world.

For those in the industry it is an opportunity to acquire assets (boats) and for individual investors (with our support) it is a unique opportunity to acquire interesting yachts at a fraction of what they would cost even pre-owned and renewed.

We are in a unique position to offer support to individuals and companies that want to seize this opportunity to acquire one or more of these vessels in order to finish them and resell them or charter them.

If you would like to purchase a vessel to charter it take a look and download our Yacht Charter Business Plan which includes a 1-1 consultation on your specific requirements.

Our team is available to support buyers in the following steps:

  • Yacht acquisition and budgeting of the works to be done 
  • Yacht transport before and/or after completion 
  • Yacht Registration, flag, insurance, Yacht financing
  • Interior design and interior fittings project management 
  • System Engineering and installation 
  • Where applicable [0 engine hours]; Insurance Warranty for vessels that will all be registered as new units 

Models of Aicon Yachts still available at a discounted rate from the Bankruptcy Auction:

Aicon 64 (Award Winner) [Flybrigde Model]

Aicon 64

Aicon 62 Open/Coupe 

Aicon Yachts 62 open

Aicon 72 Open/Coupe 

Aicon 72

Aicon 75 [Flybridge Model] 

Aicon 75 -Aicon Yachts bankruptcy auction; new yachts at 90% less - Auction

Aicon 85 [Flybridge Model] 

Aicon Yachts bankruptcy auction; new yachts at 90% less - Auction

Aicon 110 Navetta [Never Completed – see image below] 

Aicon Yachts bankruptcy auction; new yachts at 90% less - Auction

Aicon Yachts Navetta 110

The prices of the vessels at auction go from €20,000 to €240,000 depending on the vessel and at what stage of construction that is. – The retail prices of these vessels were between €650,000-€3M+

 

UPDATE: The next round of offers will be presented as early as Oct 2019, thus contact us (+44 7445 30 86 22) if you would like our assistance with the following process to acquire one or more vessels.

Process and Requirements to make an offer:  (Pre-Acquisition)

  1. Preparation of offer document and estimate of suitable offer and related cautionary fully refundable deposit of 10% of the offer value for the court to validate the offer.
  2. Legal and technical translation of the offer document into Italian according the Italian court requirements
  3. Inspection of the vessel by our naval engineering team on our client behalf to make sure that at time of offer the Bankruptcy Court has described the object accurately to the most current status
  4. Budgeting of the works needed to get the vessel up to the required standard of the naval registry and ready for launch (as per client requirements)

Process and Requirements:  (Post-Acquisition):

  1. Coordination of the logistic to move the vessel to the chosen destination
  2. Ownership registration and flag (where applicable for finished vessels and if required by client)
  3. Work scheduling and technical supplies provision
  4. Contractual arrangement with the Shipyard recommended to carry out the necessary works
  5. If/where needed; naval engineering and architecture to customise the vessel acquired upon request by new owner.
  6. Shipyard work supervision and coordination if/where needed and requested by client.
  7. Booking and coordination of the Naval Registry (of choice) inspector visit and pre-visit compliance check.
  8. Launch of the vessel and delivery to the client chosen port or support in finding mooring space for the vessel in the client chosen area and transport of the vessel to destination (on Wheels or by Sea).

NOTE of Full Disclosure: Rodriquez Consulting does not get a commission on any of the boats acquired the service we provide is of use during the acquisition, thus it will be billed separately if you choose our company to manage the works each vessel will need after acquiring any of the vessels subject of this auction. 

    During one of our recent shipyard visits comes one very interesting opportunity for the right investor.

    131ft (40m) ALUMINUM SUPERYACHT UNDER CONSTRUCTION

    This 40m Alloy was left before completion and we are offering for sale with a plan to finish and a preliminary budget done. The yacht is considered to be about 45-48% finished. Considering the value of the acquisition and the preliminary budget we have calculated to complete the project at the expected superyacht quality standard it is not an understatement to say a prospective client could get this finished for much less than a new built-in of this size and quality would actually cost.

    Rodriquez Yacht 40m

    Rodriquez Yacht 40m Rodriquez Yacht 40m Rodriquez Yacht 40m

    Technical Specifications

    • –  Length, overall 40mt
    • –  Length, water line 36mt
    • –  Beam, overall 9mt
    • –  Draft, amidship 3.90mt
    • –  Draft at full load (underprops) 2.60mt
    • –  Full load 260 tons
    • –  Gross Tonnage 380 tons (approx.)Tanks
    • –  Fuel oil tanks 60.000Lt (approx)
    • –  Freshwater tanks 20.000 (approx)
    • –  Waste oil tank 500lt (approx)
    • –  Black/gray waters tank 5000lt (approx)
    PLEASE REQUEST the Full 125-page technical specification via our contact form, LiveChat or by calling +44 7445 30 86 22

    On request of a client we have preliminarily budgeted completion and pre-cleared a construction slot (and space) and logistics to move the vessel:
    [Please only consider the following figures as preliminary a detailed survey and inventory has not yet been carried out and choices of the future owner might increase or decrease the overall budget for the completion of the vessel]
    a) €1.7M – Acquisition of the vessel as is, where is
    b) €80-100k Naval registry and transport to finishing shipyard
    c) €400k – Documents and current suppliers handover to finish the systems that are left unfinished (Hydraulics, Electricals, etc..)
    e) €6M – All-in vessel finishing including but not limited to registrations, labor, design, and engineering of the interiors and customization, marine testing, etc.. [A detailed  preliminary budget will be available upon request from qualified prospective buyers] 

    Total budget €8.2M
    Time Needed: 10-12 months + (1 month of buffer for eventual delays of suppliers and or transport authorizations)

    Realistic Sale Price once finished as a new vessel €13.5-15M

    An indication of Charter fee median rate: €90-€150k/week – The vessel has the potential for a cross-Atlantic fuel capacity so the charter season could be extended to over 20 weeks – Should you be interested in purchasing to charter it not just sporadically please take a look at our Yacht Charter Business Plan Template 

    In less than 4 hours this vessel will be sold for ONE third of its value 

     

    For last minute offers call this number +44 020 3868 6352

     

    Asking price € 1.485.000

    Highest Bid is €520.000

    NOW SOLD FOR €750.000

    Description:

    Beautiful North West American craftsmanship. Sturdy and reliable world cruiser capable of sailing 4000 miles without refueling. Cockpit, entrance, saloon, galley, head and master bedroom with ensuite facilities all at deck level.

    Specifications:
    Model Northern Marine 78
    Type motor yacht
    LOA (m) 23,5
    Beam (m) 6,6
    Draft (m) 2
    Headroom (m) 2,2
    Year built 2003
    Launched 2003
    Builder Northern Marine
    Country U.S.A.
    Designer Northern marine
    Displacement (t) 130
    CE norm NA
    Hull material GRP
    Hull colour white
    No of engines 1
    Make Cummins
    Type KT19M
    HP 600
    kW 441
    Fuel diesel
    Year installed 2003
    Maximum speed (kn) 12
    Cruising speed (kn) 8,5
    Consumption (l/hr) 40 liter/h @ 9 knots
    Range (nm) 4250 @ 1050rpm
    Engine hours 3000
    Cabins 4
    Berths 9

    UPDATE: Auctions dates have been extended!

    Another great off-market opportunity to acquire a state of the art full aluminium vessel with an incredible spec sheet and really modern design. The vessel is a great example of the well-known Dutch yacht building quality we all know and love. Only two of these were ever made for very discerning super yacht owners. This vessel was designed by Vripack. We very much feel the designer name speaks for itself.

    Full survey available (End of November 2017)  valued the yacht at over €1M and the auction will start at €200k on February the 7th thru the 21st. 

    Finance can be arranged through our company of choice Lombard Marine Finance for UK customers.

    The Infinity 501 is currently in Honk Kong however delivery to the client desired destination can and will be arranged by our team if needed.

    The Infinity 501 is built by Holterman Shipyard in The Netherlands and designed by Vripack. There are absolute no compromises made regarding the areas of safety, reliability and comfort. This manifests itself in her sailing behaviour at high speed, but also in her perfect manoeuvring capacities. Equipped with 2 Glass bridge Raymarine panels, AIS, Generator, Radar, Autopilot, tender garage and even an Williams 285 Tender. Let yourself be convinced by a viewing on the yacht. 2017 full survey report available.

    Original asking price previous to auction: € 985.000 (ex VAT)
    Starting BID at € 200.000 (12.5% needs to be added to winning bid)


     

    Please use this form to register your interest

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    Technical Specifications and most recent usage figures: 
    Model: Infinity 501
    LOA (m) 14,98
    Beam (m) 4,75
    Draft (m) 1,3
    Year built 2012
    Builder Holterman Yachting
    Country The Netherlands
    Designer Vripack, The Netherlands
    Displacement (t) 24
    CE norm B
    Hull material aluminium
    Hull colour orange Metallic paint
    Hull thickness (mm) 11
    Hull shape round-bilged
    Superstructure material aluminium
    No of engines 2
    Make Yanmar Type 6S Y-720 – HP 720 – kW 529,2
    Fuel: diesel
    Maximum speed (kn) 24
    Cruising speed (kn) 18 @ 1800 RPM
    Engine hours: 550
    Engine cooling system freshwater heat exchanger
    Drive V-drive
    Engine controls electrical
    Gearbox ZF Marine 325-IV
    Bowthruster hydraulic Vetus BOW310HM, 20kWatt hydromotor, 310kgf
    Sternthruster hydraulic Hundested FT1R retractable
    N of Cabins: 2
    N of Berths:  6