What is the "charter version" of
a boat model
by
Alex Vournas
A lot of ink has been spilled over the last two
decades over "charter boats", or to use the
favourite yacht building companies' expression:
"a yacht built with the charter market needs in
mind".
Before we analyse what that means it is good to
understand why the yacht builders came up
building yachts for this market. Well, the
answer is simple: Because there is a high
demand for such vessels. For every single
boat they build for private use there is a
demand for three vessels which will be used for
charters -at least for the first 5-10 years of
their life.
After the early '80s and the chartering
industry boom the yacht builders -pioneered by
Jeanneau- took very seriously the increased
demands for boats built for charter only.
Trying to identify the first boat for this new
category (until then there were only yachts
built for pleasure or for races) the Jeanneau
model Sun Fizz 40 comes to my mind. It was
the first boat of this size offering a "two aft
cabins" layout, a design still in use today for
all charter yachts from 34 to 50 feet. But
the -obvious- designing revolution was not the
only feature this boat used to start a new
category and philosophy in yacht building.
To understand the philosophy behind this design
and build direction let me elaborate on the
charter market's needs:
- A charterer does not care about the
longevity of the boat.
After all, he will live with it only for a
couple of weeks -the duration of his
charter.
- He wants to pay for his holidays as
little as possible
- He doesn't pay too much attention for
the cabins size and the comforts in general
-for as long the charter price is low
- He cares for the safety and the vessel's
reliability, at least as much as an owner
does
Resulting from the foregoing demands, the
companies started building vessels to match
those requirements
- The yachts had to be cheap. New
"mass production" techniques invented and
the quality of the materials in use was
sacrificed to benefit a final product at a
"reasonable" price. Forget the use of
solid wood... cheap-wood covered with
mahogany (or teak, or whatever) is a fine
material now. The construction of the
dinette on the Bavaria yachts of the middle
'90's was not with screws (or even nails)
but with a stapling machine!!! Why not?
it supports the couches, it is faster to
built and above all.. it is cheap. The
fact that these saloons were falling apart
after a few years of use doesn't seem to
matter...
- The charterer doesn't really care about
comfort. If we can offer a yacht with
a 3 cabin layout at 40 feet we will
accommodate six persons instead of four.
If this is possible at 40 feet then what
about 36 feet? (all charter boats at 36 feet
today have this layout).. Why not even below
that?.. (the
Feeling 326 and
Jeanneau 33,1 of
the 90's also have three cabin layouts)..
And then.. why to sleep people only in
cabins..
The saloon can very well offer a bunk (on
each side!!).. that makes 8 people
accommodation. Finally, if we
introduce a mechanism for lowering the
saloon dining table we can sleep
two more.. a total of 10 pax (I'm sorry, but
you are no longer a person but just a
number) can be accommodated onboard a 36
footer. If you believe that this is
not possible, look at the Jeanneau model Sun
Shine 36 of the late '80's.
The fact that in some (extreme) cases you
need a shoehorn to squeeze you into the
so-called aft cabin is a minor detail.
Ten people on a 36 footer brings the charterer's cost/per pax below a back-packer
holiday.. The dream for every tour-operator.
- The charterer is safety
conscious.
Therefore the companies couldn't make
compromises in that section. Actually,
helped by the new technologies, I believe
that today's yachts are safer than 20 or 30
years ago.
To describe a yacht built "with the charter market needs in mind". I would say
that:
It is a vessel, capable of carrying the maximum number of people for
the given size, in high standards of safety and many compromises in quality, comfort and
sailing performances.
To end this article it wouldn't be fair not to
make a few remarks (a)
American charter market is different from the
European. Although the U.S. charter yacht
builders are offshoots of the European, like
Jeanneau America or Beneteau USA, they built only the "owner's" version
of the mother company's models with fewer
cabins. Yet, these boats are very well
operating as charter boats in the States.
It seems that the average American sailor still
put his comfort above his pocket.. (b)
In recent years there has been a change in the
European market too.. For example, the new
Bavaria 33 cruiser is offered only with 2 cabins
layout, or the
Jeanneau 49 with four cabins only
(instead of 5 cabins layout, which was last
decade's standard for the category).
