The true cost of owning a yacht in India

The ten-percent rule

As a planning figure, budget annual running costs at roughly ten percent of the vessel's value. It is a blunt instrument, but across a decade of Indian ownership it holds up better than any more precise-sounding estimate. A boat worth two crore costs something in the region of twenty lakh a year to keep properly.

Spend less than that and you are deferring maintenance rather than avoiding cost. Deferred maintenance on a boat compounds faster than almost anything else you can own.

Where it goes

Broadly, in this order of size for a crewed motor yacht in Mumbai or Goa:

• Crew salaries — the largest line on any crewed vessel
• Berthing or mooring fees, which vary enormously by location
• Insurance, which is priced on value, use and crew qualification
• Monsoon haul-out, layup and recommissioning — an unavoidable annual cost
• Antifouling, anodes and annual survey
• Scheduled engine and generator servicing
• Fuel, which is usage-driven and often smaller than people expect

The monsoon is a fixed cost

Four months a year the boat cannot be used and still costs money. Haul-out, pressure wash, engine pickling, storage and recommissioning happen every single year on the west coast. Owners who budget for eight months of ownership and twelve months of cost are the ones who do not get surprised.

Ways to reduce it

Three genuinely work. Buy smaller than you first intended — every cost above scales with length. Charter the boat out when you are not using it, which requires commercial registration planned before purchase, not after. Or buy a share rather than the whole boat, which divides every line item above by the number of owners.

The fourth option, doing less maintenance, is not a saving. It is a loan against the resale value at an unfavourable rate.