Every yacht owner who has watched a vessel sit on the brokerage market for fourteen months knows the arithmetic intuitively. This page puts it on paper — so you and your CPA can decide which path leaves you better off.
A vessel in lay-up is not free. A 35-metre motor yacht in a Mediterranean marina runs roughly six to nine percent of hull value per year to keep — dockage, insurance, two or three crew on retainer, classification maintenance, paint cycles, and depreciation. On a four-million-dollar asset that is two hundred forty to three hundred sixty thousand dollars a year. Twelve months of that is most of the discount an owner eventually accepts on a second or third price reduction.
Days-on-market for serviceable yachts in the 25–50 metre range run eight to eighteen months in normal conditions, longer in soft years. The first reduction is usually eight to ten percent. The second is another ten to fifteen. A closing at 70–75% of brochure ask is normal for a vessel that needed two reductions to move. Brokerage commission is typically 10% of the closing price.
A donation to The International SeaKeepers Society closes in roughly sixty days from the signed letter of intent. The owner receives a fair-market-value tax deduction, supported by a qualified independent marine appraisal, deductible against up to 50% of adjusted gross income in the year of the gift, with a five-year carry-forward on any unused balance.
Carrying cost stops the day title transfers. The vessel disposition — through the SeaKeepers research-fleet program, a three-year bareboat lease to a qualified operator, or a thirty-day campaign through Boathouse Auctions — is handled by SeaKeepers and our team. The donor's involvement ends at closing.
A 28-metre European steel motor yacht with a $2.4M brochure ask, eleven months on market with one reduction.
Donation is not always the better outcome. If the vessel is in current demand and a clean sale is realistically near, brokerage usually wins. If the vessel has been sitting, has deferred maintenance, or is in a soft segment, donation often wins by a wide margin.
In Paul Madden's own words.
Why You Should Donate Your Yacht · The Yacht Channel · YachtDonations.net
You cannot donate the vessel, take the deduction, and arrange for a related party to buy it back — the IRS treats this as a disqualifying prearranged sale.
You cannot deduct an outstanding mortgage. The deduction is based on fair market value at the time of contribution, net of any debt the charity assumes. Most donors who carry meaningful debt clear it before donating.
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