What does VFM mean when buying a cruiser?

[programmable]

My 3 year plan and dream is to sell my home and business, move back to Newport RI where I lived as a boy, and buy a 50 - 60 foot blue water cruiser, which my wife and I will sail together on extended cruises to the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

I am researching many sailboat options and educating myself. What I am having trouble getting my arms around is whether it is worth paying 2 to 4 times more for a high-end semi-custom yacht compared to buying a less expensive production yacht.

For example, at the base price of $1,811,250 a Discovery 57 costs 2.3x more than a Jenneau 57 priced at $778,540. Another example, priced at $1,033,890 a Regina Pilothouse 49 costs 3.6x more than a Jenneau 50DS priced at $290,460.

What are the extra benefits the extra cost of a high end Discovery or Regina yacht buys compared to what you get when you buy a production boat built by Jenneau or Benneteau? Which option offers the best VFM (Value For Money)?

I read that the Jenneaux and Benneteax boat builders achieve economies of scale which allow them to product high quality boats at low cost. Does the quality of these production boats really match the quality produced by the low volume builders like Discovery and Regina?

[Blue Stocking]

good question

[Khagan1227]

Welcome aboard Programmable!

I think the answer to your question is the same for "high end" cars or houses as well.

Better materials, constructions methods, quality control, or so we are told.

That said, just like with high end cars it really matters to the buyer.

Besides, if you can't sail worth a darn, buying a more expensive boat won't make you a better sailor.

[westwinds]

Do you have special requirements? What would you want that a production boat would not have that could be easily retroffited onto a production boat? If you want something unusual, take a look at the book by Dave Gerr, the Nature of Boats.

[perchance]

It's like buying a basic car and then adding whatever options you think you need or can realistically afford.
But for those with deep pockets it boils down to bragging rights

[Tia Bu]

Alas! If you have plenty of money to spend on boats, there will be people lined up four deep to take it from you. The price, in my experience, seems to have little relation to value.

It might help to start a little smaller and cheaper and older and get more comfortable judging value on your own before you shoot for your dreamboat.

Of course, if you really will derive pleasure from spending your new found money, then why not have at it with no guilt and angst? I mean, it's just a boat, after all, and we aren't getting any younger!

Here's a stab at a definition of VFM in a cruiser: You like the boat and have fun in it when you're out cruising (or sitting in the marina, or staring at it from the dock, or whatever you want to do with it.)

[Ex-Calif]

Money = Fixed unit system
Value = Variable unit system
VFM = Variable result

OTOH I wish I had the problem of deciding to spend $800k or $1.8m...