Power cat buying / selling advice

[Dreamchaser2024]

After more than a decade of chartering power cats in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere my wife and I want more. We have devised a plan to purchase a power cat in or around Florida and spend a year (minus hurricane season of course) hopping slowly along the thorny path. When we return to the US after this adventure our intention would be to quickly sell the boat and return to our normal landlocked lives in Texas. So my question is this; what age make and price point of power cat would you recommend we look for that we stand a decent chance of reselling at the end of our trip? We know this is not a cheap endeavor but hope to limit our potential losses by buying the right boat. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts………

[mvweebles]

I cannot speak to any other brand except Horizon. A close friend purchased a lightly used 2014 Horizon PC52 about 6-7 years ago. I believe he paid close to $1.5m for it and did some upgrades and changes. He still receives frequent calls from brokers who specialize in Horizons to see if he's ready to resell - seems the PC52 is a starter-boat in the Horizon lineup and buyers want a boat while they wait the 2 years for their desired yacht to. Sounds like there is a fair amount of brand loyalty within the Horizon lineup.

I would think buying something that will be no more than 10 years old when you're finished would be a sweet spot. I know his boat needs a fair amount of refresh at 10 years old even though he keeps it in excellent maintenance.

Good luck.

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser2024

After more than a decade of chartering power cats in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere my wife and I want more. We have devised a plan to purchase a power cat in or around Florida and spend a year (minus hurricane season of course) hopping slowly along the thorny path. When we return to the US after this adventure our intention would be to quickly sell the boat and return to our normal landlocked lives in Texas. So my question is this; what age make and price point of power cat would you recommend we look for that we stand a decent chance of reselling at the end of our trip? We know this is not a cheap endeavor but hope to limit our potential losses by buying the right boat. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts………

We would need to know your budget?

[Dreamchaser2024]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

I cannot speak to any other brand except Horizon. A close friend purchased a lightly used 2014 Horizon PC52 about 6-7 years ago. I believe he paid close to $1.5m for it and did some upgrades and changes. He still receives frequent calls from brokers who specialize in Horizons to see if he's ready to resell - seems the PC52 is a starter-boat in the Horizon lineup and buyers want a boat while they wait the 2 years for their desired yacht to. Sounds like there is a fair amount of brand loyalty within the Horizon lineup.

I would think buying something that will be no more than 10 years old when you're finished would be a sweet spot. I know his boat needs a fair amount of refresh at 10 years old even though he keeps it in excellent maintenance.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I will keep an eye out for these. Any idea what your friends PC52 is worth now that it’s 10 years old?
10 years old max when it’s time to sell sounds right from what I’ve seen. I see cats that are closer to 20 years old for a bit less but they seem to just sit there for long periods of time without selling.

[Dreamchaser2024]

Most of the power cats we have chartered seem to be in the 500k to 1 Million value range so we assume that would be a reasonable budget. That said, I mostly hope to hear people’s opinions on the “sweet spot” where the boats depreciation is least and the vessel still has a strong resale demand and value. We can spend more if we have confidence that we can get most of it back.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser2024

Thanks for the reply. I will keep an eye out for these. Any idea what your friends PC52 is worth now that it’s 10 years old?
10 years old max when it’s time to sell sounds right from what I’ve seen. I see cats that are closer to 20 years old for a bit less but they seem to just sit there for long periods of time without selling.

I don't know. He keeps it in good condition and probably put $300k in maintenance and such into it, but also needs some new canvas and some of the luxury items (iPad controls for electric window coverings for example) need upgrading. That's part of the 10 year boat horizon.

I think new, these are approaching $2.25 - $2.5m so I wouldn't be surprised if it's still worth $1.3m but that's only a guess. It's a nice boat. At 18-20 knots it burns around 35 gph. Throttle back to 8-9 Kts and she burns around 7gph. With 700 gals diesel aboard, she has some range. Boat seems well built. But make no mistake, these are luxury yachts with a lot of amenities and complexity. They are an incredibly comfortable boat for tropical weather.

I've never been avoard an Aquilla but they look live boats. Not sure of the quality compared to Horizon.

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser2024

Most of the power cats we have chartered seem to be in the 500k to 1 Million value range so we assume that would be a reasonable budget. That said, I mostly hope to hear people’s opinions on the “sweet spot” where the boats depreciation is least and the vessel still has a strong resale demand and value. We can spend more if we have confidence that we can most of it back.

As mentioned above, Horizon seems to have brand loyalty. I just met a guy who was on his second Horizon (73 foot mono Motoryacht). That's typically a very good sign for relatively fast resale at a decent price. Feel free to PM me and I'll put you in touch with my friend with the PC52. He's an ex-sailor and really loves the boat. Hes out of Florida and the boat has been to Bahamas a few times.

Good luck

[dougweibel]

At the other end of the price spectrum the smaller PDQ power cats seem to hold their resale value very well and there are always interested buyers. At 34' they may be smaller than you are used to chartering.