Charter boat finance
Funding for boats bought to earn, from a single skippered charter yacht to another hull added to an established fleet.
- FCA regulatedAppointed Representative, FRN 1031964
- 60+ lendersWhole-of-market panel, not one bank
- 5.0 from 19 Google reviews
- No credit checkEnquiring leaves no mark on your file
Yes, and it is assessed very differently from a leisure boat. A charter vessel is funded on hire purchase or lease as a commercial asset, and the underwrite rests on the trading income the boat will generate, the booking history behind it and the MCA coding that permits paying passengers. Used boats are fundable and most fleets grow that way. The point operators underestimate is documentation: coding category, passenger numbers, skipper qualifications and insurance for hire and reward all have to be in place, and a funder will want last season’s figures rather than a projection alone.
Who finances this
Usually an established operator running day charter, corporate hospitality or sail training out of the Solent, Falmouth, Oban or the Yorkshire coast, adding a hull because last season sold out. Sometimes a skipper going out alone after years working for someone else, with a boat identified and bookings already provisionally taken. The trigger is almost always the season calendar, the boat has to be coded, crewed and on the water before Easter to earn in its first year.
How lenders see it
Charter is where marine underwriting stops being about the boat and starts being about the business. Funders on this panel want accounts, booking records and evidence that the coding category matches the waters and passenger numbers the operator is selling. They also know the resale market: a coded commercial hull has a narrower buyer pool than the same boat in private hands, so the security is worth less than a leisure valuation suggests. Ownership still has to be evidenced through bills of sale and Part 1 registration rather than a logbook, and any marine mortgage cleared at completion. Berths, mooring contracts and the shore base are separate liabilities and cannot form part of the boat agreement.
Buying used
Yes. Most fleet additions are used, and older hulls place where coding is current, survey is clean and the trading figures support the commitment.
Also in boat and marine finance
See everything we fund in boat and marine finance →
Machines we have funded
| Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 coded | MCA coded charter yacht |
|---|---|
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 449 | Skippered or bareboat charter yacht |
| Cheetah Marine 9.95m catamaran | Coded passenger day boat |
| Ribcraft 7.8 coded RIB | Charter and passenger RIB |
| Blyth Workcats 8.5m catamaran | Passenger and dive charter catamaran |
| Haines 32 hire cruiser | Broads hire fleet cruiser |
| Aqualine Canterbury hire widebeam | Canal hire fleet boat |
| Cygnus GM 32 | Sea angling charter boat |
| Ocean Master 630 charter boat | Small passenger charter vessel |
| Volvo Penta D4-320 repower | Charter vessel engine replacement |
Does the boat need to be coded before finance completes?
It needs to be coded before it earns, and funders want a clear path to that. Buying an already coded vessel is simplest. If the boat is coming out of private ownership, the cost and timescale of getting it coded should be built into the plan we put to the lender.
Can I finance a boat for a first charter season with no trading history?
It is harder but not impossible. Without accounts, a funder leans on your own experience, any related trading record, forward bookings and the strength of the asset. A skipper with years of commercial sea time and a berth secured presents very differently from someone starting cold.
How is charter income actually assessed?
On what the boat has earned or can realistically earn against the cost of running it. Lenders look at booking patterns, the length of the season in your waters, crew costs and maintenance. A short northern season with weather cancellations is judged differently from a year-round base.
Can I add a second boat before the first is paid off?
Yes, and that is how most fleets grow. The funder will look at the total exposure across your agreements and the trading the fleet produces. A clean payment record on the first boat is the strongest argument you can bring to the second. Funders also want to know that crew and a berth are in place for the extra hull.
Is the mooring or shore base fundable too?
No. Berthing contracts, office space and shore facilities are separate agreements with separate providers and sit outside the boat finance entirely. Some shore equipment may be fundable in its own right, but the berth itself never is. Build the berth, the licence and the hire and reward insurance into the running budget from the start.
Tell us what you need
About a minute of plain questions, and no documents to dig out.
Prime is established and profitable with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining, the asset carries part of the risk, so finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Illustrative only, not a quote, a flat rate is not an APR, so the APR on a given agreement will be higher. VAT and fees excluded.
Start my enquiryNo credit check, and enquiring leaves no mark on your credit file. Finance is subject to status. We are a credit broker, not a lender.
Only pricing it up?
An enquiry is a conversation, not an application. Nothing runs against your file until you tell us to go ahead.
No credit check to enquire
Your credit scoreUntouched
Conor reads every enquiry himself. We will call you within 24 business hours, and it will be the person who actually arranges the finance, not a call centre, and not a form that disappears.
A real person on your side
One adviser from your first enquiry to the money in your account. No call centres.
Your adviser
Conor HullMon to Fri, 9am–6pm
5.0 from 19 Google reviews
Thinking about charter boat finance?
A few questions, and we will tell you what the panel can do. No obligation, and no call centres.
