Since 1976 I have professionally consulted with and mentored over 12,000 people seeking cruising boats. My experience in the marine industry is unique; 410,000 miles and 52 years worldwide ocean sailing experience plus boatbuilding, surveying and previously owning a yacht brokerage. I’ve also owned and maintained four ocean cruising boats.

Although 2025 was my final year of offering sail-training expeditions, I am excited to be continuing to offer this consultation service until 2030.

August 15, 2026 MARKET UPDATE from the Azores Islands:

I had a fairly quiet period early summer for consultations, but suddenly mid-July the floodgates opened with clients having purchased or in the process of purchasing yachts in Greece (two families, each with 5 yr old sons), Bahamas (50′ cat), BVI (43′ cat for their second world circumnav, this time with their 15 yr old son) and two brothers buying a Bene 423 to return to the South Pacific with. Interesting, all have been on the market only a short time and all have sold for very close to full asking price. I’m still seeing a big lack of 10–15-year-old, non-chartered, updated and maintained potential offshore cruisers. There are plenty of fairly tired ex-charter boats sitting on the market for years. It will be interesting to see what happens to this market in Oct. when people normally are back from summer fun and getting serious about buying their dream cruising boat…

March 1, 2026 MARKET UPDATE from Edmonds, WA:

Here’s an accurate assessment of what I’m seeing in the market for clean, quality used cruising boats worldwide that just came out in the Feb. issue of Yachting World from the UK: “The myth dangerous to the buyer today is that we’re in some kind of buyers’ market brought on by an economic downturn,” says broker Alex Grabau. “We’re not, and most brokers will tell you stories of someone really wanting a boat, putting in a silly low offer, and it not working out well for them.” That mismatch often spills into seller behaviour too. “The owner gets annoyed, gives an obvious ‘no’ at best, or just takes the boat off the market and keeps the boat”. “Despite fewer listings, good yachts are still selling promptly. We’re achieving pretty good prices,” Grabau says. The market is quieter, but good boats at the right money aren’t sitting.”

Another valuable tip mentioned in the same article is that the currently weak Swedish Kroner means quality Swedish yachts like Hallberg-Rassy, Malo and Najad are excellent values now. In fact, Sweden is talking about switching from the Kroner to the Euro which is not surprising.