Choosing the right sailing yacht, catamaran or motorboat for your charter

August 23rd, 2014

So you are looking to charter a boat for a charter in Phuket and are not sure what style of boat you need to have for the perfect and idylic boat charter around the islands of Phuket - I will talk about destinations later in another blog post.

You basically have two main choices or designs of boats to charter - Sailing Yachts or Motor Boats. These of course come in different styles, you get Sailing Catamarans and Monohul Yachts or you can get a Monohul Motor/ Power boat or Motor Catamaran. To explain the differences and the pros and cons of each type/ style of charter boat I have broken it out into two sections below - Sailing Yachts and Motor Boats.

Sailing Yachts and Sailing Catamarans

So the first thing that you will see when looking at sailing boats is the large choice and styles of yachts available. Dont worry its not that confusing, the main things you will need to consider are:

1. Overall size of the boat - this is important depending on how many people are in your group and how much space you want to enjoy
2. How many bedrooms (berths) does the boat have - on a Day charter this is not to relevent but if you are looking to stay Overnight or to do a longer cruise then this will make a difference in the size of boat you need.
3. Is it a monohul Sailing Yacht or a Sailing Catamaran - a catamaran offers more stability on the water (less rocking), more space above deck for moving around and sunbathing. Whereas the Sailing Yacht offers a more classical style of cruising and generally larger staterooms (although sometimes less bedrooms  overall)
4. The destination you want to visit - Sailing boats offer a sedate, relaxing and leisurely cruise and are not built for high speeds. this generally means they can not go as far and back in one day as the motor boats, so will tend to offer charters around the local islands only on Day Trips.

Motor Boats and Motor Catamarans

Power or Motor boats come in many different styles, shapes and sizes and depending on what type of charter you want to do depends on the type of motor boat you charter. here are some points to consider:

1. Again the size of the boat - generally the larger the boat, the more luxurious it is and the more expensive it will be.
2. The cruising speed - a faster cruising speed allows you to expplore further and less travelled destinations.
3. How much "motor/ cruising time" do you get - watch out when chartering a motor boat as they normally include approximately 4-5 hours of motor time in the charter cost - additional motoring hours are extra and the cost can mount up!
4. With Motor Boat or Motor Catamaran again the same considerations apply as the Sailing Yachts and Sailing Catamarans - Space and stability.

So that is a brief overview on what to consider when chartering a boat here in Phuket, the main points to consider are as follows:

1. Sailing Yachts or Catamarans are generally cheaper but tend to be slower and cannot cover the same distance as motorboats
   • Sailing Catamans are more spacious then the Sailing yachts and offer more deck space for sunbathing and relaxing.
   • Motor Yachts or Catamarans can be slightly more expensive but they can travel faster and reach the more distant destinations.
2. Motor Yachts come in may different styles:
   • Monohul Sunseekers/ Princess are more high end and luxurious but can not generally carry as many people.
   • Game Fishing boats are not as luxurious as the above but offer the perfect adventure sport getaway.
   • Motor Catamarans are a great mix of space, luxury, speed and comfort and can cater to the larger groups and special events and parties.

In my next Blog post I will be talking about the charter destinations here in Phuket, Thailand and which boats can go where and why!

Hopefully this helped you to decide which type of boat to charter here in Phuket and I hope to speak to you soon and take care, Simon