Four asks cut in three days, and a 2024 Azimut lost EUR 1m
Four cuts inside three days
The four are Fabulous Character, a 42.3-metre Holland Jachtbouw delivered in 2010, cut by USD 2.55m; Althea, a 48-metre Admiral from 2021, cut by EUR 2m to EUR 26.9m with VAT paid; Blue Eyes, a 37.6-metre Azimut Grande Trideck delivered in 2024, cut by EUR 1m; and Q.M., a 32.5-metre Numarine 32XP from 2019, also cut by EUR 1m. BOAT International reported all four between 28 and 30 July. The central agents are Andrew LeBuhn at Camper & Nicholsons, Bryan Somerset Mehut at Fraser, Adrian Soos at Ocean Independence and Alex G. Clarke at Denison Yachting. Four yards, four brokerage houses, four countries of build.
The proportions are more useful than the totals. On the figures BOAT International reports, Fabulous Character came off by 15.5 per cent, Q.M. by 9.5 per cent, Althea by 6.9 per cent and Blue Eyes by 5.9 per cent. Any one of those has an ordinary explanation a broker can give, and none of them is a distress number on its own. Four of them inside a single working week, and inside a single length band, is a different signal: the band is clearing its asking prices in public.
The two-year-old boat took a cut as well
Blue Eyes is the one to read first, because she is barely two years old. Azimut delivered her in 2024 on the Grande Trideck platform, with exterior lines by Alberto Mancini, an interior by Achille Salvagni and berths for twelve guests in six cabins. Adrian Soos of Ocean Independence describes her as ready to use, citing upgraded twin MTU engines, a fresh repaint and all warranty work completed. That is the easiest condition a brokerage boat can be in.
Which is why the EUR 1m matters. A two-year-old series yacht with nothing outstanding against it should be the last listing in the book that needs a discount, and the seller has taken one anyway. For anyone holding a recent Grande, a Custom Line or a comparable Italian tri-deck, the read-across is direct: the resale price of a nearly new production yacht is being set by the supply of other recent hulls, not by what the boat cost new. The premium a delivery slot used to carry over a used boat of the same model is thinning at exactly the length where it was widest.
The deepest cut went to the oldest hull
Fabulous Character took the largest reduction of the four at USD 2.55m, and she is also the oldest boat in the group. Holland Jachtbouw built her in aluminium in 2010 to a Langan Design Associates hull, with an interior by Rhoades Young, and she was refitted in 2018. She sleeps ten guests in five cabins. Camper & Nicholsons now asks USD 13.95m, down from USD 16.5m, and the yard's own brokerage page was still carrying the pre-cut figure days after the reduction was reported.
Sixteen years is not old for a Dutch custom build, and the pedigree argument is a real one: a hull of this kind was engineered to a standard that a series boat of the same length was not. She is also priced in dollars into a US buyer pool, against newer Italian and Turkish tonnage that offers more interior volume for the money. A 15.5 per cent reduction is roughly what it now costs to keep a boat of that age and provenance in the conversation. Owners of similar-vintage custom builds should file it as a marker, not as an outlier.
What an owner should take from a week like this
The band from roughly 30 to 50 metres holds the largest share of the brokerage fleet, which is why four cuts inside it in three days carry more information than one dramatic reduction on a 90-metre. Althea shows the other half of the picture. She is a 2021 Admiral of 499GT, RINA classed and aluminium built, refitted at Monaco Marine across 2024 and 2025, VAT paid, and on only her second ownership since delivery, having last changed hands in June 2024. Fraser has taken EUR 2m off her, to EUR 26.9m.
A VAT-paid, freshly refitted boat with a short ownership history is meant to be the strong listing in its size class, and it moved on price too. For an owner deciding whether to sell this autumn or wait, the pattern is that sellers across the band are choosing to move the number rather than sit on it, and buyers appear to be waiting for precisely that. A boat going to market now will be tested against four fresh comparables that have already come down. A boat being bought now has four reductions to argue from, and they set the floor of the negotiation rather than the ceiling.
What owners and crew report
The only detailed account of Blue Eyes comes from the selling side
Adrian Soos, her central agent, describes the boat as ready to use, citing upgraded twin MTU engines, a fresh repaint and all warranty work completed. It is the strongest condition claim attached to any of the four, and it is made by the broker instructed to sell her. Read it as a claim to verify on survey, not as an independent report.
Adrian Soos, Ocean Independence (central agent)No owner, captain or surveyor has spoken publicly about any of the four
We looked. There is no published sea trial, no survey summary and no owner account for Fabulous Character, Althea, Blue Eyes or Q.M. Everything in the public record traces back to the central agent's listing or to BOAT International's report of the reduction. On a brokerage boat that is normal, and it is exactly why the survey and the sea trial are the buyer's own work.
Yotters deskOne yard's own page contradicted the broker's
Holland Jachtbouw's brokerage listing for Fabulous Character was still showing USD 16.5m days after the cut to USD 13.95m had been reported. Builder brokerage pages lag; the central agent's page is the number that is being asked.
Holland Jachtbouw brokerage listing / Camper and Nicholsons
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- Four dated comparables, in public, in one weekA buyer negotiating anywhere in the 32 to 48 metre band now has four named, dated reductions to open with, and they set the floor of the conversation rather than the ceiling. That is unusual: most repricing in this market happens quietly between two brokers.
- The band is busy, not stalled45 sales in the 30 to 40 metre bracket in the first half of 2026, ahead of 2025, 2024 and 2023. Cuts inside an active band are a pricing correction, which is a very different thing from a band nobody is buying in.
- Total money went up while unit sales went down326 boats sold in H1 2026 against a year earlier's higher count, but for USD 3.51bn, 15 per cent more. Buyers are still there and are spending more per boat. A seller reading only the asking-price cuts is reading half the page.
- For a buyer, the strongest listings moved tooAlthea is VAT paid, freshly refitted and on her second ownership, the profile that normally holds its number. She came off EUR 2m anyway, which means the good listings are negotiable this autumn and not only the tired ones.
What to watch
- Four listings are not a market1,117 reductions were filed in six months. Four inside three days and one length band is a striking cluster, but it is a tiny sample and BOAT International reports the notable cuts rather than all of them. Read it as a marker, not a measurement.
- Nobody knows what any of them sells forEvery number here is an ask. Sale prices in this market are confidential, so a 15.5 per cent cut proves the seller's expectation moved and proves nothing at all about where the boat trades.
- A nearly new hull is not immuneBlue Eyes is two years old, repainted, with warranty work closed and upgraded engines, and she still took EUR 1m off. Anyone holding a recent Italian tri-deck should assume the resale is being set by the supply of other recent hulls rather than by what the boat cost new.
- The dollar listing is in a different fightFabulous Character is priced in dollars into a US buyer pool, against newer Italian and Turkish tonnage offering more interior volume for the money. A 15.5 per cent cut on a 2010 Dutch build is roughly the cost of staying in that comparison, and owners of similar-vintage custom boats should price accordingly.
- Sixteen years is where the clock starts tickingThe 25 to 29 year cohort is the one that sits longest and discounts deepest. Fabulous Character is not there yet, but an owner planning to sell a 2010 boat in five years is looking at that cohort's numbers, not at today's.
Practical detail
| Fabulous Character, 2010, 42.3m Holland Jachtbouw | Now USD 13.95m, down from USD 16.5m. A cut of USD 2.55m, or 15.5 per cent. Ten guests in five cabins, aluminium, Langan Design hull, refitted 2018. Central agent Andrew LeBuhn, Camper and Nicholsons. |
|---|---|
| Althea, 2021, 48m Admiral | Now EUR 26.9m, down EUR 2m, or 6.9 per cent. 499 GT, aluminium, RINA class, VAT paid, refitted at Monaco Marine across 2024 and 2025, second owner since June 2024. Central agent Bryan Somerset Mehut, Fraser. |
| Blue Eyes, 2024, 37.6m Azimut Grande Trideck | Cut by EUR 1m, or 5.9 per cent. Twelve guests in six cabins, exterior by Alberto Mancini, interior by Achille Salvagni. Central agent Adrian Soos, Ocean Independence. |
| Q.M., 2019, 32.5m Numarine 32XP | Cut by EUR 1m, or 9.5 per cent. Central agent Alex G. Clarke, Denison Yachting. |
| How big the market these four are cutting into is | 2,157 pre-owned yachts were listed for sale on 1 July 2026, worth USD 18.8bn, on Northrop and Johnson's Q2 2026 count. 1,891 of them are motor yachts. |
| How ordinary a cut has become | 1,117 price reductions were filed across the first half of 2026, up 5.9 per cent on the same period last year. The average reduction was USD 1.7m in the first quarter and USD 1.4m in the second (Northrop and Johnson). |
| What the band is actually selling | 326 pre-owned yachts sold in the first half of 2026, 8 per cent fewer than a year earlier, but for USD 3.51bn, 15 per cent more. The 30 to 40 metre bracket took 45 of those sales, ahead of 2025, 2024 and 2023 (Northrop and Johnson). |
| The cohort that sells worst | Northrop and Johnson name yachts of 25 to 29 years old as the hardest to move: the longest average time on the market and the deepest average cuts. Boats of 5 to 9 years are the most active segment. |
| What is NOT published | Brokerage sale prices are confidential and are not reported, so nobody outside the deal will learn what any of these four finally fetches. Days on the market are not published per listing either. Every percentage on this page is measured against the previous ASK, never against a sale. |
| How to check the current number yourself | Read the central agent's own listing, not the builder's brokerage page: Holland Jachtbouw was still carrying the pre-cut USD 16.5m ask for Fabulous Character days after the reduction was reported. BOAT International publishes the reductions as they are filed. |
Questions this story answers
What happened?
Between 28 and 30 July four brokerage yachts of 32.5 to 48 metres had their asking prices reduced, and the cuts run from 5.9 to 15.5 per cent of the previous number. The deepest went to a 2010 Dutch custom build. The one an owner should look at hardest went to a boat delivered two years ago.
What is good about it?
Four dated comparables, in public, in one week. A buyer negotiating anywhere in the 32 to 48 metre band now has four named, dated reductions to open with, and they set the floor of the conversation rather than the ceiling. That is unusual: most repricing in this market happens quietly between two brokers.
What should an owner or buyer watch?
Four listings are not a market. 1,117 reductions were filed in six months. Four inside three days and one length band is a striking cluster, but it is a tiny sample and BOAT International reports the notable cuts rather than all of them. Read it as a marker, not a measurement.
What do owners and crew report?
Adrian Soos, her central agent, describes the boat as ready to use, citing upgraded twin MTU engines, a fresh repaint and all warranty work completed. It is the strongest condition claim attached to any of the four, and it is made by the broker instructed to sell her. Read it as a claim to verify on survey, not as an independent report. (Adrian Soos, Ocean Independence (central agent))
Who reported this?
BOAT International, Camper & Nicholsons, Fraser, Ocean Independence, Denison Yachting, YachtBuyer, Holland Jachtbouw.
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