How did the yacht charter market evolve over the past year? Based on booking behaviour and search patterns from thousands of Boataround users in 2025, several clear trends emerged. Which destinations drew the most attention when people chose to sail, and what types of boats they preferred all offer a snapshot of changing travel habits. Let’s take a closer look at how the season unfolded.
Which boat model was the most booked in 2025?
The Lagoon 42 catamaran was the single most-booked yacht model of 2025 on Boataround. For the first time, a catamaran took the top spot, overtaking the long-time monohull leader Bavaria Cruiser 46. Bookings of the Lagoon 42 jumped over 60% year-over-year, pushing it to number one overall.
Where did most people want to sail in 2025?
Croatia remained the most sought-after sailing destination in 2025, retaining the highest number of searches and bookings – despite a slight 2.1% drop in interest compared to the previous year. Greece and Turkey gained significant ground, growing by roughly 13% and 17% respectively. Italy’s numbers held steady.
Which destinations grew the fastest?
Turkey stood out with the highest growth rate among major markets in 2025, expanding its share of interest significantly. In absolute terms, Greece saw the largest year-over-year jump in search volume. Looking beyond Europe, Seychelles was the fastest-growing destination overall with about a 31% surge, followed by notable upticks in interest for Thailand (+19%).
What size yachts were most popular?
Mid-sized yachts in the 40–46 foot range were by far the most popular choices. In particular, 42-foot boats hit a sweet spot, offering a balance of comfort and easy handling – and dominated a large portion of bookings. The vast majority of charters fell into this mid-size category, whereas very small or very large yachts were booked much less often.
Are people choosing newer or older boats?
Charterers were split between seeking the newest boats and going with tried-and-true older vessels. About 31% of bookings were for brand-new yachts (up to 2 years old), showing a healthy appetite for the latest models. On the other hand, more than half of bookings were for boats aged 5 years or older, suggesting that many sailors are also happy with well-maintained older yachts, often at a more attractive price point. But that’s also where the supply is: there are simply more older boats in the fleet. Preference meets availability.
What’s the average age of a booked yacht?
The average age of a booked yacht in 2025 was around six years. Looking at the fleet composition, the most frequently booked model years were 2024, 2023, 2020, and 2019, showing strong demand for both newer boats and well-maintained vessels from previous years.
As a curiosity, the oldest yacht booked in 2025 was a traditional Croatian boat built in 1926, which is still actively sailing in the Boataround fleet nearly a century later.
When did most trips take place?
Summer was king. June emerged as the busiest month for trip start dates, with the highest number of check-ins – and the most popular departure days were Saturdays in June. High demand persisted throughout late spring and summer as well: May, July, August and early September all saw plenty of activity. Interestingly, the single peak week for online searches was actually in late September – hinting at growing interest in sailing during the tail end of the season.
Is interest in the shoulder season growing?
Yes. There are clear signs of more off-peak sailing. Bookings for October rose by roughly 9–11% year-over-year, pointing to increased interest in autumn trips. Meanwhile, spring trips (for example, May) stayed about flat compared to the previous year. It appears more people are choosing the quieter shoulder months – especially the fall – for their sailing holiday. Just keep in mind that weather tends to be more unpredictable during this period.
How long did people typically charter a yacht for?
The classic 7-day charter still reigned supreme in 2025. Over 80% of trips followed the standard Saturday-to-Saturday format. Two-week charters were much less common, and shorter getaways of 3–4 days accounted for only a small fraction of total bookings.
The longest charter recorded lasted 28 days.
There was a slight increase in short-duration charters, but this appears to be driven more by the fact that more charter companies are starting to offer sub-week options, rather than a significant shift in customer preferences.
How far ahead do people book their sailing holiday?
Sailors tend to plan well in advance. Approximately three-quarters of all charters were reserved 4 to 12 months before the departure date. In fact, the single most common lead time was about 6–9 months ahead of the trip. By contrast, true last-minute bookings (made within a month of departure) were extremely rare – only around 1–2% of total bookings.
Planning early has clear advantages: more choice, better availability, and access to early booking discounts. We explore why booking ahead pays off in this article on planning your 2026 sailing holiday.
How much did a sailing holiday cost on average?
On average, customers paid around €84 per person per day for their yacht charter. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to about €88 per person per night for a shared 4-star hotel room in a popular coastal destination. In other words, a sailing vacation can cost about the same as staying in a nice hotel on land. Similar price. Just better.
Were discounts common?
Yes. Many bookings benefited from a price reduction. Among those reservations that had a discount applied, the average savings were about 33% off the yacht’s listed price. Early-booking deals and off-season sailors were major contributors to these steep discounts.
Do people book on mobile or desktop?
Big decisions are made on big screens. While mobile rules the browsing experience, the final click often happens elsewhere. About two-thirds of visitors explore yacht charter deals on their phones. It's fast, convenient, and always within reach. But when it's time to book, those numbers flip. Desktop takes the lead as the preferred device for completing the reservation.
Do most people charter with or without a skipper?
Nearly all customers chose to sail bareboat (without a hired skipper). About 97% of bookings were skipper-free, with only around 3% of clients opting to add a professional captain. The few who did hire skippers were most often travellers from countries like Australia, the United States and various parts of Scandinavia.
How big were sailing crews on average?
Most sailing crews were modest in size. The majority of charters involved groups of 4 to 6 people, and in fact groups of 4 were the single most common crew size. Larger parties of 8 to 10 people did occur but were much less frequent by comparison. But size doesn’t matter. Personalities do.
Who did people sail with?
Sailing holidays were primarily group getaways with friends or family. About 56% of bookings were made by a single individual on behalf of a group (often organising for a group of friends). Families accounted for roughly 23% of bookings, while couples made up the remaining 21%. This shows that in many cases, one friend takes the lead in booking the boat, but family trips and romantic sailing escapes also have a strong presence.