Yacht chartering is the practice of renting , or chartering, a sailboat or motor yacht and traveling to various coastal or island destinations. This is usually a vacation activity.

Companies that provide yachts for charter usually require guests to demonstrate that they have a qualified skipper and at least one skilled crew member. If the guests cannot provide their own skipper ( bare-boat charter ), most companies will provide a paid professional skipper. This is known as a "skippered" or "crewed" charter.

Luxury yachts are also chartered out to paying clients per day or week. These are larger charter yachts and will not only include the services of a professional captain but also the services of a full crew. The crew may include a chef , steward and stewardess, engineer, boson, first mate, deck hand and other 'exterior crew' such as scuba dive masters or luxury yacht tender operators.

The size of the yacht normally determines the cost of the charter fee. The term Mega yachts applies to larger vessels greater than 100 feet. Over the last 10 years the number of mega yachts available for charter has increased dramaticly. There are hundreds of yachts available between 100 to 200 feet. Fewer beyond that size, but still yachts up to 400 feet are available to charter.

A bareboat charter is an arrangement for the hiring of a boat , whereby no crew or provisions are included as party of the agreement; instead, the people who rent the boat from the owner are responsible for taking care of such things.

There are legal differences between a bareboat charter and other types of charter arrangement, such as crewed or luxury yacht charter, commonly called time or voyage charters. In a voyage or time charter the charterer charters the ship (or part of it)for a particular voyage or for a set period of time. In these charters the charterer can direct where the ship will go but the owner of the ship retains possession of the ship through its employment of the master and crew. In a bare-boat or demise charter, on the other hand, the owner gives possession of the ship to the charterer and the charterer hires its own master and crew. The bare-boat charterer is sometimes called a "disponent owner". The giving up of possession of the ship by the owner is the defining characteristic of a bare-boat or demise charter.

There are also hundreds of bareboat yacht charter brokers or agent companies. These companies offer yacht finding and travel organisation services similar to travel agent only more specialised. Their purpose is to use their experience and networks to locate a client's ideal bareboat in terms of price and location.

Bareboat hire has become increasingly common over the last ten years and in particular the last 2 years. There has been increasing demand for yacht vacations and many experienced and semi-experienced ‘yachties’ now consider it easier and cheaper to hire a bareboat, rather than own their own yacht. While both the international leisure travel industry (particularly outdoor activities based vacations) and the boating industry has both boomed in the last decade, so too has the bareboat charter industry which incorporates both of these pursuits.

A yacht (From Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt") was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries . After its selection by Charles II of England as the vessel of choice to return to Britain from Holland for his restoration, it came to be used to convey important persons (see under History below).

In later parlance, the definition came to cover a wider range of vessels, propelled by sail , power, or both and used for pleasure cruising and/or yacht racing . Often, non-sailing yachts are also referred to as motor yachts , to differentiate them from yachts designed for use with sail power.

The gulet is the boat of the celebrated Blue Cruises along Turkey 's spectacular southwest coast. With its roomy deck at the stern this traditional boat is perfect for passengers to savour the delights of cruising the inlets and coves. The word derives from the Italian 'giulietta'.

The early history of this sailing boat remains largely unknown, apart from the fact that building these boats in Turkey is a tradition unique to Bodrum , although the gulet itself is suitable for sailing in all seas. It is claimed to be unsinkable by the half-dozen recognized master craftsmen who build gulets in Bodrum and Güllük since decades. The combined launch of these local boatyards reach 15-20 boats per year. A perfect gulet will have the bottom of the hull in the form of a reversed S and the cross-timbers should be laid on the slant.

Making a gulet takes about one and a half years, including the cabin, and the price starts at about 133,000 dollars without the engine. Counting that a good engine could cost another 10 - 15,000 dollars the total outlay for a gulet ready to sail is around 150,000 dollars. The type of wood used can be pine , mulberry or mahogany , preferably cut during the summer, and surprisingly, at full moon (reputed to resist best to worms).

The procedure of building boats today has changed very little over the centuries. The changes to the basic plank-on-frame method are superficial. Electrical tools now allow craftsman to sand and shape wood faster and with more precision than they used to be able to by hand, and laminated epoxy allows for increased design options. Inside the boat, design has changed over the years have increasingly opted for larger dining and lounging facilities.

A properly maintained gulet can last over thirty years. Each winter most boats must be taken out of the water and the hulls scrubbed and given a thick coat of paint in addition to other routine maintenance.

The traditional construction of a boat starts with the laying of a keel (keel is foundation beam for the boat and ship), a massive piece of wood supported on a branching stern about a foot above the ground at both ends. This is stepped to take the stern-post (rearmost part of a ship or boat) and also the stem post (the pointed front part of a ship or boat), all made of massive pieces of timber. The keel is laid first and later the planks or ribs are attached. Usually for the keel and stern one single piece of wood is always preferred. The planks are then fastened horizontally on either side of the keel. The planks join is edge to edge. Once all interior bracing and supports are fitted, work begins on interior cabins and hull planking.

When the hull is almost completed a customary ceremony takes place; the insertion of the baklava wood. The baklava wood is the last piece to be inserted, and it is called as such because its insertion signifies that an important phase of construction is now finished and a joyful event accompanied by a small celebration featuring baklava (a popular Turkish sweet pastry) ensues. After this minor milestone, work then continues on interior and topside construction.

In addition to all woodwork, all metalwork is also done in the yard or by special fitters in Bodrum, usually in stainless steel. Raw pieces are shaped to fit the required applications, be it spar, stern rail or fuel tank. Rigging is constructed by the yard or local specialists, custom designed and fitted to each yacht individually. With the exception of mechanical parts such as engines or electronics which are bought elsewhere and installed by the builder, the entire craft is supplied and constructed by local craftsmen in Bodrum.

Launching can sometimes be a Herculean task. Many boatyards are located well away from the sea and often huge boats must be brought several kilometers for launching. Smaller boats can be transported by trucks or pulled on trailers. With the bigger boats (sometimes over 30 meters), a sledge is placed under the keel and used to transport the boat to shore and employed for launching. Well greased wooden blocks are placed on the road and continually moved, back to front, as the sledge progresses. It is not unusual to turn the corner on to a Bodrum street only to find the way blocked by a huge yacht slowly making its way to the sea. The grease used to oil these sledges and blocks of wood is that of sheep fat. A large cauldron is made from an empty steel barrel, and packed with salted fat which is solid until heated with a fire below the barrel. The liquid fat is then amply used for lubrication, and most builders claim that nothing synthetic works better than this timeless method.

A sailing yacht can vary in overall length (Length Over All - LOA, in yachting parlance) from about 6 m (20 feet) to well over 30 m (98 ft), where the distinction between a yacht and a ship become blurred. However, most privately owned yachts fall in the range of about 7 m to 14 m (about 23-46 ft); the cost of building and keeping a yacht rises quickly as length increases. In the US sailors tend to refer to smaller yachts as sailboats , while referring to the general sport of sailing as yachting.

Monohull yachts are typically fitted with a fixed keel or a centerboard (adjustable keel) below the waterline to counterbalance the overturning force of wind on the vessel's sails . By contrast, multihull yachts (a catamaran is an example of this type of vessel) use two or more hulls widely separated from each other to provide a stable base that resists overturning.

Until the 1950s almost all yachts were made of wooden boards, or in a larger yacht, steel but nowadays there is a much wider range of materials. Most common is fibreglass , but steel, aluminium and much less often because of insurance difficulties, ferrocement are used as well. Wood is still used (traditional board based methods as well as modern technologies based on plywood , veneers and epoxy -glues etc.) but wood is mostly used when building an individual boat by a hobbyist or wooden boat purist. At the other extreme, high performance yachts such as those used in the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup are often constructed from carbon fibre .

Modern yachts have efficient sail-plans that allow them to sail into the wind. This capability is the result of a sail plan and hull design (typically a sloop rig) that utilizes Bernoulli's principle to generate lift .

The term luxury yacht refers to a very expensive privately owned yacht which is professionally crewed. Also known as a super-yacht or a mega-yacht , a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht .

This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century when wealthy individuals constructed large private yachts for personal pleasure. Examples of early luxury motor yachts include M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O and M/Y Savarona . Early luxury sailing yachts include Americas Cup classic J class racers like S/Y (sailing yacht) Endeavour and Sir Thomas Lipton's S/Y Shamrock . The New York Yacht Club hosted many early luxury sailing yacht events at Newport, Rhode Island , during the Gilded Age .

More recently, over the last decade or two, there has been an increase in the number and popularity of large private luxury yachts. Luxury yachts are particularly bountiful in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, although increasingly luxury yachts are cruising in more remote areas of the world. With the increase in demand for luxury yachts there has been an increase custom boat building companies and yacht charter brokers . Luxury boat building and yacht charter companies are predominantly based in the United States and Western Europe but are also increasingly found in Australasia , Asia and Eastern Europe . European manufacturers such as Azimut-Benetti and Lürssen dominate the very top end of the yacht building market.

Some yachts are used exclusively by their private owners, others are operated all year round as charter businesses, and a large number are privately owned but available for charter part time. The weekly charter rate of luxury yachts around the world ranges from a high of Euro 661,500.00 (M/Y Annaliesse)to around Euro 20,000.00.^[1]Expenses of approximately 25-30%, such as food, fuel, and berthage is charged as an extra as well as a customary 10% crew gratuity for good service. The luxury yacht charter industry functions effectively because private yacht owners mitigate their running costs with charter income as well as keeping their yachts and crew in top running order. Conversely, private charterers charter yachts (rather than owning them) because it is generally considered to be less expensive, and less hassle, than owning a yacht and it also provides them with extra choice related to yacht type, location and crew.

Yachts from 23 metres (75 feet) and up qualify for design awards from the Superyacht Society,^[2]but at the bottom end of that scale yachts will not necessarily be crewed and many set the minimum length for a superyacht considerably higher. From around 30 metres (98 feet) and up yachts are almost always crewed. A 45 to 50 metres (148 to 164 feet) yacht, the smallest with a generally accepted claim to superyacht status, will usually be a three decker with cabins for 12 guests (that is a preferred number, more common than either 10 or 14, and is found on yachts across quite a wide size range), and for a crew of a similar size. The accommodation on this type of yacht is typically as follows:

• Lower deck: exterior swimming platform at the stern; four (sometimes five) guest cabins with en-suite bath or shower rooms aft; engine room amidships; crew quarters forward.
• Main deck: sheltered exterior deck aft leading into the salon; dining room and galley ; entrance amidships; owner's suite forward, usually includes either a study or a second twin stateroom.
• Upper deck: exterior deck aft, often used for outdoor dining; second salon (often called the sky lounge); staffed bar inside or outside or both; sixth stateroom will be amidships if it is not on the lower deck or part of the owner's suite; gym (may also be on the lower deck or part of the owner's suite); captain's cabin; bridge.
• Sun deck: on the roof of the upper deck, often features a jacuzzi.

A 50 metre yacht will have one or more luxury yacht tenders for reaching shore and other "toys" which may include a speed boat or sailing boat, jet-skis , windsurfing and diving equipment and a Banana boat . Up to date yachts have multiple flat screen televisions and satellite communications.

The number of very large yachts has increased rapidly since the 1990s and increasingly only yachts above around 65 metres (213 feet) stand out among other luxury yachts. Yachts of this size are almost always built to individual commissions and cost tens of millions of dollars (most super-yachts cost far more than their owners' homes on land, even though those homes are likely to be among the largest and most desirable). A yacht of this size usually has four decks above the water line and one or two below. It is likely to have a helicopter landing platform. Apart from additional guest cabins, which are likely to include one of more "VIP suites" besides the owner's suite, extra facilities compared to a 50 metre yacht will include some or all of indoor jacuzzis, sauna and steam rooms, a beauty salon, massage and other treatment rooms, a medical centre, a discotheque, a cinema with a film library, plunge pool (possibly with a wave-maker), a playroom, and additional living areas such as a separate bar, secondary dining room, private sitting rooms or a library. There will be more boats and "toys" than there are on a 50 metre yacht.

As of 2006 yachts above 100 metres (328 feet) are still sufficiently rare that many yacht enthusiasts can name them all. They typically have five decks above the water line and two below. The very largest yachts have begun to incorporate such features as helicopter hangars, indoor swimming pools and miniature submarines. The burgeoning number of "small" super yachts has led to the introduction of the hyperbolic terms mega-yacht and giga-yacht to demarcate the elite among luxury yachts.