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A 50m motor yacht costs $200,000 to $350,000 per week base fee in peak Mediterranean (last week of June through third week of August, 2026). The same hull runs $175,000 to $300,000 in peak Caribbean (December through April). Shoulder season drops the base fee 20 to 30 percent in both regions. APA, gratuity, and VAT add 45 to 65 percent on top, so the all-in for a peak Mediterranean week on a $260,000 base lands between $385,000 and $440,000 depending on cruising waters and itinerary.
This page covers the 50m band specifically: what the yacht looks like at this size, how the rate is set, the all-in math, and the cuts between 40m below and 60m above. The 50m band is where charter shifts from a large yacht to a small superyacht, and the price step up off the 40m band reflects a real change in capability, not a vanity premium.
What a 50m charter yacht looks like
The reference 50m motor yacht in 2026 is 49 to 54m LOA, built 2008 to 2024, 5 to 6 guest cabins, sleeping 10 to 12 guests, crew of 9 to 12, beam 9 to 10m, draft 2.5 to 3.5m. Cruising speed is 12 to 15 knots, top speed 16 to 22 knots depending on builder and engine package. Fuel burn underway is 400 to 700 litres an hour. Range at cruise is 3,000 to 4,500 nautical miles, which means transatlantic on her own bottom is on the table without a tow.
The standard build at this band has a two-deck master suite (sleeping deck plus dedicated sitting area or office), a VIP cabin on the main deck or upper deck, three to four guest cabins below, a beach club opening at the transom, a tender garage holding two tenders and water toys, at-anchor stabilizers as standard since 2014, and a sundeck large enough for an outdoor cinema setup. Newer builds (2018 and later) often include diesel-electric or hybrid propulsion, a touch-and-go helipad, and zero-speed stabilizers rather than fin-only.
What a 50m starts to deliver that a 40m does not. A genuine beach club rather than a folding swim platform, a tender garage rather than on-deck tender stowage, a guest gym in some layouts, a chief officer position separate from the captain, a chef plus sous chef, and a chief stew plus second stew. The crew structure shift is the operational difference. Service depth at 50m starts to compare with the better hotels ashore.
Base fee by region and season
The 2026 weekly base fee ranges for crewed 50m to 54m motor yachts at the top of the active fleet for the band.
| Region | Peak base/week | Shoulder base/week |
|---|---|---|
| Cote d'Azur and Italian Riviera | $280,000 to $350,000 | $200,000 to $260,000 |
| Amalfi, Capri, Sardinia | $260,000 to $325,000 | $185,000 to $245,000 |
| Balearics (Mallorca, Ibiza) | $235,000 to $295,000 | $170,000 to $220,000 |
| Croatia and Montenegro | $210,000 to $270,000 | $150,000 to $200,000 |
| Greek Cyclades and Ionian | $220,000 to $285,000 | $160,000 to $215,000 |
| Turkey (Bodrum, Gocek) | $200,000 to $260,000 | $145,000 to $195,000 |
| BVI and US Virgin Islands | $175,000 to $235,000 | $130,000 to $180,000 |
| St Barths and Antigua | $215,000 to $290,000 | $160,000 to $220,000 |
| Bahamas (Nassau and Exumas) | $200,000 to $265,000 | $150,000 to $210,000 |
| Maldives and Seychelles | $230,000 to $310,000 | $175,000 to $240,000 |
Yachts at the middle of the active fleet for the band run 15 to 20 percent below the top-of-band numbers. Pre-2008 hulls without a full refit since 2020 typically run 25 to 35 percent below the band ceiling.
What drives the rate inside the band
Four factors move the 50m band price meaningfully on otherwise similar yachts.
Builder and pedigree. A Feadship, Lurssen, Abeking and Rasmussen, or Benetti Custom at 50m trades at the top of the band. An Amels 188 or 199 or a Heesen 50m series at the same age trades 10 to 15 percent below the custom-build ceiling. Production-line builders at the band trade 15 to 25 percent below custom.
Build year and last refit. A 2022 to 2024 build at 50m trades at the top. A 2012 build with a 2023 refit trades 10 to 15 percent below the top. A 2010 build with no refit since 2018 trades 25 to 35 percent below. "Refit 2024" without a scope description is a flag. Ask the broker for the refit invoice scope before signing.
Crew tenure and captain. A 50m with the same captain on the boat four-plus years trades at the top of the band. Captain turnover in the previous 12 months knocks 5 to 10 percent off the rate, sometimes more if the central agent is honest about it. Chief stew tenure matters almost as much; the interior is what guests remember.
Specific guest features. A beach club with full sauna and hammam, a touch-and-go helipad in commercial-flag countries that allow it, and a tender garage holding a 7m chase tender plus a Williams jet tender all justify a premium at the band. A 50m yacht with only an inflatable RIB and no beach club is priced as a 45m, regardless of the LOA.
The all-in cost math at 50m
A 50m motor yacht with a $260,000 weekly base fee, chartering in French waters in the first week of August 2026.
Base fee: $260,000. APA (30 percent of base): $78,000. Gratuity (12 percent of base, paid at trip end): $31,200. VAT (10 percent on base in French waters under short-term charter regime): $26,000. Total all-in: $395,200.
Move the charter to Italian waters under the standard regime: VAT rises to 22 percent ($57,200), all-in $426,400. Apply the Italian short-term lease scheme to a qualifying yacht: effective VAT roughly 6.6 percent ($17,160), all-in $386,360. Move to Croatian waters: VAT 13 percent ($33,800), all-in $403,000. Greek waters: VAT 12 percent ($31,200), all-in $400,400. Turkish waters with a commercial flag in transit: VAT zero, all-in $369,200. The Caribbean (BVI, Antigua): no VAT, base fee 15 to 25 percent lower, all-in for a comparable 50m at $215,000 base lands at $310,000 to $325,000.
The VAT savings between French and Italian standard regime on a single 50m week is $31,200. Splitting a two-week charter between Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France) can save a similar amount if the itinerary is structured properly. Most 50m central agents will draft this routing if you ask. Few volunteer it.
What APA covers on a 50m
APA at 30 percent of $260,000 base is $78,000 for the week. Typical 50m peak Mediterranean week consumption against that float.
Fuel: $22,000 to $36,000 on a moderate-cruising week (50 to 80 nautical miles a day, 5 to 7 hours underway). Cruising-heavy week pushes fuel to $48,000. Dockage: $14,000 to $32,000 for two to three nights alongside in peak Saint-Tropez, Capri, Porto Cervo, or Monaco. Five nights alongside in Monaco peak puts dockage alone above $40,000. Provisioning: $14,000 to $22,000 on 10 to 12 guests with a chef and sous chef, including breakfast and lunch on board most days and dinner ashore three to four times. Shore excursions, tender ops, and water toys fuel: $4,000 to $9,000. Communications (Starlink Maritime Pro plus crew data): $2,200 to $3,500. Helicopter movements where applicable: $5,000 to $18,000 per trip, paid as a pass-through if the yacht has helipad use. Miscellaneous (laundry, flowers, owner-account drinks, minor repairs): $1,500 to $3,000.
Total: $57,700 to $123,500 against the $78,000 APA float. Most 50m peak charters reconcile within $10,000 of the float, refund or top-up. APA at 25 percent on a 50m yacht with documented average usage is reasonable; APA above 35 percent is a flag worth questioning.
Crew gratuity at the 50m band
Gratuity practice on a 50m yacht with 11 crew. 10 percent of base ($26,000) is the floor. 12 percent ($31,200) is the standard for good service. 15 percent ($39,000) is reserved for service that solved a specific problem or held the trip together through bad weather, a guest medical situation, or an itinerary change. Above 15 percent is unusual at this band unless the captain stitched together a last-minute itinerary on short notice.
The captain typically takes 15 to 18 percent of the tip pool, the chief stew and chef each 12 to 15 percent, and the balance is split across the remaining crew by rank. On a $31,200 tip pool, the captain takes $4,700 to $5,600 and each junior crew member $1,800 to $2,300. The tip is paid in cash or by wire to the captain at trip end and distributed by the yacht's tip-pool rules. A separate cash gift to the chef or chief stew above the standard tip-pool distribution is acceptable practice.
Who the 50m charter actually suits
The 50m band is the right product for three guest configurations.
Two-family charter (10 to 12 guests, two couples with three to four children each). The 5 to 6 cabin layout matches two-family configuration. The crew complement of 9 to 12 covers childcare-adjacent duties without dedicated nannies, and the beach club plus tender garage covers water sports for the children. This is the most common 50m charter profile.
Multi-generational (8 to 10 guests across three generations). Grandparents, parents, and children. The two-deck master suits the senior couple, the VIP suits the principal couple, and the lower-deck cabins handle the children and any in-laws. The crew structure and onboard medical capability (most 50m carry a trained crew member with advanced first aid) matter to multi-generational groups with older guests.
Corporate charter (8 to 12 guests, mixed-party use). The conference-table convertibility of the saloon, dual office spaces, and a beach club that converts to a meeting space all make the 50m a better corporate platform than the 40m. Some 50m yachts are configured specifically for corporate charter with hardwired AV and a dedicated meeting room.
The 50m band does not suit charters of 6 or fewer guests (the 40m delivers the same trip for less) or groups above 12 (the legal cap forces step up to 60m). It also does not suit clients who want shallow-draft cruising in Bahamian, Croatian, or Turkish near-shore waters; a 3m draft 50m is anchored further out than a 2m draft 30m.
What we would pass on at this band
Four patterns at the 50m band that pay back nothing.
The 50m with on-deck tender stowage and no beach club. A 50m yacht should have a tender garage and a beach club. A 50m with the tender on the foredeck and a folding swim platform rather than a proper beach club is delivering the 40m product at the 50m price. The build year tells you why (pre-2010 layouts dominated by foredeck tender stowage), but the rate has not adjusted. Pass on it or negotiate 15 to 20 percent off the asking rate.
Charters with a captain in his first season on the yacht. A 50m yacht with a captain who took the position in March 2026 for a June charter is a different product than the same yacht under the captain who ran her the prior four years. The new captain is rebuilding the crew structure, has not yet committed the supply network and dockmaster relationships, and is typically more conservative about itinerary risk. Ask specifically how long the captain has been on the yacht. Anything less than a full season is a flag.
Yachts that quote a flat 35 percent APA across all itineraries. APA should track the itinerary. A Saint-Tropez week with 70 nautical miles cruising and three nights alongside is a different APA than a 350-mile Croatian week with two nights alongside. A central agent who quotes 35 percent APA regardless of itinerary is padding the float. Ask for a cruising-pattern-specific APA quote in writing.
The Caribbean repositioning week on a Mediterranean yacht. Some 50m yachts cross from the Caribbean back to the Mediterranean in early May and are quoted as available the week of May 14 in Antibes. The crew is exhausted, the yacht is mid-cleaning between seasons, and provisioning is built around what the steward could resupply in the previous 48 hours. Repositioning weeks look like a discount and read as a discount until the trip starts. Pass.
Yachts at the 50m band to consider
We name the strongest 50 to 54m charter yachts for 2026 in Best charter yachts 50-60m, with Editor's Pick, full rankings, and the yachts we would pass on at the band. For broader context on size selection, read How to choose charter yacht size. For the 80m band above, read Yacht charter cost 80m and the broader Yacht charter cost by size framework.
FAQ
How much does a 50m yacht charter cost per week? $200,000 to $350,000 per week base fee peak Mediterranean. $175,000 to $300,000 peak Caribbean. Shoulder drops 20 to 30 percent. APA, gratuity, and VAT add 45 to 65 percent on top.
How many guests does a 50m yacht sleep? 10 to 12 guests in 5 or 6 cabins. Commercial charter caps guests at 12 underway, and most 50m yachts are configured to hit the cap.
Is a 50m the right size for a family charter? Yes for 10 to 12 guests. For 8 or fewer, a 40m delivers the same trip for less. For more than 12, step up to 60m for the legal capacity.
What does APA cover on a 50m? Fuel, dockage, provisioning, shore excursions, communications, laundry, and minor consumables. Typical 50m peak Med week consumes $58,000 to $124,000 against a $78,000 APA float on a $260,000 base.
Difference in cost between a 40m and a 50m charter? 35 to 50 percent. Base fee jumps from $140K to $230K at 40m up to $200K to $350K at 50m. Crew goes from 6 to 8 up to 9 to 12. Beach club, tender garage, and dual-deck master are the capability adds.