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A 50m motor yacht that runs $280,000 a week in the third week of July runs $135,000 to $160,000 a week in the second week of November on a Mediterranean-to-Caribbean repositioning charter. The discount is real and so is the trade. The yacht is crossing 3,800 nautical miles. The itinerary is the crossing. The shore is gone for ten or twelve days.
This page covers the three main repositioning windows in the global charter calendar, what the trip actually looks like, how the math prices, who repositioning charters suit, and who they do not. We have placed clients on six transatlantic repositioning charters and four Mediterranean-to-Indian-Ocean transits in the last three years. The clients who left happy were the ones who wanted a yacht passage. The ones who left unhappy thought they were getting a discounted shoulder week.
The three repositioning windows
Mediterranean to Caribbean: 10 November to 30 November. The Mediterranean charter fleet finishes its season in late October. Yachts undergo a short maintenance and provisioning window of one to three weeks at Mediterranean bases (Gibraltar, Palma, Antibes, Tarragona), then transit the Atlantic to the Caribbean for the December start of Caribbean charter season. Around 60 to 80 charter yachts make this crossing every year. Of those, perhaps 20 to 30 offer the crossing as a guest charter rather than running empty.
Caribbean to Mediterranean: 25 April to 20 May. The reverse direction. Caribbean season finishes in late April. Yachts cross back to Europe for the Mediterranean start in mid-May. The eastbound crossing is slightly faster (favourable winds) and slightly cheaper on fuel.
US East Coast to Caribbean: October and April. Smaller transits, 1,200 to 1,800 nautical miles, 5 to 8 days. The yachts that summer in New England, Newport, or Maine reposition south to the Bahamas, Caribbean, or Florida in October. The reverse happens in April. Many of these transits run 7 to 10 day charters rather than full-week bookings.
Mediterranean to Indian Ocean: October to early December. Yachts heading to Maldives or Seychelles for the November-to-April season cross Suez. The crossing is 2,800 to 3,400 nautical miles depending on routing. Charter availability on this transit is limited (10 to 15 yachts a year), but the trip is structurally interesting.
Indian Ocean to Mediterranean: April to May. The return. Slightly fewer yachts; some yachts stay east for the summer charter season in the Maldives or move to French Polynesia.
What the trip actually is
Take the November Mediterranean-to-Caribbean crossing as the canonical example.
Embarkation: Palma de Mallorca, Friday afternoon. Saturday morning is the standard MYBA Saturday embarkation, but most repositioning charters do informal Friday or even Thursday embarkations because the schedule is tighter.
Two or three days of Mediterranean coastal cruising: Palma to Ibiza to Cabo de Gata, finishing in Gibraltar Saturday or Sunday. Some itineraries skip the coastal cruising and run direct from Palma to the Atlantic.
The crossing: 9 to 12 days at sea. Gibraltar (or Cadiz) to Antigua or Sint Maarten, roughly 3,400 to 3,800 nautical miles. The yacht runs at 11 to 13 knots cruising speed. Captain holds 24-hour watch rotation. Engineer monitors fuel burn and generator load constantly. Crew service rotation tightens around guest meal service, gym, deck time, evening film, and quiet.
Caribbean arrival: Sint Maarten or Antigua, mid-November. Two or three days of Caribbean cruising to disembarkation in St Barths or BVI. Charter ends 13 to 16 days after embarkation.
Total: 13 to 16 days. 3,800 to 4,200 nautical miles. 9 to 12 of those days entirely out of sight of land. Two ocean crossings (Mediterranean to Atlantic at Gibraltar, Atlantic ocean proper from Cadiz to Antigua).
The price math
A 50m motor yacht repositioning, November 2026 indicative pricing.
| Line item | Repositioning rate | Comparable peak Mediterranean rate |
|---|---|---|
| Base fee, 14 days | $300,000 to $360,000 | $560,000 (2 peak weeks) |
| APA (35 to 45%) | $120,000 to $160,000 | $168,000 |
| Crew gratuity (10%) | $30,000 to $36,000 | $56,000 |
| VAT on charter fee | Varies by departure flag, often 0% on international transit | $56,000 |
| All-in for 14 days | $450,000 to $560,000 | $840,000 |
The headline saving is about $300,000 on a comparable 14-day product. APA percentage is higher than peak (35 to 45 percent against the standard 30 to 35) because fuel consumption on a transit is large; a 50m yacht crosses the Atlantic burning $80,000 to $130,000 of fuel. VAT is often zero on an international transit, depending on the departure and destination jurisdictions, which is a structural saving.
The economic ratio: on a per-day basis, the repositioning charter runs roughly 40 to 50 percent of comparable peak. On the in-water all-in number including APA and gratuity, the ratio is closer to 50 to 60 percent. The discount is real but the saving narrows when you account for higher APA share and longer trip length.
What you keep
The yacht. The crew. The food and wine programme. Most charters maintain full service standards on the crossing. Breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm, sunset cocktails at 6pm, dinner at 8pm, run regardless of latitude. Five-meal-a-day patisserie production on a transatlantic crossing is one of the small marvels of yacht life.
The captain's time. On a peak Mediterranean week the captain is running a port arrival every day. On a transatlantic crossing the captain has six or eight hours a day of conversation time if the guest values that. Some of the best charters we have placed are ones where the guest came specifically for time with a captain they liked.
The privacy. Eight or ten guests on a yacht crossing an ocean see no one outside the crew for 10 days. Some clients book repositioning specifically for this isolation, the way someone might book an Antarctic expedition cruise.
What you give up
Variety of ports. A peak Mediterranean week visits 7 to 12 ports. A transatlantic crossing visits 2 to 4.
Restaurant ashore. Many of the best Mediterranean and Caribbean restaurants are part of the peak charter offering. Repositioning charters have shore meals at each end and not in the middle.
Day trips and shore programming. Helicopter tours, museum visits, vineyard tours, beach club days, dock-side shopping - these are minimal on repositioning charters.
Weather predictability. North Atlantic crossings in November or May produce some heavy weather days. Most yachts in the 45m-and-above class handle this comfortably; smaller yachts can be uncomfortable. Even on larger yachts, the captain may divert south to find calmer seas, adding 12 to 24 hours to the crossing.
Optionality. On a peak week, a bad day in Cannes can be fixed by moving to Saint-Tropez. On a crossing day, the yacht is at sea and that is the product.
Who repositioning suits
Three guest profiles work well.
Charter clients who have already done multiple Mediterranean and Caribbean peak weeks and want a different experience. The crossing becomes the headline rather than the destination.
Guests with deep interest in yacht life itself: how a yacht handles open ocean, how watchkeeping works, how the engine room sounds in a Force 6. We have placed engineers, navy veterans, and former yacht owners on these crossings and they came back happy. The yacht-curious adult is the right buyer.
Multi-generational families crossing for an event (50th anniversary, retirement, sale of a business). The crossing becomes the event itself.
Three profiles do not work well.
Family charters with children under 12. The 9 to 12 day crossing is long for young children. Some adults find it long too.
Repeat peak clients hoping for a peak product at shoulder pricing. The yacht is identical but the trip is not. Disappointed clients in this group are the ones we have to explain it to twice during the booking.
Charterers who care about port programming and shore activity. The product is wrong for this use case. Standard shoulder season fits better.
What to negotiate
Repositioning weeks are the deepest-leverage window in the calendar. Central agents are motivated. Five things move in negotiation.
The base fee. Asking for 10 to 25 percent off the published repositioning rate works on most yachts inside 90 days of the crossing. The fallback is a discount in soft inclusions if the central agent will not move on price.
APA terms. Some central agents will quote a fixed-fuel APA (a hard cap on the fuel component, with overage paid by owner) rather than the standard variable-fuel APA. This caps the client's exposure to weather-driven fuel consumption.
Day length. Some clients book a 16-day charter rather than a 14-day; some negotiate 18 days. The owner often agrees because the alternative is empty days. Each added day costs the standard repositioning day-rate, not a peak premium.
Embarkation and disembarkation port. Where the yacht starts and ends matters for guest logistics. Negotiating embarkation in Palma rather than Gibraltar, or arrival in Sint Maarten rather than Antigua, sometimes works if the captain has flexibility on the crossing route.
Crew rotation. Confirm whether the captain and chief stew on the repositioning charter are the same as during the peak season. Some yachts run delivery crew rotation on the crossing, which means service standards may be slightly different. The yachts where the same crew runs the crossing typically charge a small premium and are worth it.
Yachts that do this well
We will not name specific yachts here because charter inventory is published by central agents and the inventory list is live data. What we can say in pattern terms:
The yachts that do repositioning best are the 50m-and-above motor yachts with strong sea-handling, deep crew bench, and owners who run them as serious commercial assets rather than as personal toys. These boats run 14 to 18 weeks of peak Mediterranean charter, repositioning in November, then 12 to 16 weeks of peak Caribbean. Repositioning is just another commercial week to them and the service standards stay consistent.
The 35m to 45m yachts can also do repositioning, but the comfort margin in open ocean is tighter and the trip becomes more of a passage and less of a charter. We would recommend the 35m-class repositioning trips only to guests who have done open-ocean passage-making before.
What we changed our minds on
Earlier versions of this page suggested repositioning charters were the highest-value way to charter for any client willing to be flexible. We have moved off that. The right shoulder week, on the right yacht, in the right destination is a better trade for most charter clients. Repositioning is the specialised product for the guest who specifically wants the crossing. Trying to sell it as the value-shoulder option produces unhappy clients.
FAQ
Do I get seasick on a transatlantic crossing? Modern stabilisers on yachts above 45m reduce roll by 80 to 90 percent in moderate seas. Strong seas (Force 7 and above) still produce motion. Most guests who do not consider themselves prone to seasickness manage well, especially with prophylactic medication on the first two days. Some guests find sea legs by day three. A small number do not.
Are the children's books on board the same? Most yachts maintain the same library, film selection, and entertainment programme on the crossing as during peak weeks. Some yachts add additional games and library content for the longer crossing.
Can I fly off the yacht mid-crossing? Helipad-certified yachts can sometimes coordinate a mid-crossing helicopter pickup or drop, but the operational complexity is meaningful (range of helicopter from nearest land, fuel diversion, scheduling) and the cost is high. Plan to commit to the full crossing.
Is internet reliable mid-Atlantic? Starlink Maritime has changed this in 2024 onwards. Most yachts in the 45m-and-above class now run Starlink with full mid-Atlantic coverage. Email, video calls, and standard browsing work throughout the crossing on these yachts. Confirm the connectivity package before booking.
Can I run a business meeting from the crossing? Yes, on yachts with Starlink. We have placed clients who held board meetings mid-crossing. The 6-hour time-zone shift during the crossing produces some scheduling friction.
Next steps
For the broader shoulder-season context, read Charter shoulder season. For destinations to plan around the repositioning windows, see Cote d'Azur, Caribbean, and BVI. For rate context across both ends of the crossing, read Mediterranean charter weekly rates and Caribbean charter weekly rates.