Annapolis, Maryland
Ashwell Foyle Yachts lists sail and power boats from 24 to 62 feet, and writes down the condition of each one before an offer is made.
Each service states the scope it covers and what it costs. A viewing carries no charge; everything past it is quoted against the boat in front of the buyer rather than against a category.
An hour aboard a listed boat with a broker, covering rig, engine hours and the known defects.
no charge 60 minutes
The boat taken out under its own power, with handling, engine temperature and sail set watched under load.
US$475 3 to 4 hours
A written report on hull, rig, engine and systems, prepared with an independent surveyor.
US$850 ten working days
A boat listed, photographed and shown on the owner's behalf until it sells or the listing ends.
8% of the agreed sale price 3 to 6 months
A sold boat moved to its new berth, rigged, antifouled and handed over in working order.
US$165 per hour two days to two weeks
Haul-out, winterisation and covered or hard standing arranged and supervised through the closed season.
US$390 seasonal
A boat is seen before anything is agreed. What the brokerage knows about the hull, the rig, the engine hours and the ownership history is written down and handed over at the viewing, faults included, and a sea trial is offered on any vessel a buyer is seriously considering.
The order after that is fixed. A viewing carries no charge and runs about an hour on the showroom pontoon. A trial is quoted and booked before it runs, and the boat is put through a set list rather than taken for a sail. An appraisal is written only after she has been looked at both afloat and ashore. Each step is priced against the boat in front of the buyer rather than against a category, and the figure agreed at the outset is the figure invoiced.
Where a survey finds something that changes the price, Ashwell Foyle Yachts puts that in writing rather than settling it in conversation, and the buyer decides whether to renegotiate or to walk away from the boat. Once an offer is accepted the brokerage runs the paperwork through bill of sale, lien checks and berth transfer, and one broker stays with the sale from the first walk-through to the day the keys change hands.
No boat here is described as an appreciating asset, no date is promised by which one will sell, and no resale figure is given.
Photographs of the berths, the decks and the water the trials are run on. None of them is a listing, and no boat shown here is offered for sale.
Four people share the six services between them. Whoever shows a boat stays with the sale through survey, offer and handover rather than passing it along.
Principal broker
Takes the first viewing on most listings and runs the sea trials herself. Sets out engine hours, rigging age and known defects before a price is discussed, and says plainly when a boat is the wrong size for the use a buyer has described.
Listings broker
Prepares boats for listing: inventory, photography, and the written history an owner can actually evidence. Handles owner representation from the first valuation meeting to the closing statement, and keeps sellers honest about what a hull needs before it is shown.
Appraisal and survey lead
Coordinates condition appraisals with independent surveyors and reads the reports back to buyers in plain terms. Concentrates on the findings that carry a real cost — osmosis, standing rigging past its age, soft decks — and separates those from the cosmetic list.
Showroom coordinator
Books viewings and sea trials, arranges berth access and keeps the winter lay-up schedule. Handles delivery and commissioning bookings, and is the person who confirms whether a boat is in the water or on hard standing before anyone drives out to see it.
I asked for the defect list before the viewing and had it the same afternoon, which is not what I had been getting elsewhere. Two of the items were worse in person and the broker said so herself.
Helena Brandt
The sea trial was the whole point. The engine ran warm on the second leg and we turned back rather than finishing the run, and the price conversation afterwards started from that.
Marcus Oyelaran
My boat sat on their listing for five months. Nobody pretended that was fast, and when the offer came it was close to what the appraisal had said rather than what I had hoped for.
Dana Whitfield
The survey found the standing rigging was past its age, which I had not known to ask about. The cost of replacing it came off the price, and the paperwork showed exactly how that figure was reached.
Peter Lindqvist
I wanted something I could handle single-handed and was talked out of the larger of the two I was looking at. It was the more expensive one, so I took the advice seriously.
Ruth Abernathy
They arranged the haul-out and the winterisation and sent photographs of the boat on its cradle. The hourly work was itemised, and the one extra charge was put to me before it was incurred.
Sam Okafor
No. A showroom viewing runs about an hour with a broker aboard and carries no charge. Booking one commits a visitor to nothing further — not a trial, not a survey and not an offer.
Yes, on any listed boat a buyer is seriously considering. The trial costs US$475 and runs three to four hours, and it is booked separately from the viewing so the weather can be chosen.
An independent surveyor, not the brokerage. Ashwell Foyle Yachts coordinates the appraisal and reads the findings back in plain terms, but the surveyor's report belongs to the buyer and is theirs to act on.
Owner representation is charged at 8% of the agreed sale price, payable on completion. A listing normally runs three to six months, and no date for a sale is promised.
Published prices apply to the stated scope. Delivery and commissioning is hourly, so it is estimated against the distance and the work before it is booked rather than quoted as one figure here.
Yes. Name a preferred broker on the contact form and availability is confirmed separately. Whoever shows the boat stays with the sale through survey, offer and handover.
It carries no charge, and it ends either with a boat worth trialling or with a plain statement that nothing currently listed fits what the buyer described.
It is published in the open, where anyone can copy it, so it is left short of its final polish and audit pass. The design chosen is fully audited and polished before it goes live.