The Complete Handbook of Yachts
Selection, operation, and upkeep for professionals and serious owners
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
The practical reference for buying, running, and maintaining a yacht from 30 feet to 100 feet and beyond.
About this book
Most books about yachts are either glossy coffee-table volumes or niche repair manuals for a single brand. This handbook occupies the space between them: a working reference for the decision-maker who has to answer real questions, such as whether to choose a planing hull or a displacement hull for a specific route, how to structure a crew contract for a 60-foot charter boat, or what a gelcoat blister actually means for the structural integrity of a 15-year-old hull.
Written for professionals, businesses, and serious owners, it covers every phase of the ownership cycle. The early chapters focus on how yachts are engineered and classified, so you can read a spec sheet with a skeptical eye. The middle chapters walk through the selection, commissioning, and daily operation of the vessel, including realistic cost models for fuel, mooring, crew, insurance, and routine maintenance. The final chapters address the business side of yachting, from charter operations to brokerage, and the regulatory trends that will shape the next decade of design and ownership.
This is not a book about how to look like a yachtsman. It is a book about how to think like one: systematically, with an eye on the horizon and a hand on the maintenance schedule.
Reader Reviews
Thomas Wright
★★★★★I run a five-boat charter fleet and I have bought more than my share of books that promise practical knowledge and deliver brochures. This one is different. The chapter on hull types alone saved me from a bad decision on a 45-foot planing boat that would have burned fuel at a rate I could not have sustained. The operating cost models in Chapter 4 are worth the price by themselves. I have already ordered a second copy for my dockmaster.
Melissa Allen
★★★★★As someone who just bought their first yacht after twenty years of sailing smaller craft, I found the selection framework in Chapter 3 incredibly useful. I liked that the book did not try to push me toward any particular brand or style. It just gave me the questions to ask and the numbers to look at. My only minor complaint is that the electrical troubleshooting section could have been a bit deeper, but the principles it lays out were sufficient to sort out a grounding issue last month.
Cynthia Miller
★★★★★This is the reference I wish I had when I started as a yacht broker a decade ago. The glossary alone is worth it, but the real gold is the way it explains how everything ties together, from regulatory compliance to engine hours to resale pricing. It has changed how I advise my clients. The future trends chapter on hybrid propulsion gave me the confidence to talk to a builder about their new diesel-electric system without getting snowed. It stays on my desk, not on the shelf.