My first own book is published!

Seldom in my life did I aspire a DHL-delivery note that much as a few days ago: Returning from a short travel trip, I received the cardboard note in my letterbox, indicating that a parcel did arrive. As it is the case with every other Amazon item you buy, I knew exactly what it contained: The two proof copies of my first ever self-written book! Can imagine the joy and pleasant anticipation when I finally arrived breathless at the self-service parcel station and scanned the code?

In fact, I started writing this book back in 2024 shortly after leaving the boating industry as an active yacht-broker. The circumstances leading to that decision are still discussed in courts, so I won´t disclose those here. To be honest, it wasn´t even the catastrophe I (and many others) had to endure connected to this leading me to start typing, it was more the urge to close a chapter. And then there was this one sentence from a very dear colleague at Beneteau, having turned a friend over the years …

The first ever comprehensive buyer´s guidebook for new sailing yachts

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As we were joking around a bit the other day, I inadvertently proclaimed that “I am going to write a book about this all!” A flippant saying, a not-so seriously jabbered, hackneyed saying. He paused for a second, became a bit serious and said: “No, honestly: With your knowledge and experience you could save anyone instantly ten percent of any boat´s budget!” Later this sentence began circulating around in my head. This guy was absolutely right! I don´t know how you see it, but it is indeed my experience that by far most of new yacht buyers spend too much on their boats! This was really the trigger which made me sit down, structure my thoughts and ideas and start to write.

After the parcel box flipped open at last, I took out the Amazon-packet with shaky hands. My heart was pounding: I finally held it in my own hands, the outcome of almost seven months of focused and intense writing, of reading and re-writing, of proof-reading and checking. The past weeks were spent with a graphic designer to realize a nice, readable layout, professionally typeset by a very talented young woman who helped me turn a simple Microsoft Word document into an Amazon KDP-compatible file. Here we are, I couldn´t believe it! Heavy duty. The mass of almost ten years working for a boat dealer!

Back at home, I ripped the package open and slowly pulled out the first copy. Did we choose the right quality of the paper? Do the colors of the photographs come out just as fine? Is the font as nicely readable as in the printed proofs? I don´t want to over-exaggerate here, but it almost felt a bit like witnessing the birth of your kids. At least a tiny bit … My book is called “Abenteuer Yachtkauf”, which of course is German and translates to “The Adventure of buying a new Boat”. It may sound like a novel, but it isn´t. It´s also by far neither a vengeance or payback nor a reckoning (which honestly would be bad style and fairly useless, let the courts do their work). It´s a non-fiction guidebook, a how-to – insights of an insider, a market explained. Let me tell you what it´s inside.

What´s the content of this book?

Before I decided to self-publish with Amazon KDP I offered the script to Germany´s biggest and well-respected publisher. They instantly offered a contract which had very acceptable terms and as the cherry on top the editor-in-chief of famous “Yacht”-magazine would be my lector. What an honor! But as it turned out, by stupid mistake, somehow the publisher misread my e-mails and so they expected instead of my announced 260.000 words-ominibus volume a 260.000 characters-booklet! After meeting with the guys, they asserted me that they don´t think that there´s a market for such a true brick book – in the end, it´s 464 pages. Asking for a cut-down version, which obviously I wouldn´t do at any chance, we terminated the contract finally.

But it made me think about it. Will people really not go for a book that explains stuff? I mean, that´s what a guide book is about, right? If I restrain myself to just giving away the tipps and suggestions without explaining why, people won´t really understand. This is what this book is all about: Delving deep into the psyche of buyers, sellers and shipyards, into the code of conduct of how the boat market works, what a shipyard can do and what not, what a broker is capable of and what not. I want you to really understand why things happen, why there are hurdles that make you stumble, where there are pitfalls, traps and also chances. I want my readers to really become enlightened. And that takes exactly 464 pages. Not less. Not more.

A little teaser: The table of contents

In order to make you understand what this book is all about and how it is structured, here´s the complete table of contents, all fourteen chapters:

1. I am going to buy a new sailboat!
2. Changes that come with a new boat
3. The first and maybe most important step: Your use-case
4. Choosing the right boat
5. Series production boats, fine luxury brand or semi-custom one-off?
6. Are boat shows (still) a thing?
7. Behold: Scammers!

Up to this point you have reached roughly half of the book. This is where I initially wanted to make a cut and separate the book, turning it into a first and a second part. But I refrained from it. What you can see is that even after reaching half of the whole book, we haven´t even started to talk about boat dealers, yacht brokers and all the nasty stuff you have probably thought of in the first place. Well, that´s exactly the point: I am convinced that a bulge of the said ten percent you can save off from your boat budget can be saved because you are the reason! It´s mostly not the asshole dealer or criminal broker – it´s very, very often the uneducated choices or love-stricken blindness of the buyer himself. As I promised: It´s a lot of psychology – and many, many practical tips how to avoid the pitfalls.

But let´s go on, here´s the rest of the book´s contents:

8. How to find a good yacht dealer
9. Defining your individual boat specs
10. The boat´s purchase contract: How to negotiate with a yacht broker
11. Your boat is now under construction
12. Handover and what to expect
13. Growing as a fresh new boat owner
14. Epilogue – real my real clients tell their stories

These chapters are subdivided in at least ten divisions too, which for obvious reasons I won´t disclose here: At last I want you to get your own copy and read it by yourself. But be assured, it gets really, really detailed! The second book, chapters 8 to 13, deal with yacht brokers, their strategies and how you may act: It´s not about lowering the price at any cost, but rather about understanding where there´s some potential to utilize chances and where other players, like the shipyards may contribute. If you expect a “nasty tricks”-almanac, you will be disappointed. This book is a plea for partnership, open and fair game and above all, about making educated, clever decisions. It of course discloses many nasty tricks the assholes might try on you – and how to sneak a way through. So what do you think?

It surely is a hefty doorstopper!

Upon checking the proof-prints of my very first copies, I begin to fathom and realize what I have done here: This book is really the first ever complete guide on how to purchase a new boat! In fact, there are dozes of book titles dealing with used boats, I own several myself. Most of which are very technical, because with used yachts it often comes down to how to spot damage and mitigate losses. But there is not a single book – at least none that I am aware of – helping people who want to buy a new build yacht from an authorized dealer or a shipyard directly. But why do I feel myself competent enough or entitled to offer my advice in these matters at all?

Well, out of my almost ten years in the business I was involved in active selling for almost three and a half years. Up to the end, I acquired a total of 100 yachts sold myself, which is not bad at all, selling up to 25, 30 boats per year! My success rate as sales-person was six to one. Meaning, it took me six offers to secure one deal. A rate of 10:1 is considered very good, by the way. And in order to being able to make 6 offers, I needed to talk to and counsel tenfold the amount or people: That´s some staggering ten thousand intense, intimate, long and detailed counselling sessions, most of which took more than five, up to ten, meetings! I would say, this is a lot of experience and … quite frankly, lots of success to draw conclusions from.

Distinguishing between trustworthy yacht brokers and the arseholes

But I am in no way alone. Over the years, I build up a big personal network within the industry. Ranging from individual brokers, mostly European of course, to shipyards, their bosses and owners, to third-party companies such as suppliers and service-companies. I asked no less than nine of the “good” guys of the industry, to contribute. Furthermore, four suppliers, an insurance company and yacht hauling provider joined the project. All of them German companies of course for the German version of the book.

I was seeking their contribution in confirming my views and offer variations: All of them featured in the book I consider trustworthy and good guys. I would love to activate my European and international part of the network to join for a possible English version of the book! At last, of course, there was also a yacht-specialized lawyer, pretty renowned (or rather: dreaded?) in Germany, who checked the script for legal implications. At last, I want you as my reader to become fit in distinguishing the good from the bad ones yourself: Disclosing their tricks, their scams and little dirty secrets. I am sure (and I know it) that I have the backing from many shipyards, whose reputation suffer as well each time a new scandal is made public.

Helping to make your new-boat-purchase a happy journey

It´s really my aim, certainly not the money. It was a jaw-dropping experience to determine the selling price for my book, to be honest. Amazon is very explicit and open in their calculation: Once a script is uploaded, you determine the size, color grade and quality of the paper for your book. The system immediately returns the pure production costs. The system then simultaneously calculates the margin for Amazon itself. That´s the minimum price the book has to be offered for. The rest – my salary if you will – is free to choose. But here´s the catch: There´s really not much margin! Because, nobody will buy a book for 50 Euros! So, be assured, my royalties for each copy sold are in the low one-digit Euros, including tax, which will diminish them furthermore.

Nope, it´s definitely not for the money and I know I am not a second Michael Crichton or J.K. Rowling. I don´t aspire to. What I would like the book to be is to become a real help in your journey to becoming a happy boat owner! It should act as a reference book, a real practical how-to guide, something that makes you think about certain mechanics, about your decisions and finally, a book that really helps you to save these magic ten percent, which started this whole project. At the end of the book, five of my one hundred clients and owners tell their story: What was important for them? Which pitfalls did they steer free of? And what would they suggest you to take a detailed look onto? The same way that I pose in the pictures with them, I want you to take your first photograph in front of your newly delivered yacht! This is why I wrote it.

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You vote counts: Would you go for a copy in English?

So, dearest readers, tell me: Would you happen to go for a copy of this book in English yourself? Are the contents I sketched of interest for you? Before I activate the whole process of translating these full 464 pages and elaborate re-writing many of them to fit the needs for international readers, from the United States (purging the Euro-centric focus) to the United Kingdom, from France to Spain, from the Southern European countries to the Scandinavian states. This is a lot of work, and I shall happily proceed – if there´s promising feedback from you guys.

So please, don´t hesitate to comment in the section below! I am really keen on learning your standpoints. You may also drop a direct mail via contact form or send a DM in my social channels in facebook or instagram. Will there be an “Adventure of Buying a new Sailboat”-book on Amazon soon for you to order so that you can also enjoy the pleasant anticipation of receiving a DHL-delivery note? I am excited to learn, now it´s your turn.

And for my German readers: Once the book is finally published and ready to being ordered in Amazon, the link will be here. Otherwise, search for “Abenteuer Yachtkauf” or my name. Dankeschön!

Here are other interesting books (not written by me, though):

“The Sea Chart”: The fantastic history of naval charting

Oh, what a golden time it was! Reading “The Flying Cloud” by David W. Shaw

Michael Palin´s “Erebus” – a must for shiplovers!