The advantage of a specialized exhibition
On average, a purchase project lasts between 2 and 3 years, explains Catam's director Jean-Pierre Fréry. And on a specialized show, it is the opportunity to prepare or accelerate your project.
"It is a unique opportunity to discuss with professionals, owners. It's a unique opportunity to talk with professionals and owners, both for the person who is starting his prospection, without too many precise ideas, and for the one who has already refined his own (size, budget, profile). They come to see profiles of boats already targeted that we have selected for them. They can be prospects with whom we have been in contact for a week or a year. On a specialized show of this type, there are not many onlookers. These are people who have a project, even if they are not all buyers. There's an element of dreaming."
The advantage of the Occasions du Multicoque is also the panel of exhibitors dedicated to second-hand multihulls, and in particular to refits: maintenance, repair, carpentry, sails, saddlery..
"An owner can buy his used boat and in the process find all the actors he needs to customize it to his taste" supports Jean-Pierre Fréry.
The average purchase price for a second-hand multihull is between 300,000 and 400,000 euros. "There are a lot of requests that we can't provide in boats under 200,000 euros. Or it will be boats that are a bit exotic like a Tropic 40 or an Altair 39."
Tips for approaching Multihull Occasions
"In the first stage of the search, you have to knock on doors first to find someone who can inform and help them. It's important to define their project and for us, as professionals, to listen to them and bring them to the right place. To really advise them so that they have a great story. Prospects are pretty well informed. They read a lot and know a lot. We then help them sort through the information and not drown in it. Some of them also have a lot of preconceived ideas about what they want: a fast boat, a slow boat, a boat with fly or without fly... They have clear-cut ideas, whereas at sea, it's something else. Even on a round-the-world trip, you spend 85% of your time in stopovers."
The first thing to do is to define your specifications - a prerequisite that also applies to the purchase of a new boat. The second thing is to get in touch with a professional who will be able to guide you in your approach.
"We listen to potential buyers and in general, in twenty minutes, we are able to establish a typical profile. Is he a handyman, is he able to invest in his boat, does he know how to sail at night, how to gybe? Then we know how to help them. It's important to help them orient their choice and bring them back to the basics, to the important things."
Finally, before buying your used boat, proceed to a systematic expertise, even on a recent boat.
Zoom on Catam's
Catam's is specialized in the sale of second-hand multihulls, mainly sailing boats. He has 14 boats in his fleet - under direct mandate - and works mainly on a market that is half French and half European. Jean-Pierre Fréry should soon open a base in the West Indies, with 50% of the new ads coming from the other side of the Atlantic.
