Dufour 390 Grand Large · Sympathy Planet

The honest answer: tell us the headcount, the cruising ground and how active the group wants to be, and we will narrow the list down for you in one phone call. Across the six countries we work in, the bookings fall into five buckets:

• Sailing yachts (38–55 ft) — the workhorse of every Med fleet. Best price-per-cabin, sportier feel under sail, modest galley.
• Catamarans (40–60 ft) — twin hulls, level deck, double the saloon space. Our most-booked category since 2018, especially in the Cyclades, BVI and Bay of Naples.
• Gulets (20–35 m) — wooden Turkish-built motorsailers, always with skipper, hostess and cook in the price. Cabin charter exists on a handful; full charter is the standard.
• Motor yachts and motorboats — for groups that want to cover ground rather than sail it. Bigger fuel bill, faster between anchorages.
• Luxury crewed yachts (24 m+) — chef on board, MYBA contract, APA running account. Different category, different conversation.

Three questions we always come back to before the shortlist gets sent:

• How many adults and how many under-twelves? Children change the cabin count and the safety-net spec.
• Couples sharing cabins, or do singles need their own? A four-cabin layout for six adults can mean three couples and a hot bunk in the saloon.
• Bareboat, or do you want a skipper or hostess? A skipper costs a cabin or a saloon berth — factor it in early.

Sailing yacht if at least one person on board wants the feel of sailing — the heel, the trim, the small daily decisions a monohull asks of the skipper. Catamaran if comfort is the priority — flat deck even under sail, two saloons of usable living space, a galley that works at anchor and underway, and a draft shallow enough to anchor closer to shore than a monohull ever could. Most catamarans run two engines and rarely heel beyond about five degrees, which is why families with first-time guests and groups with mixed sailing confidence book them by default. For the same weekly budget you tend to get one boat-length less on a cat than on a monohull, so the trade is space against price.