Thirty metres is the entry point to genuine crewed charter, and the size where the numbers still make sense for a family or a group of friends rather than a corporation. At just under one hundred feet, these yachts carry a crew of five to seven and sleep eight to ten guests in four or five cabins.
The fleet splits between fast planing hulls and quieter displacement ones. Ferretti, Pershing, Sunseeker and Azimut build the first group, holding twenty five knots or better, which turns the Riviera into a set of day trips. Sanlorenzo, Custom Line, Benetti and Moonen sit at the calmer end, trading speed for beam, a wider aft deck and fuel figures that let you cruise all week without watching them.
Weekly rates run from around fifty five thousand euros to ninety thousand, with the median close to seventy thousand. Well kept hulls from the early two thousands can be found nearer twenty thousand, and the newest thirty metre deliveries reach one hundred and thirty. An advance provisioning allowance of roughly thirty percent covers fuel, food, berthing and drinks, and a modest engine load keeps that figure lower than on any larger yacht.
Small size opens small places. Draft under two metres reaches the Balearic calas, the Croatian channels and the Aegean bays that fifty metre yachts must admire from further out. Summer runs the Western Mediterranean and the Greek islands, with a handful of hulls crossing for a Caribbean winter. Tell us your week and we will send a shortlist.
