1. Introduction

[10-001] The sale of yachts. As discussed in Chapter 1,1 a yacht-builder will usually undertake the construction of a yacht for a customer using the builder’s standard form building contract, or alternatively under a bespoke contract negotiated by the two parties or their advisers. A completed, or second-hand, yacht will usually be sold through a yacht broker,2 who will prepare a contract of sale usually in the form of a memorandum of agreement, or “MOA”, specifically designed for the sale and purchase of yachts. These contracts may take a number of different forms3 but will look vaguely familiar to those accustomed to the most common sale forms in use in mainstream commercial shipping, such as the Norwegian Sale Form4 or the Nipponsale. In the case of larger yachts and superyachts, the most commonly used form is the one approved by MYBA—The Worldwide Yachting Association (formerly known as the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association), the so-called MYBA Memorandum of Agreement5 (the “MYBA MOA”).