Build a yacht and discover the ultimate joy of building exactly what you want. Let your imagination run wild, and experience the stimulation and excitement that only new yacht construction can fulfill.
With a professional guide at your side, what may look like a complicated process, building a luxury yacht can be easily achieved. (see 10 Steps to Build a Yacht below)
While many mega yacht brokers have sold new construction yachts, very few have actually coordinated the design, written specifications, orchestrated the teams, reviewed the drawings, managed the yacht building process, and taken command of a newly constructed superyacht for her maiden voyage.
Yacht broker Todd Weider has done all of the above many times. He has orchestrated and managed over USD 120,000,000 in new yacht construction, which is why he is one of the leading yacht build experts who know how to build a custom superyacht.
Todd’s in-depth knowledge about yacht building and yacht operations is why clients, regardless of yacht size, repeatedly entrust Todd when they decide to build a yacht.
Todd is regarded by yacht builders, yacht owners, and his peers as a top-rated yacht sales broker with real-world experience in new yacht construction worldwide.
Simply put, he will make building your own yacht, no matter the requirements, and/or the location, enjoyable, simple, and stress-free.
These top 10 questions are most frequently asked by people looking to build a yacht. For answers to these questions and many more, simply contact yacht build expert and yacht broker Todd Weider “wider”.
If you’d like to learn more about building a yacht, or superyacht construction, before contacting Todd, download the How To Build a Yacht Guide and Checklist or scroll down for more information.
TOP 10 QUESTIONS ASKED BEFORE BUILDING A YACHT
How much would a 50m luxury yacht cost to build??
Answer here
Who is the best mega yacht builder??
Answer here.
Do I need a designer to build a yacht?
Answer here
How long does it take to build your own yacht??
answer here
What is a production vs a custom yacht?
Answer here
Do I need insurance to build a superyacht?
Answer here
Do I need a special contract to build a yacht?
Answer here
What are milestone vs progress payments?
Answer here
How much is the cheapest mega yacht to build?
Answer here
What are the legal complexities of yacht building??
Answer here
Superyacht build expert
Yacht broker
New yacht construction
Owners build representative
Former luxury yacht captain
Operations & technical expert
Todd has managed some of the most complex yachts ever built. Because of this, I wouldn't use anybody else to build a yacht - new build yacht owner
Many elements and areas of expertise need to be discussed before you build a yacht. For somebody not familiar with the process, this early planning phase ensures that the highest standards are met at every stage without compromise, thus resulting in an on-time delivery, without unnecessary change orders that could impact the project’s delivery and budget.
At the core of building a superyacht is a well prepared plan and an organized team that understands new yacht construction and execution. This happens first, in the initial stage of discovery, long before contacting yacht builders or considering the styling, layout, and interior design.
When the time to build a yacht arrives, yacht broker Todd Weider of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has real-world experience as a yacht build expert, including positions as the build captain, project coordinator, and owner’s representative, who has also overseen yacht, mega yacht and superyacht construction all over the world.
With his one-of-a-kind experience, he guides you through every step of the yacht building process, from initial stages to vetting yacht builders, including contracts and design, all the way through delivery and beyond.
He makes key decisions simple to understand and easy to make. This type of guidance allows you to fully enjoy the exhilaration of building a yacht, and it can also convert into substantial time savings, as well as cost savings of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars.
| Production Yacht Build | Custom Yacht Build | |
|---|---|---|
| Yacht Styling | With a production yacht, the buyer has little to no input on the styling of the yacht. This means they cannot make changes, and all buyers receive the same styling. | With a custom yacht, everything is built exactly how the buyer wants it. This is often achieved by the yacht builder’s designers or one hired by the buyer. Note: There is a significant benefit a buyer should be aware of before doing either. |
| Interior Design | On most production yachts, the buyer is often provided a budget, which is allocated to the interior fit and finish, with a limited choice of materials, solid surfaces, and hardware they are allowed to specify. | On custom yachts, the buyer may work with their own designer, specifying every detail, and if the allowance in the contract is exceeded, a change order is submitted for the buyer to pay. For this reason alone, working with a build expert prior to contract is highly recommended. |
| Systems | With production, yachts come tried and proven systems and engineering. The later in the series your yacht is built, the more likely your systems will be improved upon and perfected. | With a custom yacht, standards and solid engineering is more critical. It can also be more costly, and even though the systems may have been implemented and proven on similar yachts, no two systems are ever exactly alike. |
| Delivery | Production yachts are often built in shorter periods of time, with delivery being more precise. This is because of little outside interference and control of the build sequence. | Custom yachts may have longer build schedules than production yachts. This is because of the complexities with building something for the very first time, where delays may be more likely. This is why choosing the right yacht builder is critical. |
| Specifications | Production yachts come with a predefined set of specifications where the buyer has little to no input. Before talking to a builder, consult with a yacht build expert to best navigate specifications and change orders. | Yacht builders of custom yachts provide their own standard specifications. Because of this, depending on the yacht builder, it is also common for the buyer to write their own specifications or a combination of both. Check with a yacht build expert which is best. |
| Model Testing | Comparable to a wind tunnel for aerospace and automobiles, it is common practice for production yachts to undergo some form of model testing to improve stability and performance. | For a custom yacht, it is common for yacht builders to utilize 3d modeling, computer simulations and physical tests on scale models in a ship basin. While similar to tests carried out on a production yacht, testing tends to be much more sophisticated. A yacht build expert will help you make the best decision. |
| Owner Supplied Items | On a production yacht, most all owner-supplied items are limited to personal effects, interior accessories, art, with an allowance often provided for tenders and toys. | In addition to personal effects, interior accessories, art, tenders, and toys, items can extend to all AV systems and components, gym equipment, carpet, and much more. Learn what to include and what not to from a build expert. |
Building a yacht is not a journey to embark on lightly or without an experienced yacht build professional to guide you. When you decide to build a yacht, you should contact a yacht expert to discuss the initial stage of discovery.
This should occur long before contacting any yacht builders. While this first step is the most important, it is often given the least amount of time and consideration.
Discovery is an information-gathering process meant to dig deep into the details of what is important to you, the soon-to-be yacht owner. Scope, depth of research, and inquiry will differ for each yacht build, but the results are the same – valuable data.
The more information you gather, interpret, and comprehend, the more prepared the owner’s team will be to execute the construction of the yacht that the owner has envisioned.
A considerable amount of research, discovery and planning is the best path forward to build a yacht. Most likely the type, style, and size of the yacht to build have been thought about.
Other parameters require detailed discussions, weighing the pros and cons of each decision including but not limited to: where to register the yacht, or whether or not it should be built to class and/or for charter, and where it will be enjoyed.
Questions like these and many more are necessary to verify your dream can be achieved, without delays, costly mistakes, and/or change orders.
In other words, running the yacht you’d like to build through a validation process with an expert, is step one and not to be skipped or taken lightly.
For this reason, contacting a highly qualified new yacht construction expert, someone with real-world experience like Todd Weider “wider”, is the most important decision you’ll make.
Because of this, discussing the initial stages and discovery to build a yacht is not only complimentary, it is essential and the first phase to any enjoyable and successful new yacht construction project.
To learn more about how to build a yacht, see steps 2-10 below, or download the complimentary How to Build a Yacht Checklist below.
The build requirements are tasks or conditions identified with the yacht owner during the discovery phase that must then be met to ensure the yacht’s successful completion.
Upon completion of the initial stage and discovery, with many of the complicated and critical questions answered, the requirements can now be memorialized.
The requirements will provide a clear picture and/or framework for the yacht specifications, the team of yacht experts and others to assemble, the type of styling and yacht design, the location to build the yacht, expectations, and more. It’s imperative that these requirements are communicated clearly and early on.
The requirements also help identify which yacht builders have the chemistry and expertise to build a yacht that coincides with the owner’s personality, as well as meet the owner’s expectations.
Some of the benefits of effectively gathering project requirements include the spirit in which the yacht will be built, cost reductions, minimize change orders and delays, a higher project success rate, and how well the parties involved communicate.
In addition to a well-qualified yacht sales broker who will orchestrate and advise at each critical phase of the project, yacht designers and stylists, the yacht builder, project managers, engineers, captains, and crew are all core resources to build a yacht.
While each is required at some phase of the project, knowing who to hire and when is only half the task. Equally important is knowing who to have on the owner’s build team vs the yacht builders team and why.
Yacht broker Todd Weider is well qualified in assembling teams. He has done so for some of the most successful new yacht construction projects known.
Because of his success with new yacht construction, he has the ability to simply explain the pros and cons of which key resources should, and should not be, on the owner’s team, and why it’s important for certain resources to only be on the yacht builder’s team.
While assembling a team to build a custom mega yacht may seem complicated for some, with the right guidance, a dream team will be easily coordinated with the help of an expert.
Each and every yacht connoisseur has a favorite yacht, and behind each one of these magnificent yachts is a designer and/or stylist who has put their trademark signature on the very yacht we’ve fallen in love with.
While each designer has their own stylistic features, it is also known that some designers have a reputation of running up costs, while others, who have had their ego’s surgically removed, are more than comfortable with staying well within the parameters and budget set out by the owner.
Whether you already have a design in mind or a stylist you’d like to collaborate with to bring your vision to reality, yacht broker Todd Weider knows the top designers worldwide.He also has relationships with young designers looking to take center stage.
Todd will liaise with the designer throughout the build, thus keeping the project on schedule and within budget. Because of this and more, when the time comes to select a yacht designer to build a yacht, it is without question that an experienced yacht specialist is the right person to consult.
Yacht broker Todd Weider is an expert at the art of writing specifications for luxury yachts.
Because of his knowledge, new yacht projects with his involvement at an early stage have been subjected to minimal, and in several cases, no change orders at all. Instead, at the completion of the build, credits to the yacht buyer have been made.
The technical yacht specification, when properly written, allows the owner to know what he will be receiving and allows the shipyard to quantify the cost to deliver the yacht, and therefore its price.
The correct writing of the yacht’s specification is an important step in the equation when looking to build a yacht — the correct goods, at the correct price.
If the specification calls for features or an extent of a specific feature beyond the appreciation of the buyer, it results in a needless increase in the yacht’s price. It is, for this reason, the discovery (step 1) and requirements (step 2) stated above are identified and clearly understood.
While many yacht brokers have played a role in representing yacht owners of new yacht construction, few of them have the ability and/or required knowledge to orchestrate and produce specifications.
This requires expertise in technical areas, including regulatory classifications, structural engineering, systems engineering, communications, fit-out, yacht operations, a solid network of experts, and more.
Because of this, many yacht brokers may not realize if the specification that will be used to build a yacht is above or below par. Only use a yacht sales broker who has experience with writing specifications and new yacht construction.
Knowing where and how to write the specific language in the specification, as well as when to include certain conditions and schedules, ensures the yacht buyer is in a position to avoid costly change orders.
This also puts them in a position of strength to negotiate throughout the yacht build.
While each yacht builder has its strengths and standard specifications, its financial stability, among other qualities, is also very important.
This is why the vetting process goes far beyond what is presented in a yacht builders’ marketing presentation. Additional vetting will include delivery time, incentives (sometimes offered by the government where the yacht builder is located) milestone payments, and much more.
Yacht build expert and sales broker Todd Weider has relationships with yacht builders around the world and knows their strengths and weaknesses, yet he does not represent any individual yacht builder directly.
This puts him in a position to provide an unbiased opinion and/or feedback to his clients, which means his clients always receive the best intelligence to build a yacht.
Selecting the most appropriate yacht builder is based on the personal requirements of the buyer, as well as the yacht builder’s ability to deliver, resulting in the best possible build.
Because of Todd’s involvement, yacht builders are eager to win the business of his clients. This is because of his professional approach, and they know he understands how to prepare a bid package.
He also has relationships with additional yacht builders that compete for his client’s business. Because of his knowledge and his ability to spawn new clients that desire to build a yacht, yacht builders know it’s imperative to keep his clients happy so that he will continue to recommend them.
Thus the representation of luxury yacht broker Todd Weider provides tremendous value.
Once a builder has been selected, collaboration with a yacht construction specialist, attorneys, and buyer, reduces the risk and costs of the financial investment.
Knowing how to protect the client, and who the appropriate maritime attorneys are for drafting up contracts, milestones, and payment schedules requires an expert who has witnessed the shortcomings of many well-thought-out agreements.
A qualified luxury yacht broker with real-world experience and a command of the ins and outs of how to build a yacht knows when items are askew.
While new yacht construction may be complicated for someone unfamiliar with the process, a qualified expert knows where to add simple language to avoid a project from being front-loaded without enough protection financially to complete the yacht build.
They also have a sound technical understanding of issues such as performance issues like speed, delayed delivery, or excessive noise and vibration, which might result in liquidated damages and/or other penalties.
Based on an assessment of where the risks lie, for both yacht builders and owners looking to build a yacht, new build expert Todd Weider negotiates fair and equitable contracts and avoids valid change orders and delays from the yacht builder.
For these reasons and more, the expertise of a qualified yacht broker with experience building new yachts, before, during, and after contract negotiations, is paramount.
Everything before the building phase is about planning and protecting the investment of the soon-to-be new yacht owner.
The building phase is all about managing and executing the vision that has been presented while moving the build forward in a coordinated manner.
Throughout the yacht building phase, Todd accompanies clients to on-site visits, advises on scheduling, collaborates with the build team, oversees regular progress reports, and communicates with the yacht builder on the owner’s behalf.
Through a network of specialists around the world, he is also available during the build to assist in resolving any technical hiccups with the design or build, including any modifications to the specification that may arise, e.g if and when regulations change.
With his expertise, a network of specialists, creative vision, and design knowledge, he complements the yacht builder along the way, reducing additional costs, and delays to the build.
Following the completion of the commissioning procedures and corrections of any defects or shortcomings, the builder shall conduct extensive sea trials at their expense and under their responsibility.
This is a thrilling stage of building a custom yacht, and one where the owner, as well as key persons involved in the construction of the yacht, may attend.
It is at this stage where each system is brought online and extensively tested and fine-tuned, and where contractual obligations, for example, speed, and regulations are confirmed to be in accordance and signed off.
Extensive sea trials normally include, but are not be limited to decibel readings throughout the yacht to measure the noise levels while at zero speed or underway, crash stops and speed trials, or even more technical readings like exhaust backpressure and vibration or engine alignment.
In addition to the requirements set by various regulatory bodies, equipment manufacturers, and the yacht builder, the owner, and their team may have also documented their own requirements, which also have to be met. All parts of the early specifications planning stage completed years before.
While an exciting time, having an expert at your side during the busiest time of the build, who knows how to communicate and coordinate with all the parties involved to make sure the yacht meets its delivery schedule on time, makes for successful resolutions to any issues that may be identified.
This also prepares for a smooth and enjoyable handover.
After years of planning, coordination among large and small teams, the review of thousands of drawings by your team, the designer, and the yacht builder, and even more emails exchanged, the final days of accepting your dream yacht are here.
This incredibly exciting time is when the final build stage is completed, final payments are made and/or held in escrow, outstanding deliverables, and or minor deficiencies are documented. The final handover awaits.
It takes an experienced yacht broker to assist with the process of delivery and handover of a luxury yacht, which includes important documents and formalities involved in taking delivery.
This includes post-delivery liaison with the yacht builder, as well as providing any ongoing consultation and assistance with the successful operation of the yacht.
Yacht broker Todd Weider has unique experience as a former luxury superyacht captain. He is an expert in yacht operations and management. Because of this, new yacht owners always know he is only a call away, even long after delivery and handover of their new yacht.
To begin this amazing fun-filled experience, take the next step and contact yacht build specialist Todd Weider. He’s happy to talk about yachts at any time, and should something not go just as you’d like, he’ll be there to assist.
Simply use WhatsApp, call, or send a text 24/7 at +1-954-610-5573 for anything you’d like to know about building, buying, or owning a yacht.
| 10 Steps toBuild a Yacht | |
|---|---|
| Step 1. | Initial stages |
| Step 2. | Requirements |
| Step 3. | Assembling your team |
| Step 4. | Design and styling |
| Step 5. | Specifications |
| Step 6. | Vetting yacht builders |
| Step 7. | Contract and payment schedule |
| Step 8. | Building the yacht |
| Step 9. | Sea trials |
| Step 10. | Delivery and handover |
| What is a yacht classification society? |
|---|
| A yacht classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of yachts, ships and offshore structures. They are an integral part of of the yacht building process, operation and ownership.
Classification societies certify that the construction of a vessel complies with relevant standards.They carry out regular surveys in service to ensure continuing compliance with the standards. Currently, more than 50 organizations describe their activities as a marine classification, twelve of which are members of the International Association of Classification Societies. A classification society issues certificates. Depending on the type of yacht, they are required for a yacht’s owner to register the ship and to obtain marine insurance on the luxury yacht. They also may be required to be produced before a yacht is allowed entry into some ports or waterways, and may be of interest to charterers and potential buyers. Because regulations vary by each classification society as well as the yacht’s use and size, before committing to build a yacht, consult with a yacht expert to help avoid costly mistakes. |
Read about newly listed yachts for sale and recently sold yachts, luxury charter yacht opportunities, information about yacht ownership and the mega yacht marketplace.
