the Sunbird Package

Sunbird has built its reputation on following the yachtsmen to the sun and delivering the service and aftercare that our customers demand. Service on site where you sail.

Whether from our headquarters at Clyde Marina, with its full service boatyard facilities or throughout our 4 Mediterranean bases from Palma to Turkey our offices are staffed by experts. We will deliver to you the high level of service you expect and deserve.

From arranging your berthing or through our dedicated aftersales teams, Sunbird's sales and support team business structure delivers a fully customer focused package.

Established across the Mediterranean, our staff are all directly employed avoiding the pitfalls often found in other franchised operations. We maintain our core values across all of our staff and all of our bases.

ADVICE ON BUYING OR SELLING YOUR NEXT BOAT

Viewing: Most of the brokerage boats at our UK head office are available to view either on the Sales Pontoon or in the secure compound at Clyde Marina.

(Please contact us to see the viewing arrangements in Palma and Turkey)

Some are scattered further a field and sometimes the owner has expressed a wish to be present. At certain times of year there is a lot of boat movement and sales activity. Our advice would always therefore be to phone first to avoid a wasted trip.

Here are a few other tips:

Do your homework first. Most of our boats have full specifications online this can save you a lot of time on the ground. If the boat?s spec is not online please don?t hesitate to contact us we could well have additional information on the boat in our office.

Many people bring either still or video cameras with them these days as it can get very confusing if you are looking at half a dozen boats at a time. Notepads and Dictaphones are very popular as well.
We can take digital pictures for you by arrangement, if for instance you have a long way to travel.

We are open seven days a week but if you have the luxury of choice it makes sense to come midweek: we can devote more time to showing you suitable boats and there is less chance that the owners will be out enjoying a sail on her themselves!

Once you decide on a boat that you would like to buy you make an offer to Sunbird UK, usually subject to survey. Once an agreement is reached with the vendor we will issue an industry-standard contract which details both parties responsibilities.

The survey plus any lifting and relaunching costs are at your own expense. (Full prices for these can be found on the Clyde Marina site)

Contact names and numbers for local surveyors can be found in the local specialist press (e.g. Yachting Life) and can be provided by us upon request. Make sure you ask your chosen surveyor if they charge for travelling.

On completion of a satisfactory survey Sunbird obtain from the vendor a signed Bill of Sale, legally transferring ownership to you. Your monies are paid to the vendor via our secure Clients account.

Click here for some advice?about Marine Finance. You should also make arrangements to insure your new vessel straight away; we have some advice from the market leaders here.

Your next question is of course where to keep her. Check out the new Clyde Marina website for detailed information on our berthing, facilities and of course our famously competitive rates for winter storage ashore.

SELLING:

Why use a yacht broker at all? Our professional body the Yacht Brokers, Designers and Surveyors Association would answer:

If you want to sell your boat you may consider selling it privately. You will then have to undertake all the advertising, show people over the boat and take them out (at weekends when you wanted to be doing something else, or during the week when you should be at work). You will need to ensure all the paperwork (VAT paid invoices, registration documents, proof of title, etc.) is in order and that the person buying the boat has adequate finance.

So what do you pay a broker for? To do all these things for you. They will have a standard sales contract so you and the buyer know how to proceed over such matters as the survey, particularly if any problems are found. The broker is paid commission on the finally agreed selling price and will deal with the financial transactions as well as everything else, and can settle any outstanding bills, such as yard fees out of the funds. The broker also has easier access to checking on outstanding finance with British Registry and the finance houses. If it is an international transaction, he will deal with the different currencies and paperwork.

Here at Sunbird we pride ourselves on our long-standing professional reputation, and genuinely believe that we offer one of the best possible shop windows for your boat in the UK and the Mediterranean. We advertise very heavily in the national specialist press and globally on the Internet with leading industry websites E.Y.B. European Yacht Brokerageand Yacht World.

The Sunbird group has had a busy brokerage operation since its inception in 1980; between them our four offices now have an incredible 275 used boats on sale ranging from 20ft fishing boats to 80ft superyachts.

Our commission rate structure varies from country to country as you'd expect but is always competitive. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

At Sunbird UK we may be able to offer you a discounted berth ? ashore or afloat - whilst your boat is on brokerage with us. Please phone for availability and our current charges.