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YACHT BROKERS
Free valuation · only 5% commission
Yacht brokers Port des Minimes come in three kinds, and the right one depends on what you want to do: sell your boat, buy a boat, or have one broker handle both sides. European Yacht Brokers, based in Cannes, covers Port des Minimes in La Rochelle, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with a local broker who can come to see your boat quickly. We give a complimentary valuation, charge just 5% commission, advertise on over 20 international platforms, including YachtWorld, and speak six languages.
SELLING?
BUYING?
BOTH SIDES?
ALL FRANCE
Which yacht broker do you need at Port des Minimes?
Which broker do you need? If you are selling at Port des Minimes, our seller’s broker helps set the asking price, prepares the listing and advertises it. If you are buying, our buyer’s broker can research the market, help you compare boats, negotiate and coordinate the survey and sea trial. And if you want one broker to look after the whole sale, our full-service broker does so and, where agreed in writing, can represent both parties. Read on for what each involves.
Why choose us? We know this market. Our valuations draw on sales data for boats worldwide over the past three years, we advertise on over 20 international platforms, including YachtWorld, our brokers speak six languages, and we charge just 5% commission. At Port des Minimes a local broker can visit your boat quickly, backed by our Cannes head office. Start with a complimentary valuation and tell us which service you want.
When you sell with us, you appoint the seller’s broker for Port des Minimes and we do the marketing: valuation, presentation, advertising, enquiries and viewings. The commission is just 5%. How much more we take on, such as negotiating or managing the later stages, is agreed with you in writing, and we explain it before you sign.
The owner appoints a seller’s listing broker to take the yacht to market and find a buyer. Typical help includes agreeing an asking price, gathering the specifications and photographs, preparing the listing, advertising the yacht, answering enquiries and arranging viewings. The listing agreement should state whether the appointment is exclusive or open, its duration, the commission payable and the services the broker has agreed to provide.
Some owners choose a listing and marketing service and nothing more. The broker then advertises the yacht, hands any offer to the owner and takes no responsibility for negotiating or managing what follows. This can work as a clearly defined service, but it should not be taken as the standard seller’s broker. Published guidance usually includes work after the offer, with Horizon Yachts International describing the deposit, survey and sea-trial stages and YachtWorld explaining that a broker may arrange a survey and sea trial.
A seller should know exactly what the broker will and will not do. The questions to ask: will the broker negotiate price and conditions; help prepare or explain the paperwork; track deadlines and contingencies; arrange access for a survey or sea trial; coordinate closing, payment and transfer documents? Where the answer is no, arrange separate professional help to complete those tasks.
The broker who lists the yacht represents the seller under the listing relationship. A buyer approaching that broker should ask whom the broker acts for and whether to appoint a separate representative. A buyer may also be introduced by another broker through co-brokerage, with the firms sharing commission according to their agreement, so the seller should confirm how that affects the fee and service under their own contract. Read it as a seller’s listing broker with a deliberately limited scope rather than a general definition, whether the yacht is at Port des Minimes or elsewhere.
Sources: Horizon Yachts International: Guide to Selling Your Yacht; YachtWorld: Buying from a Yacht Broker
Tell us the type, size, budget and area you have in mind and our buyer’s broker will start the search for you around Port des Minimes. We guide you through the offer, deposit and escrow, survey, sea trial and closing, and you always know what we will handle and what remains yours.
The buyer’s broker represents the purchaser in the hunt for a yacht. A typical search starts by establishing the buyer’s plans, preferred yacht type, size, budget, location and priorities. The broker can research the market, identify boats worth considering, gather details from listing brokers, review available records and help the buyer compare. Previews and remote viewings are offered by some buyer brokers, so the client can narrow the choice before travelling.
After a yacht is chosen, the broker’s role is to help prepare and negotiate an offer, make the steps and deadlines clear and stay in touch with the seller’s listing broker. The transaction may include a purchase agreement, deposit and escrow, an independent marine survey, specialist inspections, a sea trial and talks after the inspections. The broker can help coordinate all this and keep people communicating; the assessment of the yacht itself belongs to the surveyor, because a broker does not replace an independent technical inspection.
Some yacht brokerages publish what their buyer services include: research, negotiation, survey coordination, sea-trial arrangements and assistance with closing documentation. At Curtis Stokes & Associates that means helping buyers research and preview yachts, prepare offers, negotiate and find surveyors and documentation support; HMY describes coordinating survey and sea-trial stages, post-survey discussions and closing. Since services vary, buyers should ask what the broker will handle and what remains theirs.
Payment varies. A buyer’s broker may be paid an agreed share of the commission through a cooperating listing broker, or the buyer may owe a fee under a separate representation agreement. Before the search begins, the buyer should have the fee, duration, scope of authority and any exclusivity in writing. The result is a dedicated representative across a wider search, even when the yacht you choose is listed by another brokerage. Buyers looking at yachts around Port des Minimes should ask these questions before appointing anyone.
Sources: Curtis Stokes & Associates: Buyer Brokerage Service; HMY: How Brokers De-Risk a Used Yacht Purchase
A single point of contact can make a sale smoother, and that is what our full-service broker offers owners and buyers at Port des Minimes. Dual agency is available only where it is agreed in writing, and we recommend you ask us to explain it before any offer is made.
From the owner’s first call to completion, a full-service broker can manage the sale. That may mean assessing the yacht and the asking price, preparing photographs and particulars, advertising, dealing with enquiries, arranging viewings, communicating offers, and helping the parties move an accepted offer through contract, deposit, survey, sea trial and closing. Documentation, escrow arrangements, delivery and other practical details may be included too, depending on the agreement; the precise service belongs in the listing and sale documents.
Here the broker also works directly with the buyer and acts for both sides. The Yacht Brokers Association of America calls this dual agency: a single broker representing both parties in one transaction. Do not confuse it with a listing broker who assists a buyer but is still appointed by the seller. A buyer should have the broker explain the relationship before an offer is made.
The parties’ interests differ. The seller generally wants the strongest price and terms; the buyer wants a suitable yacht at a fair price and needs to make informed decisions about its condition. A broker representing both cannot privately negotiate for each side as if there were two independent representatives. The YBAA discussion stresses transparency about the arrangement and careful handling of confidential information. Legal rules and permitted arrangements vary by jurisdiction, so rely on the written agreement and applicable local advice.
Commission is often covered in the seller’s listing agreement, but not always in the same way, so a buyer should confirm whether any separate fee is owed. Keep the terms apart: full-service refers to the range of work, dual agency to the parties represented. Extensive transaction support is possible without representing both sides.
Our French operations are coordinated from the Cannes head office, with brokers covering the coastal regions and many marinas across France. You speak first to the Cannes team, who put you in touch with the broker responsible for your area. Thanks to the regional network, a broker can reach any French marina in less than sixty minutes, arrange a visit to your boat and provide a free valuation.
Coverage is by region. For Port des Minimes in La Rochelle the broker is the one for Nouvelle-Aquitaine; elsewhere our delegates and agents cover Brittany, Normandy, Hauts-de-France, Pays de la Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Corsica. They can speak to customers and visit their boats at short notice, with the Cannes head office keeping everything coordinated.
Start a valuation by downloading our Sales Mandate and Evaluation Sheet. From the boat’s details and condition we can study the market and produce a precise, evidence-based valuation, drawing on the sales data we hold for boats worldwide over the past three years. Remember that a valuation assesses likely market value; it does not guarantee the eventual sale price.
Your regional broker does the work once you appoint us: finding the buyer or the right boat, and guiding you through the transaction to completion and the successful transfer of funds. Boats go onto over 20 platforms throughout Europe, giving them visibility beyond France, and an international audience can often help secure a stronger price than relying on local demand alone. With six languages spoken among our brokers, we can connect you with someone who speaks yours.
Where a yacht is kept shapes how it sells, and for boats at Port des Minimes that place is La Rochelle in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The notes below summarise the marina’s facilities, the town, its history and what there is to do.
Port des Minimes offers berths accommodating boats up to 15 metres in length. The marina features secured docks and a harbour master’s office open 24 hours a day. There is a slipway available for launching and retrieving boats, with vehicle-and-trolley parking permitted for under 24 hours. Free access to blackwater and greywater pumps is provided alongside a fuel station equipped with nine pumps. A network of 160 sailing-related businesses supports the marina’s technical and service needs.
La Rochelle is located in Charente-Maritime within the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its marina, created in 1972, ranks among the largest in Europe. Port des Minimes is described as a true city on the water, comprising four basins named Lazaret, Marillac, Bout-Blanc and Tamaris. The site includes a harbour master’s office and an artisan marketplace, providing structure and amenities for those involved in yachting and boat ownership. The marina’s development over the decades reflects its importance to the local maritime infrastructure and culture.
Port des Minimes offers secured docks, with a harbour master’s office open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides free blackwater and greywater pump access alongside a fuel station equipped with nine pumps. A slipway is available for launching and retrieving boats, also allowing vehicle and trolley parking for periods under 24 hours. In addition, the marina supports a network of 160 sailing-related businesses. Visitors and owners can explore La Rochelle’s maritime heritage and the nearby Old Port, its towers, Aquarium and Maritime Museum, or participate in excursions, cruises, kayaking, diving and sea-rowing activities.
Yachts for sale in the Port des Minimes area are added to the European Yacht Brokers archive by local brokers, who verify each one. If nothing listed suits you, the local broker can search wider on a buyer’s behalf; if you are the owner, your boat can be presented to buyers searching here and in nearby ports.
Port des Minimes offers access to the Pertuis navigation area via a fitted and secured slipway, for which the port recommends a minimum height of 1.80 m for launching. Maintenance dredging is carried out to maintain safe depth and navigation at all states of the tide, with tide tables advised for consultation before use. The port describes its surrounding waters as safe, with accessible islands and a variety of nearby ports suitable for sailing, local regattas, cruises, sea excursions, boat rental, sea rowing, kayaking and diving.
Each September, Port des Minimes hosts the Grand Pavois La Rochelle, an international in-water boat show established in 1973. The event gathers more than 700 boats and exhibitors representing around 30 countries. The sailing season includes a range of activities and events connected to this annual gathering.
Want to see a boat at Port des Minimes, or have yours valued where it lies? Our Cannes head office connects you with the local broker for Nouvelle-Aquitaine, who can visit quickly and give a free valuation.
Official references
Reviews from European Yacht Brokers clients, as published on Google (5.0, European Yacht Brokers) and on our client pages.
That depends on the agreement. Some sellers take a limited service in which the broker advertises the yacht and passes offers to the owner, while other agreements also cover negotiation, survey, sea trial and closing. Ask before you sign.
No. The surveyor assesses the yacht and the broker does not replace an independent technical inspection, but a buyer’s broker can help arrange the survey and sea trial.
The seller generally wants the strongest price and terms, while the buyer wants a suitable yacht at a fair price. With one broker for both parties there are not two independent representatives, so the arrangement and the handling of confidential information should be clear.
We advertise boats across over 20 platforms throughout Europe, giving them visibility beyond the French market.
Use our Sales Mandate and Evaluation Sheet and send us the boat’s details and condition; your regional broker can then arrange a visit to your boat.
GUIDE
Identify the actual seller, representative powers and applicable guarantees before comparing a broker with a dealer.
GUIDE
Check the holder, legal arrangement and agreed release conditions before paying a French yacht sale deposit.
AREA
Saint-Martin-de-Ré · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Owners or buyers interested in yachts in the Port des Minimes area are invited to contact the European Yacht Brokers Cannes team, who will connect them with the relevant broker. Please provide details including model, year, location and condition of the yacht for owners, or size, budget and type of yacht sought for buyers; for example, a 2015 sailing yacht of about 12 metres, or a sailing yacht of about 40 feet with a budget of up to 150,000 euros.
We only charge 5% commission.
Enquiries are handled by European Yacht Brokers, who cover any port in the Mediterranean. Call or WhatsApp +33 6 0999 2657.
Sara Mattey, Yacht Broker · English, French, Spanish, German and Italian
Cannes office: 93 La Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France
Open Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 18:00
More marinas in the region: yacht brokers Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
More marinas in the region: yacht brokers Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
