Yacht Delivery Captain
A delivery captain takes a yacht from one port to another with no guests aboard. It might be a 20m sailing yacht crossing the Atlantic, a new 40m motor yacht leaving a Dutch yard, or a 50m heading from Antibes to Fort Lauderdale for winter. You are hired for the passage and you carry full command. When the job ends, you fly home.
The jobWhat fills the day
The job starts well before you slip the lines. You plan the route, fuel stops and weather windows, then arrive at a boat you may never have seen and go through it properly: engines, generators, steering, nav electronics, liferaft, EPIRB, flares, rigging on a sailing yacht. You list what must be fixed before departure and tell the owner or manager plainly. You handle clearance, crew lists and flag paperwork, pick the crew and set the watch rota. At sea you are the master, answerable to the owner and the insurer.
Size changes the job. Under 24m it is often a sailing yacht on a Yachtmaster Ocean ticket with two or three crew, and you stand watches, cook and fix things yourself. On 24m to 50m motor yachts you need a Master 200gt or 500gt, a mate and usually an engineer, and fuel range drives the planning. Larger yachts tend to move with their permanent crew, so delivery work bunches below 50m. New builds, brokerage handovers and yard runs to Viareggio, La Ciotat or Holland make up a steady share.
Hiring comes down to reputation and sea miles. Owners, management companies and insurers want someone who has done the route before, ideally more than once, and who brings boats in on schedule without damage. Many delivery captains are experienced permanent captains between jobs, retired masters, or ocean sailors with tens of thousands of miles logged. Delivery companies keep rosters of trusted skippers and crew. Brokers recommend names they trust. A single bad delivery can follow you for years.
This is more a sideways move than a step up. Some captains build a small delivery business, run regular Atlantic and Mediterranean rotations, and hire their own crew. Others use deliveries to stay current between permanent commands, or move into build captain work, surveying, owner's representation or teaching at a training school. Income is irregular and there is no paid leave, so most people combine deliveries with relief or rotational work.
Skills captains look for
- Ocean passage planning
- Weather routing
- Pre-departure yacht surveys
- Crew selection and leadership
- Customs and port clearance
- Heavy weather seamanship
- Diesel and systems troubleshooting
A day aboardPassage day, 38m motor yacht, Palma to Gibraltar en route to Antigua
Take the 06:00 to 09:00 watch from the mate. Check the log, radar targets and fuel burn overnight.
Coffee and breakfast on the bridge while the deckhand takes the wheel briefly.
Engine room rounds with the engineer. Check a weeping fuel filter housing you flagged in Palma and confirm stabiliser hydraulic temperatures.
Download fresh GRIB files and the routing service update. A Levanter is building in the Strait, so you adjust speed to arrive at slack and after it eases.
Noon position, distance run and fuel remaining. Email a short report to the management company and confirm the Gibraltar berth and bunker slot with the agent.
Lunch, then sleep for three hours before the evening watches.
Run a man overboard and fire drill with the crew of five, then walk the deck checking lashings on the tender and toys.
Dinner together in the crew mess, the only meal the whole crew shares.
Write night orders covering traffic separation schemes and when to call you. Stand the first night watch until midnight.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
Most delivery captains charge a day rate, roughly USD 350 to 1,000 or more depending on yacht size and route, plus flights, food and expenses. The monthly figures assume steady work. Most freelancers have gaps between jobs and get no paid leave. See the Captain & Relief Captain salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- MCA Master 200gt or 500gt CoC (or RYA Yachtmaster Ocean on smaller sailing yachts)
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical
- GMDSS GOC or Long Range Certificate
- Proficiency in Medical Care or Medical First Aid
Gets you hired
- MCA Master 3000gt for larger yachts
- RYA Yachtmaster Ocean
- MCA Approved Engine Course (AEC)
- Logged ocean passages and transatlantic references
- PDSD or Ship Security Officer
Visas
- US B1/B2
- Schengen right to work
- Caribbean entry as required by route
Where it leadsA typical career path
Captain & Relief Captain jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
How do I get my first delivery as captain?
Most people crew on deliveries first, as mate or deckhand, and get to know the skippers and companies who run them. Shorter coastal moves come before ocean crossings. Insurers usually want proof that you have done comparable passages before they accept you as master.
Do I choose my own crew?
Often, yes. Owners and managers expect you to bring a mate and engineer you trust, and the client pays their day rate and travel. On new builds or managed yachts some permanent crew may stay aboard, and you work with them.
What if the yacht is not fit to sail?
You have the right and the duty to refuse until defects are fixed. Write up your survey findings and send them to the owner or manager before departure. Captains who sail on a boat with known problems carry the blame when it goes wrong.
Is delivery work enough to live on?
Some people manage it, mainly those running Atlantic crossings each autumn and spring plus Mediterranean yard runs. Work is seasonal and lumpy, so most mix deliveries with relief, rotational or survey work.