First-Time Boat Buyer Experience: Saona 47

Mickey H. explains his experience as a first-time boat buyer with Atlantic Cruising Yachts. "So I’m here with Mickey on his brand new Saona 47. Mickey, can you tell us a little bit about your experience with ACY? Sure. So, as you said I bought a Saona 47. I bought it from ACY, Atlantic Cruising Yachts. I’m a first-time buyer. As a first time buyer, I did not know the process of boat ownership. ACY took me through every step of the way and it was really a pleasure because I quickly developed a sense of trust and it’s really wonderful when you trust the people you’re working with. In general, they took me through every step all the way to delivery. I went out to La Rochelle before the boat went in the water, saw it launched, had my ACY rep next to me, Baptiste – which is unusual – lots of dealers do not have a local rep but ACY does. That was tremendous. He took me around, introduced me to the contractors who were doing a few things to our boat before it went in the water. One of the benefits of going out to La Rochelle – 1. Going to the factory is a wonderful experience, but in addition, I sailed the boat back. If you have experience in sailing, it’s wonderful to be able to sail your boat back to the U.S. from La Rochelle and get the experience of just knowing your boat, knowing the systems, just flushing out all of the issues, so by the time you get home, you know the boat in and out and you are ready to start sailing. That’s what I did, and it’s been a wonderful experience for me. I encourage every owner to do that."