[iguy]

This all is true.

I also wonder how much of the yacht business is really about money laundering or tax-evasion. Like the art collecting world. If your company buys the boat in one country, reflags it to Panama, sells it in Monaco the next tax year... I don't know any details but I'm sure there's substantial room here to massage what numbers you present to various tax collectors.

[ehnto]

Given how short the ownership tends to last (~9 months according to an anecdote in this thread), I suspect moving or protecting money is probably part of it somewhere. I also imagine a lot of it really is just wealthy people spending for fun rather than profit.

[iguy]

Heh, my anecdote is famous already :)

Indeed, it's pretty hard to tell. Both seem entirely plausible and I just have no way to guess how such buyers think.