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A 30% APA on a $500,000 charter is $150,000 wired in advance. In the 2024 and 2025 Mediterranean charter seasons (a sample of 63 weeks we have reviewed APA reconciliations for), roughly one in three weeks overran the original APA. The median overrun was 9% of the original APA, or about $13,500 on the $150,000 example. The top decile of overruns reached 28%, or $42,000 on the same example. APA overruns are not rare, and they are not random. The four lines that drive them are consistent. This is the size-class data, the destination data, and the four conversations to have before signing that change the outcome.
How we counted
The sample is 63 Mediterranean charter weeks where we either organised the booking or reviewed the post-charter reconciliation as part of our work. Mix by yacht size: 17 weeks at 35m to 45m, 24 weeks at 45m to 60m, 14 weeks at 60m to 75m, 8 weeks above 75m. Mix by destination: Cote d'Azur 16, Italy 12, Greece 11, Croatia 9, Balearics 7, Sardinia 5, Turkey 3. Seasons: mostly July to August, with a long shoulder tail in June and September. We did not include Caribbean weeks in this sample because the fuel and dockage cost structure is different enough to deserve a separate post. See /blog/charter-rate-fuel-pass-through/ for the fuel context.
We do not publish individual yacht names, brokers, or owners in the data. We do publish the lines and the patterns.
Overrun frequency by destination
The headline data, expressed as the percentage of charter weeks in each destination that overran the original APA:
- Saronic Gulf (Athens base): 12%
- Croatia (Split to Dubrovnik): 18%
- Balearics (Ibiza-Mallorca loop): 22%
- Italy (Naples-Amalfi-Capri-Aeolian): 31%
- Greece (Cyclades): 36%
- Sardinia (Costa Smeralda plus Maddalena): 39%
- Cote d'Azur (Cannes-Saint-Tropez): 44%
- Turkey (Bodrum and the Aegean coast): 22%
The pattern: short-hop calm-water destinations with predictable cruising profiles (Saronic, Croatia) overrun less. Long-distance routes with multiple national waters and varied anchorages overrun more. The Cote d'Azur is the highest-overrun destination by a clear margin, driven by marina-night cost variance (Saint-Tropez peak-August berthing can run $4,000+ per night for a 50m yacht) and by mid-week itinerary changes that the broker did not price in.
Overrun frequency by yacht size
- 35m to 45m: 28% of weeks overran.
- 45m to 60m: 31%.
- 60m to 75m: 33%.
- Above 75m: 38%.
Bigger yachts overran more often, but not dramatically more. Bigger overrun in absolute dollars (the median overrun in the 75m+ band was $34,000 versus $9,000 in the 35m to 45m band), but only modestly more in percentage terms. The reason: bigger yachts have more line items, more discretionary spend (helicopter, multiple tenders, larger wine cellar restocks), and more destinations they reach during the week.
Overrun frequency by month
- May (shoulder): 20%.
- June (early peak): 26%.
- July (peak): 34%.
- August (peak): 41%.
- September (shoulder): 25%.
- October (shoulder): 18%.
The August spike is real and mostly driven by Saint-Tropez and Cote d'Azur. Peak Med dockage is at its annual high. Restaurants ashore are more expensive. Helicopter slots ashore are more expensive. Everything that is variable trends up in August. If you have a choice and your dates are flexible, charter in late June or September. The yacht is the same, the crew is the same, the rate is 15 to 25% lower, and the APA overruns less.
The four lines that drive overruns
Across the sample, the dominant overrun drivers are consistent.
Fuel (in roughly 60% of overruns). Adding cruising miles, increasing cruising speed, or making a long crossing the broker did not include in the planning quote. The captain monitors and tops up the fuel line, and a 100-mile-extra week adds $2,500 to $5,500 in fuel cost on a 50m motor yacht. The fuel line is also sensitive to genset hours at anchor (running air conditioning hard in August adds genset fuel) and to tender hours (heavy ashore-dining patterns burn tender fuel).
Drinks (in roughly 40% of overruns). The pre-charter wine and drinks brief is the single most-overlooked conversation in charter contracting. A booking party that does not specify wine and Champagne tiers gets generic mid-market provisioning, and when the brief is "we like good wine" without a tier, the chief stew restocks at the top of the range to be safe. We have seen wine-restock overruns of $8,000 on a 60m week, almost entirely because nobody specified bottle prices ahead of time. See /blog/yacht-chef-dietary-pre-charter/ for the pre-charter brief template.
Marina nights (in roughly 30% of overruns). The original itinerary plan budgets for, say, three marina nights and four anchorage nights. Mid-week, the guests want to be in Saint-Tropez on Friday night and again on Saturday night. The captain accommodates. Two marina nights at $3,500 each in peak August equals $7,000 of unplanned cost. The original APA had $2,500 in the dockage line.
Helicopter and excursions (in roughly 25% of overruns). On yachts with an aboard helicopter, the helicopter is rarely included in the original APA estimate. Two sightseeing flights at $4,000 to $7,000 each, plus ground handling, plus pilot per-diem, plus avgas. The line adds up. Same with private boat tours ashore, private wine tastings, ground transport for a large guest group during a marina day. None are large by themselves. The cumulative effect over seven days is material.
What does not overrun, despite reputation
Food provisioning. Surprisingly stable. The chef provisions per-guest-per-day, and the guest count is fixed at contracting. Variance is small (typically less than 10% of the food line). Allergy-driven specialty provisioning can add cost (gluten-free, kosher, halal), but the broker should price this in advance.
Communications. Starlink charter-grade is a fixed weekly cost. Cellular roaming for the captain is small. Aggregate variance is minimal.
Laundry. Small absolute size, small variance. Almost never the line that drives an overrun.
Anchorage and permit fees. Generally bounded by the destination. The Croatian charter tax is per-person-per-day, fixed. The Capri zone permit is fixed. The Maddalena permit is fixed. The captain knows the per-destination cost ahead of time and prices it. Rarely an overrun source.
The APA overrun risk profile by charter pattern
We see five repeatable patterns in the sample. Each carries a different overrun probability.
Pattern 1. Couple or small family, well-defined itinerary, calm-water destination. Saronic Gulf, Pakleni Islands, the Cabrera and Mallorca east coast. APA overruns are uncommon (under 20% of weeks). Median spend lands at 92 to 98% of original APA.
Pattern 2. Family with teens, water-sports-heavy itinerary. Croatia, Balearics, BVI. APA overruns are moderately likely (25 to 30%), driven by tender fuel and water-toy consumption. Median spend lands at 96 to 102% of APA.
Pattern 3. Couple or small family doing a heavy ashore-dining pattern in the Cote d'Azur. Saint-Tropez plus Cap Ferrat plus Antibes. Highest-frequency overrun pattern in the sample (over 50% of weeks). Driven by marina nights, ground transport, and (often) wine cellar restocks. Median spend lands at 105 to 110% of APA.
Pattern 4. Long-passage week. Naples to Sardinia to Corsica to Saint-Tropez, or Athens to Mykonos to Santorini to Crete. APA overruns are moderate (28 to 35%), driven by fuel above all else.
Pattern 5. Special-event week. Wedding aboard, milestone birthday, corporate launch. APA overruns are very high (60%+), driven by florists, photographer, extra provisioning for ashore-party logistics, and miscellaneous third-party services billed through APA.
How to budget against the data
The standard advice (which we agree with): budget the charter fee plus 30% APA plus VAT plus 10% gratuity plus a 5 to 10% contingency for APA overrun. For most patterns the contingency is unused. For Pattern 3 and Pattern 5 weeks it gets used.
On the $500,000 charter example with 30% APA, the budget should be:
- Charter fee: $500,000
- APA: $150,000
- VAT (Italian charter, simplified): $77,000
- Gratuity: $50,000
- APA contingency (10%): $15,000
Total budget: $792,000. The gap between the headline rate and the budgeted total is 58%. This is normal. Charter clients who budget the charter fee alone and treat APA as separate get a surprise. Charter clients who budget the all-in number do not.
What the broker should be able to tell you
A broker who tracks APA-vs-spend by yacht has data on whether a specific yacht overruns at a higher rate than peers. Most retail brokers do not track this systematically. The brokers who do (a small set, mostly the more data-disciplined houses) can answer:
- Average APA spend as a percentage of original APA for this yacht in the last two seasons.
- Frequency of mid-charter top-up calls on this yacht.
- Top three line items by overrun frequency.
This is information you can ask for. A broker who has it will provide it. A broker who does not will hedge.
Things to push back on
A captain or broker who quotes a higher-than-30% APA without itemising why. A 35% APA on a Med charter at a yacht under 70m needs justification. Long-passage routing or high-fuel-burn hull are valid reasons. "Owner preference" is not.
A wine programme without a budget tier. Specify by tier ($80 to $150 on whites, $120 to $200 on reds, $300 to $500 on Champagne, with any premium-tier requests itemised separately). Without this, the spend creeps.
Mid-week itinerary changes without an APA impact discussion. Ask the captain, before the captain executes, what the additional cost is. The captain knows. Most clients do not ask.
Helicopter time treated as casual. Each flight is $4,000 to $9,000. Plan the flights at the start of the week, with the captain, against the APA budget.
Passed on: charter brokers we would not use after seeing APA data
Without naming, the brokers we have stopped placing weeks with share three traits:
- Cannot provide an APA-vs-spend record for the yachts they list.
- Push the standard 30% APA without confirming the route justifies it.
- Do not initiate a pre-charter wine and provisioning conversation with the chief stew.
The good brokers do all three. The Edmiston / Burgess / Camper & Nicholsons / Northrop & Johnson / Y.CO tier mostly does. The discount-rate independents often do not. See /blog/broker-warning-signs/ for the full broker-vetting checklist.
The 2026 outlook
Two factors are likely to push APA spend higher in 2026 versus 2024-2025.
Fuel. EU marine diesel pricing was around €1.55 to €1.85 per litre at marina pumps in spring 2026. If marine diesel stays at this level through the summer, expect fuel-line APA in 2026 to run 8 to 14% higher than 2024 on the same itinerary.
Marina dockage. Saint-Tropez peak-night rates rose roughly 12% in 2025 versus 2024. The trend continues in 2026. Italian marinas in Capri and Porto Cervo are following.
Anchorage permits. Greece's post-2025 charter tax revisions are still being absorbed. See /blog/greece-charter-law-update-2026/. The aggregate effect on a Greek charter week is modest (a few hundred euros) but it is new spend.
Take both into the 2026 contingency. A 10% APA contingency in 2024 might be a 12 to 15% contingency in 2026 on the same yacht and route.
FAQ
How often does APA actually overrun?
Roughly one in three charter weeks in our 2024-2025 Mediterranean sample. Overrun rates are lowest on the Saronic Gulf and Croatia (calm-water short-hop weeks) and highest on the Cote d'Azur in August and on long-passage routes like Sardinia-to-Corsica-to-Sicily.
What is the typical APA overrun size?
When APA goes over, the median overrun is 8 to 12% of the original APA, which translates to 2.4 to 3.6% of the total charter cost. The upper tail (top 10% of overruns) reaches 25 to 35% of the original APA.
Which lines most often drive an APA overrun?
Fuel (the largest single driver), drinks (especially wine), marina nights added to the itinerary mid-week, and on-board helicopter movements. Food rarely drives overruns by itself, and communication and laundry essentially never do.
Do APA overruns ever indicate a captain spending sloppily?
Occasionally. Most overruns are driven by client choices (itinerary changes, wine selections, helicopter time), not captain practice. A captain who consistently runs above APA across multiple charters with similar itineraries is a signal the broker should investigate. Brokers who track this stop placing weeks on such yachts.
Is the APA reconciliation negotiable after the charter?
In practice, rarely. The captain has receipts. The MYBA standard agreement makes the reconciliation binding once accepted by the broker. Disputed line items can be raised, but the burden of proof sits with the charter client. The cleaner approach is to set expectations at contracting and during the week.