The figure is never on the invoice, and it is never asked for. Yet how you close a charter says more about you than how you opened it — and most principals would rather know the convention than guess at it.
You have settled the charter fee. You have wired the provisioning allowance. And then, somewhere in the last forty-eight hours aboard, the question surfaces quietly: what is owed to the eight people who made the week effortless? There is no line item, no menu, no one who will tell you. Crew gratuity sits deliberately outside the contract — discretionary by design, customary in practice. This is the convention, stated plainly, so that the gesture lands as generosity rather than guesswork.
Under the MYBA Charter Agreement — the contract that governs the overwhelming majority of crewed luxury charters — gratuity is a recommended courtesy, not an obligation. The guideline most brokers cite is 5 to 15 percent of the base charter fee, with 10 percent serving as the comfortable global norm for a week aboard a well-run yacht.
The word base is the part principals most often get wrong, and it works in your favour. The gratuity is calculated on the charter fee alone. It is not calculated on the all-in figure that left your account. You exclude:
On a €200,000 weekly charter, a 10 percent gratuity is €20,000 — not 10 percent of the €280,000 that may have actually moved, once the APA and tax were added. The distinction matters, and no professional broker will let you over-tip out of confusion. The MYBA text is explicit that gratuity is appropriate only where service has been excellent, that the charterer is under no obligation, and that a tip should never be solicited by the crew, verbally or in writing, when the final account is settled.
The single most persistent misconception is that the Advance Provisioning Allowance somehow absorbs the tip. It does not. The APA is an operational float — typically 25–35 percent of the charter fee on a sailing yacht or catamaran, and 35–40 percent on a motor yacht — that the captain draws against for fuel, provisioning, berthing and your particular indulgences. It is reconciled against receipts at the end of the week, and any surplus is returned to you.
The gratuity is a separate gesture, paid independently, recognising the people rather than the running costs. There is one elegant point of overlap worth knowing: when the APA is reconciled and a surplus comes back, some principals choose to direct that surplus toward the crew gratuity rather than receiving it back. It is a clean, discreet way to settle, and your broker can arrange it. But the two budgets begin life entirely apart, and you should think of them that way.
The recommended band is global, but where you cruise quietly shifts where within that band you should land. Crew in different waters budget their year around different expectations, and meeting the regional norm is part of arriving well-briefed.
| Cruising ground | Customary range | Comfortable centre |
|---|---|---|
| Mediterranean (France, Italy, Greece, Croatia) | 5–10% | ~10% |
| Caribbean & Bahamas | 15–20% | ~15% |
| United States waters | 15–20% | ~18% |
| Worldwide / remote (Pacific, Indian Ocean, Norway) | 10–15% | ~12% |
In the Mediterranean, gratuities are generally worked toward the lower end of the scale; 10 percent is read as warm and correct. In the Caribbean and the United States, American tipping culture carries onto the water, and 15–20 percent is the expectation rather than the exception — crew there genuinely structure their income around it. None of this is a tax. It is a starting point you adjust, in either direction, against the service you actually received.
Because gratuity is a percentage of the charter fee, it scales naturally with the size and crew complement of the yacht — a larger vessel commands a higher fee and carries more people to look after you. The table below is illustrative, taking a one-week Mediterranean charter at a 10 percent convention; in Caribbean waters you would weight these figures upward by half again.
| Yacht size | Typical crew | Indicative weekly fee | Gratuity at 10% (Med) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30–40m sailing / motor | 4–6 | €100,000–180,000 | €10,000–18,000 |
| 40–55m motor yacht | 7–10 | €200,000–400,000 | €20,000–40,000 |
| 55–70m superyacht | 11–16 | €450,000–800,000 | €45,000–80,000 |
| 70m+ flagship | 18–30+ | €1,000,000+ | €100,000+ |
At the upper end, the sums are considerable, and this is precisely where a conversation with your advisor before departure is worth having. The percentage convention holds, but the right gesture on a 90-metre charter is a judgement rather than a formula — and one made far more comfortably in advance than in the final hour aboard.
You tip the yacht, not the individual. The entire gratuity is given to the captain, who then distributes it among the crew. This is deliberate and it protects everyone: it ensures the people who never appear on deck — the engineer in the machinery space, the chef who never leaves the galley, the stewardess who turned the cabins while you were ashore — are recognised alongside the visible faces.
Most yachts divide the gratuity equally across the crew, regardless of rank, on the principle that a flawless week is a team result rather than any one person's. Some captains weight slightly by position and responsibility. Either way, the division is the captain's to make, and reaching past the captain to press cash on a favourite crew member — however warmly meant — undercuts the system and is best avoided.
The convention many seasoned charterers follow is to hand the captain a sealed envelope on the final day with a short personal note inside: a line on how the week felt, perhaps a mention of someone who went quietly beyond. It costs nothing, it is remembered long after the figure is forgotten, and it tells the captain exactly how you would like the crew to be thanked.
Timing. Gratuity is presented at the end of the charter, on the final day, once the week is behind you and the service can be judged whole. It is never expected at embarkation and never solicited at any point.
Cash. The traditional and still most appreciated method is cash, in the charter's currency, sealed in an envelope and handed to the captain. Crews favour it for the obvious reason — it can be distributed immediately, before people scatter to their next contract. The practical drawback is equally obvious: carrying €50,000 or €100,000 in notes to a marina is neither convenient nor discreet.
Wire. The modern alternative, and the one most ultra-high-net-worth principals now use, is to route the gratuity through your charter broker. You transfer the funds to the broker in advance; they are held, and after the charter you confirm how much to release to the crew and how much, if any, to return to you. It removes the cash entirely, it lets you adjust the final figure once the week is genuinely complete, and it leaves a clean record. The one thing to confirm beforehand is that the crew can be paid promptly on the broker's side, so the gesture is not diluted by a delay. Your advisor will have arranged this many times and will simply handle it.
Obsidian Helm does not publish a tipping figure and walk away. Through the Obsidian Helm Marketplace, principals are introduced only to charter houses we have vetted ourselves — brokers who will brief the regional convention, hold and release gratuity through escrow, and ensure the crew are thanked correctly and discreetly on your behalf. The introduction is private and the convention is handled for you. Speak with your Obsidian Helm advisor, or request an introduction through the Marketplace, and the only thing left to decide aboard is whether the week deserved the upper end of the range.
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The customary range is 5 to 15 percent of the base charter fee under MYBA convention, with 10 percent the comfortable global norm for a week. The figure is calculated on the charter fee alone — never on the APA, VAT or delivery charges — and adjusted up or down against the quality of service you received.
No. The Advance Provisioning Allowance is an operational float for fuel, food, wine and dockage, reconciled against receipts at the end of the charter with any surplus returned to you. Gratuity is entirely separate. Some principals do choose to direct an APA surplus toward the crew tip, but the two budgets begin apart and should be thought of separately.
Yes. The recommended band is global, but its centre shifts by region. In the Mediterranean, 5–10 percent is the norm, with 10 percent read as warm and correct. In the Caribbean and United States waters, 15–20 percent is expected, as crew there budget their income around it.
You give the entire gratuity to the captain, typically in a sealed envelope on the final day, often with a short personal note. The captain then distributes it among the crew — usually equally, regardless of rank — so that the engineer, chef and interior team are recognised alongside the visible deck crew.
Yes. While cash in the charter's currency is traditional and lets the crew be paid immediately, most ultra-high-net-worth principals now route the gratuity through their charter broker. You transfer funds in advance, then confirm the release after the charter — removing the need to carry large sums and leaving a clean record. Confirm beforehand that the crew can be paid promptly.
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