VESSEL FORENSIC

The Forensic Audit Standard for Water Craft Insurance and Purchase

The industry standard forensic audit for water craft.

A marine survey tells you what is broken after you have committed to a boat. Vessel Forensic tells you what the vessel will cost you before you spend a penny on one. Pick your vessel type, purchase your audit pack, enter the vessel's details from the listing, and receive a full forensic report in minutes.

How it works

1. Pick your vessel type. Sail, Power, or Luxury. The audit asks different questions of each.
2. Purchase your audit pack. A single audit, a three-boat shortlist pack, or an annual professional licence.
3. Enter the vessel's details. Work from the sale listing. Four structured steps, no jargon required.
4. Receive the forensic report. The full engineering and financial picture, ready before you commit to a survey.

What you receive

• Professional condition assessment: design purpose, strengths, weaknesses, known model problems, and red flags for the exact make, model, and year, judged against your intended use.
• System lifespan audit: every major system on the vessel, up to 38 of them, aged against its design lifespan with current market replacement costs.
• True cost of ownership: running costs, financing, and charter revenue offset. What the boat costs you per year, not what the listing says.
• Mission fit verdict: a plain answer to the only question that matters: is this vessel right for what you plan to do with it?
• Seller detail request form: a printable disclosure sheet that extracts the history a listing leaves out.

Vessel classes

Sail: cruising yachts, bluewater boats, liveaboards, monohulls, catamarans, and trimarans. Power: motor cruisers, trawlers, sportfishers, and dayboats. Luxury: large motor yachts, flybridge cruisers, and crewed yachts.

Sample report

The site carries a full sample audit of a real boat: a 1972 Columbia 43, a respected William Tripp design from a builder that closed in 1980, asking $49,500. The audit prices $85,700 of overdue replacements, recommends a maximum offer below zero, and returns a verdict of NOT RECOMMENDED for the buyer's planned solo circumnavigation. The listing looked like a bargain. The audit said otherwise.

Pricing

• Single audit: $150 (Sail and Power) or $300 (Luxury Class)
• Three-pack: $350 or $700
• Professional licence, unlimited audits: $3,500 or $7,000 per year
• Brokerage licence, ten seats: $12,000 or $24,000 per year

Brokerage licences include ten numbered seat codes, one per broker, with per-seat usage tracking. Payment is handled by Stripe. Every purchase issues an access code that restores your audits on any device.

For yacht brokerages and boat dealers

Brokers run the audit as a closing tool and produce standardised disclosure packs for listings. One forensic method for every water craft, in any market: a unified standard where the industry has never had one.

Vessel Forensic produces an intelligence report from the information you provide and published reference data. It is not a survey and it is not professional advice. Always commission a qualified marine surveyor before purchase.

Guides for boat buyers: Vessel Forensic articles, including the used boat buying checklist.

Free tool: Is your boat insurable? Run the free insurance risk check against current global underwriting criteria.

Contact: info@vesselforensic.com · © 2026 Vessel Forensic. All rights reserved.

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