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New beneteau power boats.

Beneteau Power's vast range of motor yachts encompasses superb performance and comfort for boaters of all levels. Ancasta has been a dealer for Beneteau Power for over 35 years.

New Beneteau Sailing Yachts

Beneteau offers a diverse range of sailing yachts, catering to sailors and boating enthusiasts of all levels. Ancasta has represented Beneteau Sail in the UK for over 35 years.

New Bluegame Yachts

Bluegame motor yachts dare to be unconventional with innovative layouts, spacious outdoor living and performance hulls. Ancasta represents Bluegame yachts in the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands.

New Lagoon Catamarans

Lagoon catamarans are crafted for serene bluewater cruising with exceptional comfort, stability and reliability. Ancasta is the exclusive Lagoon dealer in the UK.

New McConaghy Boats

McConaghy Boats produces luxurious multihulls and high-performance sailing yachts with high levels of customisation. Ancasta is the sole UK dealer for McConaghy Boats.

New Prestige Yachts

Prestige motor yachts are renowned for their refined interiors and innovative layouts. Ancasta is the exclusive dealer for Prestige Yachts in the UK and Balearic Islands.

New Protector Boats

Protector Boats RIBs are among the most capable and durable utility vessels in the world. Ancasta represents Protector Boats in the UK and Europe.

New Scorpion RIBS

British-made Scorpion RIBs are renowned for their unique blend of elegant, good looks and luxurious comfort with rugged, all-weather capabilities, class-leading performance and exceptional safety.

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Browse hundreds of new and used yachts for sale with Ancasta including boats from Beneteau Sail , Beneteau Power , Lagoon Catamarans , Prestige Motoryachts , Bluegame Yachts , McConaghy Boats , CNB Yachts , Protector Boats , and Scorpion RIBs .  

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Ancasta is Europe’s largest yacht brokerage, specialising in new and used sail and motor boats . With 23 offices , 40 brokers, and 45,000 active buyers, Ancasta guarantees the highest level of both local and global exposure for your boat , working quickly and efficiently to secure suitable buyers.

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Ancasta yacht services.

Ancasta Yacht Services offers a comprehensive range of yacht repair, refit and servicing. With a team of highly skilled craftsmen and excellent facilities in Hamble, Southampton, including under-cover workshops accommodating yachts up to 26m, our experienced and knowledgeable project management team ensure seamless coordination of every task.

Refit and Repair

Our experienced yacht refit and repair team can undertake repair work on all fibreglass and carbon motor boats and sailing boats.

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Our trained marine engineers have the technical expertise to carry out yacht engine servicing, full engine overhauls and rebuilds.

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Whether your yacht requires annual servicing, pre-sailing preparation, regular maintenance, or ad-hoc repairs, our expert boat maintenance teams can help.

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Our boat commissioning team make sure your brand-new yacht is ready for a seamless handover and is prepared to your personal requirements and specification.

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The Ancasta Parts & Service team can source and order original boat parts for spares or repair, as well as boat safety equipment and yacht toys.

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Ancasta Yacht Services boasts extensive yacht refit and repair facilities in Hamble, Southampton, including large undercover workshops.

Testimonials

We have recently purchased Dentino II from Sam Peters.  We initially contacted him through the website asking for more details, photos and videos about the boat. Sam was obliging and pleasant to deal with from the start.  There was nothing that seemed too much effort and he always replied to my messages and phone calls, even on weekends and after hours.  The offer did not go to plan but with Sam’s help and smart negotiation, we were able to put another offer forward.  The offer was accepted and we are now proud owners of the boat.  I will be seeing Sam next week to pick up the keys and paperwork before the boat is brought through to Christchurch. I feel in the current times we live in people are always quick to complain, but we feel that this is one situation that praise needs to be given to Sam. Hope you all have a great safe summer in Falmouth. Kind regards

Great service from Geraint and the rest of the team when selling our yacht. This was a long process requiring patience and diligence, but the whole team pulled together to push the sale though and no stone was left unturned when it came to sorting out unexpected issues.So many thanks for all your hard work - much appreciated.

We found Ancasta, Leo, Rupert and the team at Port Solent office, incredibly helpful, pleasant and knowledgeable. This was our first boat and we uncertain about the process, with their help it was simple, any questions we had, and we had a lot, were answered quickly.Collection of the boat was made simple, all paperwork was provided and importantly, explained to us, the boat was inspected, Leo’s knowledge of the operation and explanations of this boat were helpful and for myself a must.The bottle of champagne he brought for us was so appreciated, this together with the assurance that we could still contact Ancasta for any help / advice after we sailed was away, again very reassuring.With our thanks to Ancasta.

Excellent team effort. Lots of good advice and guidance through the sale process

Hi Veronika and TeamThank you for a fantastic day on Friday. Everything was perfect and ran like clockwork! We’re delighted with the boat and very pleased we chose the GT41 - it’s going to be perfect for us. We were also very touched by the gifts - a really kind gesture!The trip down to Plymouth went very smoothly and was a real experience, at about 20-24 knots most of the way, and we’re now safely moored in Plymouth for the year. Tim Ball was brilliant.Thank you all for helping us through the purchase process from start to finish - we’re really pleased we bought our new boat from Ancasta.All the best

After several months of looking and two failed surveys, I have just completed the purchase of my first boat, a Jeanneau Merry Fisher 795. As a newcomer to boating I have to admit my first impression of boat brokers was pretty poor (compared to other industries I deal with) - descriptions were definitely on the optimistic side, boats were untidy, dirty and generally poorly presented. No excuses, just very poor sales and I would be careful who to list my boat with in the future. Then I came across Ancasta (Leo Walters) who shone bright like a beacon. The description of the boat was accurate, minor faults highlighted and extra pictures provided on request. Communications with Ancasta have been excellent, the boat was very well presented for inspection and after sales Ancasta remained interested to ensure my experience was positive. I wouldn't hesitate going to Ancasta for another purchase and if you are thinking of selling a boat, consider using Ancasta, you will get better service and value for money than many other brokers out there. And as a buying customer I would feel confident buying through them so you would be more likely to sell to me!

Bonjour à tous Un carton plein (mais pas rouge) pour le courtier d'Ancasta Benoit SIZUN. Professionnel , présent quand il le faut, de bon conseil, à l'écoute, un suivi parfait...le top!Hello everyone A solid card (but not red) for Ancasta broker Benoit SIZUN. Professional, present when needed, good advice, attentive, perfect follow-up...the best!

The Ancaster team at Dartmouth have gone above and beyond in assisting with a somewhat less than straight forward international sale and they have managed to keep their professionalism and attention to detail at the forefront throughout. A BigThank you to you guys

I was amazed at the outstanding level of support and effectiveness Geraint and the team at Port Solent have provided through the sale of our yacht.  They achieved a very fair price in a short period of time – a far better outcome than my previous yacht sale experiences.  I would gladly recommend using Ancasta for yacht sales to my friends and family. Best

Excellent work completed at a competitive price. Staff went the extra mile arranging sail laundering in a edition to the servicing and routine maintenance work

I thought that I would drop you a line to say how very pleased we were with the help and support we got from Kostas and Josiane in Ancasta Badalona. We always felt that they were working for us, not just to make a sale. In particular Kostas was able to help and advise on some of the little touches to make Ione look a little better for sale – replacing a rusty heads jubilee clip, acid cleaning around some seacocks etc. In addition he went well beyond the call of duty in taking me to his chiropractor when I wrecked my back cleaning in lockers! We are now mourning being boatless for the first time in over 40 years. Best wishes.

Ancasta were able to quickly source a replacement hatch for me and arrange for despatch the same day. The service was excellent.

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Owner's logbook: the upcoming European adventures for Asteria and King Benji

Every month, superyacht owners reveal where they are in the world and share their future plans. This month, BOAT speaks to an owner about a new-build project with zero regrets and an owner who is lucky enough to do once-in-a-lifetime cruising twice...

Owner of Asteria

Length: 49m Year: 1970 Location: Norway

What have you got planned for this summer? We’re heading up to Norway, starting in Stavanger and we’re going to keep going north, up to the Lofoten Islands and ultimately Svalbard. My good friend Espen Øino , a native of Norway, has given us some amazing ideas of things to do in Norway. We love these kinds of latitudes. 

We’ve done the west coast of Greenland and the entrance to the North West Passage in Asteria , and in January we went on Le Commandant Charcot passenger ship to Antarctica, which was incredible. So we’ve done a lot of these places, but never Norway and Svalbard, and we thought it’d be pretty cool to tick off the Antarctic and Arctic in the same year. We had been considering South East Asia this year, but we didn’t feel like sending the boat through the Suez and down into the Gulf of Aden, which has become a lot riskier lately.

Tell us more about Le Commandant Charcot ... It’s the most amazing boat in the world. It’s a true state-of-the-art ice-breaker and is only three years old. It can plough through two metres of pack ice! I’d thoroughly recommend it. The amenities on board are amazing. This was a kind of research trip so we were able to visit some very remote places such as the Larsen B ice shelf, which is uncharted territory.

What draws you to these places? I feel like we only have a few years left to visit these places before they disappear, or it’ll be forbidden to go there. My boys are eight and 10, so I want to do it now and show it to my kids. I don’t want to spend all summer in the Med – it doesn’t appeal. We did spend a lot of time in Greece last year and had a wonderful time there exploring the villages and different landscapes, but I barely saw a single fish. The wrecks are fun to dive, but there’s no wildlife left beneath the water.

What are your longer range plans? We would love to go back to the South Pacific. We spent three or four years there with Asteria and loved it. Cocos Island is incredible; we loved Polynesia. My favourite spot was the southern part of Fakarava, an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu Islands. I also want to go back to Vanuatu. These are once-in-a-lifetime places, so we’re very lucky to get the opportunity to go back. And there aren’t many boats. It’s a huge commitment to send your boat there, and if you do, you really need to spend a few years there. It makes no sense otherwise.

Do you take guides with you? Not always. We will have someone with us in Svalbard, but we’ll be following Espen’s plan up the coast of Norway. We might engage some guides for shore excursions. When we dive, we always have a guide, as that way  you guarantee you get the best from the experience. We can’t wait to get going on this trip. But I should mention that we have some availability on our luxury charter yacht in July in Norway, if anyone would like to spend some time on one of the world’s most capable explorers!

Josh Golder

Yacht: King Benji Length: 46.7m Year: 2024 Location: South of France

What’s on the agenda for your first summer with the boat? We’ll head to Croatia and Montenegro. We also want to visit Albania, as we’ve never been there but hear it’s the new up-and-coming hotspot. I love those Adriatic islands. At the end of the season we’ll probably head back west and across to the Caribbean but stop off at Madeira on the way.

You’ve only been on the boat a few weeks, but have you got a favourite spot on board? I love the breakfast bar next to the open galley. There’s a huge window right next to the table, so we can eat informally and watch the world go by. I love interacting with the chef and seeing what he’s preparing. We’re also spending a lot of time in the main saloon.

Is there anything you would have done differently? In almost every project I’ve ever been involved with, I’ve always come to the end and thought there was something I should have done differently. But with King Benji , I can’t think of a single thing. There’s a few little cosmetic items, like the handles of the cupboards, but as far as the layout and design are concerned, the boat has exceeded all expectations. We went into such detail in the preparation phase that this doesn’t surprise me – we built a 1:1 mock-up of the interior to make sure we got exactly what we wanted.

What were the project’s absolute prerequisites? Seamless floors was a massive one for me. I hate it when you have a lip or sill between indoor and outdoor areas. I just feel like it ruins the connection. I wanted a really easy transition between the spaces. I also wanted to make sure there was no wasted space – there is nowhere on board where you think, “Oh, we already have this.” But really the whole project emanated from the big aft deck. We can carry a 12-metre Nor-Tech chase boat, jet skis and all the other toys. It all stemmed from there.

You were looking to buy 45-metre Big Fish before embarking on a new build. Are you glad you didn’t? I am very glad we didn’t succeed in buying Big Fish because I would never have known how fun a new-build project can be – putting the team together and collectively creating something totally new that’s never been seen before. I think we’ve moved the explorer game on.

What are your long-range plans with the boat? I don’t really think long term. The truth is, we could do anything with this boat. It really just depends on how we’re feeling. I would like to go to Alaska with her, but that’s as far as that thinking has gone! I would like to build a bigger series of these boats, incorporating everything we’ve learned. But right now, having no plan is the plan.

First published in the June 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Despite polls, Biden aides insist Gaza campus protests will not hurt reelection bid

Several top White House aides say they are confident protests across U.S. college campuses against Israel's offensive in Gaza will not translate into significantly fewer votes for Joe Biden in November's election, despite polls showing many Democrats are deeply unhappy about the president's policy on the war.

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Orcas Sink Another Boat Near Iberia, Worrying Sailors Before Summer

Two people were rescued on Sunday after orcas damaged their boat near the Strait of Gibraltar, where the animals have caused havoc in recent years.

By Isabella Kwai

Summer is on the way, meaning that the orcas are out to play near the Strait of Gibraltar — which is bad news for sailors.

Two people were rescued on Sunday after an attack by a group of orcas caused enough damage to sink their boat, according to the Spanish maritime rescue service. It was the fifth such sinking in waters off the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa in recent years.

The Alboran Cognac, a sailing yacht about 50 feet long, was approached by the animals on Sunday morning, some 14 miles off Cape Spartel in Morocco, the rescue service said. Crew members onboard reported that the animals had slammed the hull, damaged the rudder and caused a leak.

A nearby oil tanker quickly maneuvered toward the boat and evacuated the two sailors, who were taken to Gibraltar, the rescue service said. The boat was left adrift, and the Moroccan authorities reported that it eventually sank.

It’s the first boat to sink in those waters this year after an orca-related mishap. A group of orcas that traverse the Strait of Gibraltar and nearby waters has plagued sailors and intrigued marine biologists , who are studying the population. Since 2020, orcas have disrupted dozens of sailing journeys in these high-traffic waters, in some cases slamming vessels hard enough to cause critical damage.

Last November, orcas slammed a yacht’s rudder for 45 minutes, causing its crew to abandon the vessel, which sank near the Tanger Med port.

The group is more likely to appear in the busy lanes around the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar between April and August, the Spanish government said in a news release, and sailors have spotted some of the orcas there in recent weeks.

Researchers do not know why the pod is targeting boats, but they have theorized that the behavior is a form of play for the curious apex predators. The interactions have become so frequent that they are now a multinational issue, involving scientists and officials from Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Online, anxious sailors have gathered to share advice on navigating “orca alley,” and biologists are tracking the orcas’ movements and testing methods that could deter them.

In the event of an orca encounter, the government advised in its release, boats should not stop but instead head toward shallower waters near the coast.

But the number of incidents may be declining: Researchers at the Atlantic Orca Working Group said on Monday that the number of orca interactions with boats between January and May had dropped some 40 percent, compared with that of similar periods in the past three years.

Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends. More about Isabella Kwai

Tunisians stage anti-migrant protest as the number of stranded in transit to Europe grows

Hundreds of anti-migrant protestors have marched through the streets of a Tunisian town where many migrants are living while waiting to try and travel by boat to Europe

JEBENIANA, Tunisia — Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the streets of Jebeniana on Saturday to protest the presence of sub-Saharan migrants who have found themselves stranded as the country ramps up border patrol efforts.

Anti-migrant anger is mounting in impoverished towns like Jebeniana along the Tunisian coastline that have emerged as a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat.

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Tunisians stage anti-migrant protest as the number of stranded in transit to Europe grows

Tunisians take part in a protest against the presence of sub-Saharan migrants who have found themselves stranded as the country ramps up its border patrol efforts, in Jebeniana, Tunisia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Anti-migrant anger is mounting in olive-growing towns along the Tunisian coastline that have emerged as a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat. Banner in Arabic reads “Deportation now.” (AP Photo/Houssem Zouari)

Tunisians take part in a protest against the presence of sub-Saharan migrants who have found themselves stranded as the country ramps up its border patrol efforts, in Jebeniana, Tunisia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Anti-migrant anger is mounting in olive-growing towns along the Tunisian coastline that have emerged as a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat. (AP Photo/Houssem Zouari)

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JEBENIANA, Tunisia (AP) — Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the streets of Jebeniana on Saturday to protest the presence of sub-Saharan migrants who have found themselves stranded as the country ramps up border patrol efforts.

Anti-migrant anger is mounting in impoverished towns like Jebeniana along the Tunisian coastline that have emerged as a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat.

Chanting slogans to oppose settling migrants in Tunisia , protesters demanded the government act to assist agricultural communities dealing with thousands of migrants living in tarpaulin encampments among their olive groves.

“You brought them here and it’s your responsibility to send them back to their home countries,” Moamen Salemi, a 63-year old retiree from nearby El Amra, said at the protest. “There is a shortage of food throughout the city of El Amra, including sugar, flour, bread and many other items.”

A final stop for many who dream of a better life in Europe, Jebeniana and El Amra reflect the compounding problems facing Tunisia, a key transit point for migrants from Syria, Bangladesh and a variety of sub-Saharan African nations.

Law enforcement has expanded its presence in the two agricultural towns, where roughly 83,000 Tunisians live among a growing number of migrants from around the world.

Protesters say they have borne the cost of Tunisia’s effort to prevent migrants from reaching the European Union less than a year after the country brokered an anti-migration pact with the 27-country bloc to better police its sea border and receive more than $1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in aid.

The Tunisian Coast Guard has said it has prevented more than 21,000 migration attempts by land or sea this year. Fewer than 8,000 successfully traveled by boat from Tunisia to Italy in the first four months of 2024, a threefold decrease from 2023, according to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

More Tunisians have traveled by makeshift boat to Italy this year than migrants from sub-Saharan African countries.

Anti-migrant protests erupted in the city of Sfax last year, months after Tunisian President Kais Saied called for measures to address violence and crime he said were caused by illegal immigration. But they are a new development in Jebeniana and El Amra, where a similar protest took place earlier this month.

Encampments sprung up and expanded on the outskirts of the two towns after local authorities started increasingly clearing them from Sfax last year.

The International Organization for Migration’s Tunisia office has said roughly 7,000 migrants are living near Jebeniana and El Amra, though residents estimate the number could be much higher.

Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Orcas have sunk another vessel off the European coast. Why won't they stop ramming boats?

The orcas are at it again: for the seventh time in four years, a pod of whales has sunk a boat after ramming it in Moroccan waters off the Strait of Gibraltar. 

The 15 metre-long yacht Alborán Cognac, which carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators at 9am local time on Sunday, Spain's maritime rescue service said.

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started to seep into the sailboat. It is not known how many orcas were involved.

After alerting rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and carried them to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on Spain's southern coast.

Nothing could be done to save the sailboat, which drifted and eventually sank. 

It's the latest incident in what has become a trend of hundreds of interactions between orcas and boats since the "disruptive behaviour" was first reported in the region in May 2020. 

The origin of this new behaviour has baffled scientists, though the leading theory suggests this "social fad" began as a playful manifestation of the whales' curiosity.

Where have orcas interacted with boats?

The latest data from the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), an organisation that contributes to the animals' conservation and management, shows that there have been at least 673 interactions since 2020. 

GTOA defines interactions as instances when orcas react to the presence of approaching boats with or without physical contact. 

The map below shows the highest numbers of encounters from April to May 2024 took place off Spain's southern coast in the Strait of Gibraltar (red zones), with some lesser activity in surrounding areas (yellow zones). 

A 2022 peer-reviewed study published in the Marine Mammal Science journal found the orcas in these areas preferred interacting with sailboats — both monohulls (72 per cent) and catamarans (14 per cent) — with an average length of 12 metres.

A clear pattern emerged of orcas striking their rudders, while sometimes also scraping the hulls with their teeth. Such attacks often snapped the rudder, leaving the boat unable to navigate.

"The animals bumped, pushed and turned the boats," the authors of the report said. 

Adding this week's encounter, there have been seven reported cases of orcas damaging a boat so badly that it has sunk, though the people onboard were rescued safely each time.

In June 2023, a run-in with the giant mammals in the Strait of Gibraltar forced the crew competing in The Ocean Race to drop its sails and raise a clatter in an attempt to scare the approaching orcas off. 

No-one was injured, but Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek said that it had been a "scary moment".

"Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders," he said.

"Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team ... Luckily, after a few attacks, they went away."

After analysing 179 videos and photos of these types of interactions, which lasted on average 40 minutes, researchers concluded there was no reason to classify the events as intentionally hostile behaviour.

"The behaviour of orcas when interacting with boats is not identified as aggressive," they said.

"One of their main motivations has been identified as competition with boats for speed."

Still, the researchers of the study admitted they were not sure what triggered the novel behaviour in 2020.

"We are not yet certain what the origin of these interactions is, but it is still suspected that it could be a curious and playful behaviour," they wrote.

"[The behaviour] could be self-induced, or on the other hand it could be a behaviour induced by an aversive incident and therefore a precautionary behaviour."

Are the same orcas responsible for these incidents?

Out of around 49 orcas living in the Strait of Gibraltar, GTOA researchers found a total of 15 whales  from at least three different communities participated in the unusual interactions with boats between 2020 and 2022.

Most of those that engaged with greater intensity were juveniles, though it's unclear if others have since joined the group.

These giant mammals, which belong to the dolphin family, can measure up to eight metres and weigh up to six tonnes as adults.

The director of the Orca Behaviour Institute, Monika Wieland Shields, has said there is no evidence to prove the theory these whales were seeking vengeance against humans for a past trauma.

"While I'm sure it feels like an attack for the people on board, for the whales themselves, it really looks more like play behaviour," she said.

"There's something intriguing or entertaining to them about this [boat rudder] mechanism and they're just showing a lot of curiosity about it."

Ms Wieland said it's likely this new behaviour spread through the population as a kind of "social fad".

"Orcas are highly intelligent, very social animals, and with that comes a tendency to be curious about and explore your environment," she said.

"One thing that we see are these kind of fad behaviours that will appear in a certain population.

"One whale discovers something, they find it entertaining or interesting, or fun — it's some type of game. And then they will teach that to other members of their family group."

Are orcas dangerous to humans?

While orcas have earned their fearsome reputation for preying on other marine animals, there is no record of them killing humans in the wild. 

In captivity, orcas have killed four people since the 1990s, though it's unclear whether the deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.  

Ms Shields said she was worried the recent interactions between orcas and boats would skew people's perceptions of these mammals.

"I am concerned that people are going to react with fear, potentially injure or shoot at some of these whales," Ms Shields said.

"We really need to educate boaters about the best things that they can do to make themselves less attractive to the whales and the best case scenario would be the whales lose interest in this and move onto something less destructive."

Spain's Transport Ministry advises that whenever boats observe any changes in the behaviour of orcas — such as in their direction or speed — they should leave the area as soon as possible and avoid further disturbance to the animals.

The ministry also states every interaction between a ship and an orca must be reported to authorities.

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