The Successful Sale of M/Y EXIT — A Crew Member’s Goodbye
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After spending a month shy of a year aboard M/Y EXIT, an impressive 27-metre Sunseeker 90 Ocean, saying goodbye feels a lot like leaving a beloved home. Yes – I grew surprisingly attached to 95 tons of fiberglass. In yachting, change happens far more rapidly and frequently than most other industries: vessels change hands, routines are almost non-existent and crew come and go. Even the view outside of your porthole can shift like a screensaver. Yet in this compact world, attachments that would take months on land can form in just a few weeks onboard a yacht.
EXIT was managed by The Lux Yachts as a charter vessel based in Croatia before being sold through the combined efforts of several parties. Jonathan Lafortune of Lafortune Yachts introduced the buyer, Filip Jerolimov of IYC represented the seller and Osku Konttinen, owner of The Lux Yachts and former captain of EXIT, who delivered the vessel as well as facilitated the sale. The new owner will have the privilege of enjoying four stunning cabins with ensuites, expansive exterior entertaining areas including a flybridge with Jacuzzi, a beach club, and performance from twin MAN V12 engines with a cruising speed of around 20 knots and a top speed of approximately 26 knots. EXIT also has a one-of-a-kind lighting system that attracted many dock-walkers along the Dalmatian coast. Public brokerage information indicated a last known asking price of €5.2 millionand the completion of the transaction was publicly announced in June 2026. YachtBuyer
A yacht is built from steel, fibreglass and teak, yet the amount of care invested in her by the people who live, and work aboard can create a surprisingly strong attachment. It is not sentimental in an exaggerated sense; it is simply the result of spending thousands of hours, early mornings and late nights ensuring that every system functions correctly, every exterior surface is maintained to a supernatural standard, and every, and I mean every, needs of the guests are met. This can be a large physiological adjustment when an unusual working environment meshes with ways of living until, they are completely indistinguishable from each other. It is very telling when my land-based friends cannot understand me when I tell them that the walls and ceilings of their house must be vacuumed, shirts hung in colour-coded order and beds should be made with an iron – they clearly need to get their priorities straight.
Upon reflecting deeper, I realised that as I may have felt a bit more emotionally and physically distant by those on land, I forged a unique connection with the crew in the confined crew quarters. A more appropriate term for this relationship may be simply referred to as “trauma-bonding”. When the A/C packs up in the 38-degree heatwave, the water-maker explodes, the Chef has decided to quit and you’re stuck at anchor with nine sweaty and famished charter guests, your fellow crew members become the only allies waging war against chaos. The aching feet, the bodily fatigue and mental exhaustion is all mutual. When you share a two square meter cabin with one person, a bathroom with four and essentially a “house” with twelve, there are almost no physical boundaries providing privacy. Hence, social boundaries, habits, behaviours and topics of conversation that are usually avoided for fear of judgment become comfortably normal and a great outlet for laughter. The combination of limited sleep, long hours, needy guests and nowhere to go becomes a perfect basis for bonding whist being apologetically yourself.
As EXIT moves on to new cruising grounds with her new owner, I find myself reflecting less on the sale itself and more on memories she holds – some exhilarating and others rather character-building. She witnessed the weight I carried and understood the parts of my story I still struggle to put into words. On behalf of the crew members who had the privilege of serving aboard M/Y EXIT through The Lux Yachts, I would like to thank everyone involved in this incredible chapter. We wish her many safe voyages, fair winds and unforgettable seasons ahead.
– Hayley F.
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