by Klara Braga Jakobsen, Yacht Reviewer at DMA Yachting
Onboard at the CROYA Yacht Charter Show in Split twice, in October 2025 straight after her refit and again in September 2026 after a full season.
Most 40-metre charter yachts were drawn as charter yachts. Six cabins for twelve guests, each one exactly as big as the brochure needs it to be. RENATA was not. She was built in 2018 as a private boat with three cabins, and the owner who bought her for charter added three more and rebuilt the interior from scratch in 2025. Everything inside is new.
That history is the whole point of her. A hull laid out for six people now sleeps twelve, and the cabins carry the proportions of the boat she used to be. The doubles are what most yachts her size would call VIPs. The VIPs could pass for masters. And the master takes an entire deck to itself.
I walked her at the show the week she came out of the yard, and I walked her again this September with a season of charters behind her. This is what I found both times, what it means for your week, and what she is not.
The numbers that matter
- Length: 40.8 m (134 ft), Cerri Cantieri Navali, built 2018, full interior refit 2025
- Guests: 12 in 6 cabins (master on its own deck, VIP, three doubles, one convertible twin), all en suite with double sinks
- Crew: 9
- Base: Split, Croatia. She has also run Croatia to Montenegro and to Venice.
- Rates: €159,000 low season to €199,000 high season per week, plus 13% VAT and 35% APA
- Per person, full boat: roughly €13,300 to €16,600 a head for the week before VAT and APA
- Stabilisers: at anchor and underway. Cruising speed 12 knots.
A master cabin with a deck of her own
The master suite is not a cabin on RENATA. It is a level. Forward of the bridge deck there is a private balcony with its own jacuzzi and coffee tables, then the cabin itself with windows wrapping the bow, then a master saloon with a service hatch through to the galley, so breakfast arrives without anybody walking through the room. A door closes the whole deck off from the rest of the boat.
I have seen master suites with a balcony before. I have rarely seen one where the owner can spend a morning in a jacuzzi, take breakfast in a private lounge, and not meet another guest until they choose to. On a charter with two families aboard, or a milestone birthday where the person being celebrated wants a door that shuts, that is the room that sells her.
The guest cabins: VIP-sized doubles and a family suite
On most yachts of this length the guest cabins are the compromise. You get a good master, a decent VIP, and four doubles where the bed fills the room. RENATA does not work like that, because her lower deck was never designed to hold six cabins; it was designed to hold three, and the extra three were cut into space that was already generous.
So every cabin is a size up. The doubles have the floor area and the seating of a VIP on a comparable boat. The two VIPs have a lounge under the windows, a lit headboard, and a bathroom with double sinks and a chromotherapy shower, and on a lot of 40-metre yachts I have walked they would be sold as the master. The twin is finished to exactly the same standard as the doubles rather than as the room nobody wants.
The detail that matters for families: the aft double connects to the twin, so parents can put children or a nanny next door and close the door when they want to. It is sold as a family suite, and for once the name is accurate.
The interior: light, minimal and immaculate after a season
The 2025 interior is pale and minimal: cream and sand fabrics, light wood, long runs of LED light set into the ceilings and headboards, and almost nothing on the surfaces that does not need to be there. It reads calm rather than cold, and it is very bright even on the lower deck, which on a steel-hulled boat of this age is not a given.
The two pieces that stop people are in the main saloon: a marble bar, and a dining table with a backlit stone top that changes its mood with a tap on the panel. The en suites continue the standard, dark marble with double sinks and, in the master, a freestanding bath.
What I would underline is the condition. I saw her in October 2025 with the yard dust barely off her, and I expected the September 2026 visit to show a season of wear. It did not. The upholstery, the stone, the joinery and the decks are as they were, and the crew keep her like a boat that is still being delivered. That is a statement about the crew as much as the refit, and it is the thing a brochure photo cannot tell you.
The beach club: sauna, bar and toys at water level
Her crew told me the beach club is the most used space on board, and it is easy to see why. It is a proper indoor room at water level, not a garage with cushions: a lounge, a lit bar with wine and beer fridges, a screen, and a sauna whose door opens straight onto the sea, so the cold plunge is the Adriatic. Pilates mats live on the floor between sessions.
The toys launch from the same level, which sounds minor and is not. Two Sea-Doo jet skis, two Seabob F5S, paddleboards, a kayak, wakeboard, water skis for adults and for children, snorkelling gear and a jellyfish pool all go in off a wide swim platform a few steps from the sofa, and a 10-metre chase boat on twin 300hp Verados covers the longer runs. Nobody climbs three decks to get wet.
In the evening the projector comes out and the cinema screen goes up outside, with the sound system already wired for it.
The sun deck: jacuzzi, bar, barbecue and Pilates reformers
Up top she has a jacuzzi, a mini pool beside it, a bar, a barbecue and alfresco dining in the same place, so dinner does not mean moving the party. The surprise is two Pilates reformers under the hardtop, with an instructor aboard for guests who want a class before breakfast. On the bridge deck below there is a second shaded lounge aft for the people who want to read.
Underway: stabilisers, 12 knots, and Montenegro or Venice
She is an explorer-style displacement boat: steel hull, 65,000 litres of fuel, a published range of 5,400 nautical miles, and stabilisers that work both underway and at anchor. That last point is the one to care about in Croatia. A rolly anchorage off Vis or a lumpy afternoon crossing to Hvar is a non-event on her, which is the difference between a calm lunch on deck and one spent holding your glass.
She cruises at 12 knots, which suits the Croatian islands. And although she is listed for Croatia, she has already run Croatia to Montenegro and Croatia to Venice. Her crew confirmed to me that only the Croatian VAT of 13% applies for the whole charter in those cases, because the embarkation port sets the VAT. If a client has been asking about Kotor Bay or the Venetian lagoon at the end of a Dalmatian week, she is one of the few boats in this class where the answer is yes. For a one-way inside Croatia, see how the Split to Dubrovnik one-way fee works.
Who RENATA is for
Two families or three generations. The master deck for the grandparents or the hosts, the family suite aft, and doubles that nobody has to apologise for. Our guide to multigenerational charters in Croatia covers the planning side.
Six couples who all expect a good room. Every cabin is a size up, so the cabin draw stops being a negotiation.
Anyone who wants a wellness week without it being a theme. Reformers with an instructor, a sauna onto the sea, and a beach club built for the morning routine. She is also on our list of the most luxurious superyachts for charter in Croatia.
A charter that wants to end somewhere else. Montenegro or Venice, with the VAT question already answered.
Who RENATA is not for
Anyone who wants to cover ground fast. Twelve knots is her pace and she is a displacement boat; she is built for comfort at anchor, not a sprint. The rest of her size class is on our 40-metre superyachts in Croatia page if speed matters more.
Groups larger than twelve. Six cabins, no pullmans, and the owner chose space over count. That is the deal.
Anyone who needs an elevator. She has four guest levels and stairs between them.
Anyone pricing fuel from a brochure. Ask us for a fuel estimate for your actual route rather than relying on a published litres-per-hour figure; the APA is where it lands.
Before you book RENATA
- Decide who gets the master deck before you arrive. It is the one room nobody shares.
- If you have children or a nanny, ask for the aft double and twin as the family suite.
- Ask about the Pilates instructor and the sauna when you inquire; both are part of how she runs, not extras.
- If Montenegro or Venice is on your mind, say so at the start so the route and the VAT can be set up properly.
- Ask for the fuel estimate for your route.
We have walked RENATA two years running, once the week she left the yard and once after a full charter season. For current availability and a quote for your dates, see RENATA on My Croatian Charter or contact us.
Video: first impressions of RENATA at the 2025 show
Filmed by our team the week RENATA came out of refit. DMA brokers Daniel Asmus and CJ Coetzee give their first impressions, CJ straight after lunch on board, including the chef and where she sits in the Croatian market.
Klara Braga Jakobsen is a Yacht Reviewer at DMA Yachting. She walks the charter fleet at the Mediterranean and Caribbean shows every year and reviews only yachts she has been aboard. Photos by the author.
People also ask
How many guests does RENATA sleep?
12 guests in 6 cabins: a master suite on its own private deck, a VIP, three doubles and a convertible twin. All are en suite. The aft double and the twin connect into a family suite.
What does RENATA cost to charter?
€159,000 a week in low season and €199,000 in high season, plus 13% Croatian VAT and a 35% APA for fuel, food, drinks and port fees. For twelve guests that is roughly €13,300 to €16,600 per person for the week before VAT and APA.
Can RENATA cruise outside Croatia?
Yes. She is based in Split and listed for Croatia, and she has already run Croatia to Montenegro and Croatia to Venice. Her crew confirm that only the 13% Croatian VAT applies to the whole charter in those cases, because the embarkation port sets the VAT.
Is RENATA good for families?
Yes. The aft double and the twin join into a family suite, every cabin is large enough for a couple with luggage, there are children’s water skis on board, and the beach club with its sauna and toys is at water level.
Does RENATA have stabilisers?
Yes, both underway and at anchor, which matters in Croatia’s more exposed anchorages.
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