A phinisi spec sheet tells you almost everything about the trip you are buying — if you read the right five numbers in the right order: length overall (LOA), gross tonnage (GT), build/refit year, cabin count and configuration, and crew size. Everything else on the page is either derived from those or decoration.
Here is the working method, number by number. For deeper background on each term, the master reference is our phinisi specifications guide.
The five numbers, in reading order
- LOA (length overall). Sets the vessel’s basic class: 25–30 m compact, 30–40 m mid-size, 40 m+ flagship. Bowsprits can flatter LOA — if you see both “LOA” and “hull length,” the honest comparison between boats is hull length.
- GT (gross tonnage). Enclosed volume, officially measured. Divide guest capacity into GT for a rough space-per-guest index: a 161 GT boat carrying 24 guests and a 90 GT boat carrying 24 guests are very different trips. Full explanation in our GT explainer.
- Build year — and builder, and refit history. “Built 2021, Bulukumba” is a provenance statement you can weigh. For older hulls, the refit year matters as much as the build year; a disciplined operator lists both.
- Cabins: count, grades and location. Eight cabins for 16–24 guests is the fleet norm in the 30–40 m class. Look for grade names (master, suite, deluxe, sharing) and — critically — which deck each sits on: upper-deck cabins with windows and balconies command premiums over lower-deck twins for reasons you will feel at 2 a.m. Layout patterns by vessel size are mapped in the cabin layout guide.
- Crew size. Luxury service on a 30 m+ phinisi needs double-digit crew; a 1:1.5 crew-to-guest ratio reads very differently from 1:4. Certified officers are a regulatory requirement — ask who holds the tickets.
Second-pass items worth checking
- Engine and cruise speed — a named diesel and “8 knots cruise” is an honest travel plan; “sails when conditions allow” tells you the rig’s real role.
- Tenders and toys — count and horsepower determine whether 20 guests reach a dive site in one wave or three.
- Water capacity / watermakers — the unglamorous number that decides whether showers stay long on day five.
- Safety kit and certification — liferafts, certificates in date. Cross-check against our safety standards guide.
Red flags in spec sheets
Missing GT on a large vessel; “newly refurbished” without a year; guest capacity quoted without cabin count; stock photography where deck plans should be. None is disqualifying alone — together they are a pattern.
Reading specs this way takes four minutes per vessel and converts marketing into data. Do it across a whole fleet at once in our phinisi fleet directory, then take your shortlist to the charter-side specialists at LuxuryPhinisi to match boats to dates and routes.
A worked example, anonymized
Take a listing that reads: “LOA 34 m · beam 8 m · 8 cabins · 24 guests · built 2026, Bulukumba · crew 12–14 · cruise 8 knots.” Run the method: mid-size class, verify GT separately since it is absent (ask — a 34 m eight-cabin boat should land somewhere in the 80–180 GT band); build year and origin are specific and recent, so request launch photos or yard references, which new-build operators supply happily; 24 guests across 8 cabins means triple-capable cabins — good for families, worth confirming bed configurations; crew of 12–14 against 24 guests is a 1:2 ratio, solidly premium; a stated cruise speed under a named engine would complete the picture. Two minutes, one follow-up question, and the vessel is genuinely characterized.
Now the contrast case: “Beautiful traditional phinisi, spacious cabins, professional crew, fully equipped.” Zero of the five numbers present. This is not automatically a bad boat — it is an unaudited one, and every claim will need extracting by email. The spec-sheet discipline saves its greatest value here: it converts vague listings into a short, specific question list, and the speed and precision of the operator’s answers becomes your best available proxy for how the vessel itself is run.
Final habit: date the data. Fleets refit, recabin and reflag; a spec sheet is a snapshot. Confirm cabin counts and layouts for your actual departure date, especially on vessels that have changed operators — the hull is permanent, but everything bolted to it is negotiable across a refit cycle.