Yacht sharing is a popular system of group ownership or use of a boat or fleet of boats, based on the vacation ownership timeshare model. There are two popular types of yacht sharing models: one where a group of people buy memberships to a boating company and share the use of the company’s fleet, and the other where a group of people set up a company to buy a boat.
Yacht sharing is a system of group ownership or use of a boat or fleet of boats. The system is based on the vacation ownership timeshare model that has achieved popularity with consumers and stability as an industry since the concept was introduced in the 1980s. Boat sharing companies began to proliferate in the mid-2000s, and while the timeshare concept is familiar, the implementation sometimes differs from the vacation ownership model.
Owning a yacht is an expensive business. Not only does the owner absorb the cost of the boat, which can easily be as expensive as buying a house, but he also faces significant ongoing expenses. The marine industry has identified a trend where a person would buy a boat only to sell it within three years when he has realized the costs of maintaining it vastly outdated. To counter this, the industry developed new ways of boat ownership that maximized enjoyment and minimized transportation costs.
There are two popular types of yacht sharing models. In one model, a group of people buy memberships to a boating company and share the use of the company’s fleet. Members are entitled to a certain number of days a year using one of the company’s boats. The company typically has locations in multiple locations and various boat models for the member to choose from.
Members book to use allotted days in advance and in any convenient grouping. For example, if a member has an allotment of 28 days a year, she could reserve any available boat in a given location in three day increments. The membership fee covers a prorated portion of the vessel’s acquisition and maintenance for a fixed fee that is renewable annually. In this yacht sharing model, the member has usage rights rather than an ownership interest in a boat.
In the second yacht sharing model, a group of people set up a company to buy a boat. Each individual is given a percentage stake in the company. The cost to buy into the business is the individual’s proportionate share of the boat’s initial purchase price plus crew and maintenance costs. The use of the boat is governed by an ownership contract which generally assigns a certain number of weeks to each owner.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of yacht sharing model. The owner has only one boat to choose from, unlike the model it belongs to. There is also a greater potential for problems with such a small group of owners. However, the owner has a beneficial equity interest in the boat in the single boat model. Typically, the company is designed to sell the boat and dissolve the partnership after five years, recouping some of the initial investment and freeing up the owners to switch to a different yacht sharing arrangement with a new boat.
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