MAKE YOUR DREAM BOAT A REALITY
A yacht is a doorway to your own world, or a never-ending cost-benefit analysis. Will Bruton takes a look at the beauty of shared ownership and the new alternatives
Would you share your boat if it meant you could cut your capital and running costs in half or more?
There is something visceral in the pleasure of owning your own yacht. Like buying your first house, this vessel is yours to do with as you please and no-one else’s. It’s a privilege to be in a position to make that purchase, even more so if the boat you buy is your dream boat. But that responsibility can also be a burden that, if shared, may be halved, freeing you up to enjoy boat ownership without the pressure.
While sharing a boat with a trusted friend is the traditional option, a slew of new alternatives have sprung up, offering different models to allow people a slice of time on the water, for a sliver of the cost. In the age of the ‘sharing economy’ of Airbnb, Uber and Spotify, changing how we own boats and go sailing might open up possibilities of the boats we can own.
THE TRADITIONAL SYNDICATE
DAVE BIRCH was looking for a way to get his family on the water after relocating to
the south coast from London. Having grown up sailing dinghies in South Africa, he was looking for a sensibly priced route into ownership having passed his Day Skipper and chartered in the Mediterranean. After a lot of online research, he found Galatea, a 1989
Moody 42, on yacht share brokerage site Yacht Fractions. Run as a syndicate for over 20 years, she is shared between three and based in Lymington. ‘I had criteria in mind before I started looking. A combination of the right boat and the right ownership arrangement. I needed a yacht comfortable enough to sail with my wife and three-year-old, that wasn’t about to rapidly depreciate in value and was capable of doing the kind of trips I envisage us doing once we have got a bit more experience.
‘That the syndicate had been running for so long was a big part of the appeal. The existing members talked a lot of sense, spent money where it was needed but weren’t excessive, and wanted another member with a similar mindset. They were happy to spend time introducing me to the boat and helping me learn. Costs of ownership on the south coast are high and the syndicate cuts them to a third. Everyone in the group is also very courteous, we leave the boat clean and tidy and make sure there’s always beer in the fridge for the next person!’
Dave Watts, owner of Yacht Fractions, explains that whilst yacht shares have been around for a long time, it’s something many still don’t know much about. ‘We sell shares from a few thousand pounds up to around £300,000, on a broad range of boats. The average split is probably 1/4 or 1/5 and £8,000 to £13,000. Versus owning a boat outright, it represents remarkably good value as soon as you halve the cost.’
Sharing your boat with others does mean giving up some control. ‘Generally speaking, syndicates are careful about new members, but it’s well worth doing some ground work to make sure you get on well with the others involved as well. The other thing that you must consider is the way the allocation of the share will be distributed. Will you get the same weeks each year, book a slot online, go through a rotation system or just sort it out annually at the group’s AGM?’
For less formal syndicates, many choose to buy yachts with one or two trusted friends. Tristan Kemp owns a sporty Archambault 31, also in Lymington, along with Andrew Higgs. This is the second boat they have owned together, which they race and cruise.
‘Even if we could afford single ownership, we wouldn’t. We prefer to be co-skippers, so that all our decisions, even out on the water, are joint. We consult on everything, even on whether we’ll set the spinnaker on a windy day, before we get ourselves into a situation.
‘Apart from the odd cross-over weekend where you both want to use it, we rarely clash. The biggest challenge is finance; the best thing we did was start a spreadsheet – every cost is entered and shared equally.’
BEN MEAKINS, formerly deputy editor of Practical Boat Owner, joint-owns a Hunter Impala 28. ‘Between two married couples,
we each own a quarter. It meant I could buy a boat way before I could have afforded my own yacht. Ultimately you have to like and trust the people you own the boat with – we’ve been very lucky.’
THE ASSOCIATION OWNED FLEET
‘There is no doubt that without the Go Sailing Association (www.gosail.club) I probably would never have taken up sailing. Coal miner’s sons tend not get involved in those kind of pursuits! So when a work colleague asked me if I fancied a long weekend away on a boat, I agreed. I went sailing once that year, twice the next, gradually increasing my involvement.’ Brian Hawkesworth now owns his own boat but started sailing through the Go Sailing Association, a shared ownership fleet that operates on a not-for-profit basis.
Formerly for employees of British Gas to access economical sailing, the association owns yachts on the Clyde, Solent and East coast and now anyone can join. The costs of operation are shared amongst members, including the employment of a part timebosun that manages maintenance. Membership, as commodore Alan Phillpot highlights, is extremely diverse, drawing members from inland locations as well as the coast. ‘There’s a culture of “this is for everyone” and we’re able to make sailing very affordable. Members contribute their time to work parties to keep costs low, whilst we use trusted tradesmen for more complex maintenance jobs. You can hire one of our boats for a week’s charter in low season for £450 and we also offer berths on skippered charters for £160 for half a week for those that want to try us and the whole idea out.’
For those lucky enough to work for an employer with its own sailing club, access to yachts can be extremely economical. The Metropolitan Police, John Lewis Partnership, the Civil Service, the Armed Forces and Lloyds Insurance Group all have their own yachts, to name a few. In some cases operating costs are shared between hundreds of members, making charter rates very low, while others are funded centrally by the parent organisation. One other shared ownership group is Tops’l Sailcruise (www.topsl.net). Based in Port Solent, the
club runs three yachts; a Dufour 380, a Southerly 110 and a Hallberg Rassy 36. Members buy shares in the club, starting at £1,710 and decisions are taken every year about how the yachts are going to be used.
‘This year one of our boats is going to make its way slowly to Scotland via the West Country, with a view to locating it in Sweden for next summer,’ explains membership secretary Andrea White. ‘Alongside RYA courses taught on the boats, we also have a mentorship scheme to help the less experienced sailors build confidence with other members.’
Jeff Tregenza has been a member of Top’l Sailcruise since 2008. ‘It makes for very economical sailing, access to a diverse fleet and an opportunity to develop as a sailor.’
THE LIFESTYLE SAILING MEMBERSHIP
Flexisail markets itself as ‘the sailing lifestyle company’ and offers two different options to its customers. With bases in Hamble, Ipswich, Lymington and Poole, they now have a fleet of 18 new generation yachts of varying sizes.
Founder Richard Pierpoint saw a gap in the market for those that wanted to sail better-equipped yachts and not worry about the maintenance. ‘Over time we’ve learned a lot and refined the model we offer to the market carefully. Our customers are able to define how much guaranteed usage they want, the boat they want to sail and exactly when they want to use it. We have all sorts of customers, some that live near a Flexisail base, some hundreds of miles away. I think
what they generally have in common is a range of interests. Sailing is often one of several hobbies they enjoy, so they want to enjoy quality time on the water, rather than unpredictable weekends where they might find themselves with their head in the bilge fixing something.’ JOSH LAVIS, who has a Jeanneau 349 membership, is an enthusiastic advocate for
the scheme and sails around 25 days a year in the UK, as well as joining Flexisail flotillas and crewing occasionally for other members.
‘I had an arrangement before with a good friend on his yacht, but there was always that nagging worry that I might damage it. With Flexisail it’s a clear transactional arrangement, the costs are ring-fenced and overall it costs me less. It does feel like ownership – people take considerably more care than they do with a charter boat.’
Another lifestyle membership club is Pure Latitude. Membership ranges from £325£750 per month, giving access to a range of sailing yachts. The club also has a RIB and several power boats. Most members sail less than 25 days a year.
THE ACCOMMODATION OFFSET
Tim Ludlow cut his teeth in the tech industry at Google before starting accommodation rental platform Beds on Board. Now in its third year, the company has boat owners signed up all over the UK and abroad. Tim explained how it works.
‘You are renting out the boat as accommodation only, so it’s much simpler than chartering and all the MCA coding that involves. However, that does mean thinking like an accommodation provider and providing a comfortable place that people want to stay in. As the business has grown, we’ve determined that a handover is fundamental to ensure a good experience for the guest.
‘We recently partnered with MDL marinas so this can be done by their staff on your behalf. Similarly, people expect clean accommodation, so we’ve partnered with another company that clean yachts at a rate based on waterline length; something owners have grown to like as well. They vary in how they use Beds on Board. Some rent out their boat a lot, others just use it as a mechanism to offset the cost of ownership partially. Over time we’ve developed guidelines for owners to make it work well from the start and we worked directly with the British Marine Federation on a peer-topeer operation document.’
Clare Elliott uses Beds on Board to offset
the cost of running her Jeanneau in Portland. Having covered half her marina costs in the first year, she’s now doing the same with a larger 37ft boat. ‘I stayed on a Beds on Board yacht whilst visiting Southampton. It worked really well and so made sense to have a mechanism to make some money when my own boat isn’t being used.’
THE BOAT BUDDY
Pete Jones set up Boat Buddys as a way for owners wanting a little help to connect online. Unlike a shared ownership scheme, Pete’s website is a mechanism to make introductions, rather than facilitate a formal arrangement. ‘The owner retains 100% of the boat, but can have one or two people to help them with the running costs and maintenance. It’s hard to achieve this through club noticeboards and advertising can be expensive, so Boat Buddys fills this gap. There are effectively two schemes. The first involves an agreed contribution for a certain amount of use of the boat, whilst the second involves no financial transaction, instead the boat buddy gives up their time and skills for maintenance of the boat in exchange for use. Our community online helps put people in touch, whilst also building a real community of boat enthusiasts that help each other.’
THE PEER-TO-PEER RENTAL
Matt Ovenden is the founder of Borrow a Boat, an Airbnb-style online platform for boat hire. With over 17,000 boats listed, it’s the UK’S most popular platform facilitating boat rental direct from owners. ‘I saw how many boats were sitting stagnant in a marina and that buying one for my own use didn’t really make sense, so I invested the capital in a business that I hope will transform how things are done.
‘Borrow a Boat makes access easy and specific. Unlike chartering you can look for exactly what you want; make and model, a spinnaker on board, air conditioning. We also offer hire per day, rather than the usual seven-day minimum. Last year we experienced a big period of growth that’s set to continue. When owners come to us with their boat we help them through the process of commercially coding the vessel, getting properly insured and get their boat making money quickly. For the consumer, we offer easier access and next year will even integrate the weather into our app so it alerts the user when the weather is looking good in their area for a sail!’