Benefits of shared ownership?

Benefits of shared boat ownership

Every boat owner, whether they have modern plastic or a traditional yacht will testify to the ever increasing running costs of their boat, berthing fees, insurance, haul out, antifoul paint!  As we all know, if there is a picture of a boat on the front the price will triple.

This is something we are hearing more and more these days and is a huge deterrence for many people thinking of buying a yacht, buyers these days can afford the purchase price but the annual running costs are putting them off.  It has occurred to us in the past, and to many other people, that shared ownership is potentially an easy and simple  way to spread the costs of the boat and to also ensure that she gets used properly throughout the season rather than leaving the mooring one weekend a month.  We have been approached by several people in recent months with the same idea so have decided to set up a data base of clients interested in shared ownership to try and bring people together and give them the opportunity to own a nice boat, Match.com for yachties if you will!

There are obviously many hurdles that present themselves when forming a syndicate to own a boat, and the more owners involved the more potential problems that could develop.  First of all we have to find two people wanting to purchase a similar type of boat which is harder than it sounds because the majority of buyers who come to us do not actually know what they need or what boat will be most sensible.  It often takes long discussions before we are able to finally settle on a particular type of yacht for a client as they all too often start out looking for something either far too big or wholly inadequate for the sailing they have planned, however once we have managed to cut to the chase and decipher the type of boat they want and the sort of sailing they are going to be doing, we can start to put potential joint owners together.

Location is of course a major factor not only for people thinking of joint ownership but for any boat owner wishing to sell as buyers often have to be pushed to travel any sort of distance to view a boat.  When owning a boat, its location relative to the owners home is very important as this will severely affect the amount of use the owner gets from the boat, so trying to find a suitable mooring for a yacht with two owners presents even more problems unless they happen to be neighbours.

Despite the obvious potential problems and drawbacks of syndicate boat ownership, the benefits still make it something worth thinking about so we are actively encouraging any potential buyers who could be interested to come forward so that we can try and put them together with other like minded boat owners, as well as opening the offer to existing owners of boats who may be loking for an ownership partner to come in and share the costs and the sailing time.  This is not something for everyone, but it might be a very satisfactory solution for a few and we are eager to see if there will be any interest.