“It’s about looking at a business with fresh eyes and recognising what could be done better. Simon Maunder loves starting from the bottom up and being a disrupter in whichever sector he goes into. A great example is what Simon has done with his yachts and jets businesses, where he has disrupted the model and made co-ownership of yachts and jets affordable.” Brave Bold Brilliant Podcast.

Meet Simon Maunder, the man behind the Yacht Share Network. He has well and truly disrupted the luxury yacht and private jet ownership scene, making the co-ownership of yachts and jets affordable for the first time and often cutting the cost of yacht ownership in half. It’s all down to the sharing economy, which is fast becoming a buzzword in globally advanced economies.

There’s a huge range of car sharing enterprises, jet aircraft sharing, even luxury holiday home sharing. No wonder high-end yacht syndicates are so popular in today’s fast-growing sharing society. Yacht sharing is an exciting way to operate, very different from the traditional consumer model. So what’s it all about, and how has the sharing economy impacted yachting? As it turns out, yacht share is a sharing economy classic, the perfect solution to an exciting hobby that might otherwise be way out of your financial reach.

What is the sharing society?

“The sharing economy is an economic model often defined as a peer-to-peer or P2P based activity of acquiring, providing or sharing access to goods and services that are facilitated by a community based online platform.” Investopedia

Sharing economies let individuals and groups make money from the assets they’re not using 100% of the time. It has all come about thanks to the internet. Yes, communities have shared assets for a very long time – an expensive piece of farm machinery like a combined harvester is a great example, shard amongst several villages. But the internet and the associated big data it allows mean that people who own assets and those who want to use those assets find it easier than ever to connect and do business.

This new way of distributing goods and services couldn’t be more different from the usual scenario, where businesses employ people and sell wares to consumers. The sharing economy means individuals rent or share things like vehicles, homes, workspaces, and even time, all via peer-to-peer systems. Take Airbnb, where a person with a desirable or convenient living space shares it with others on a mini-rental basis, sometimes just for one night. Airbnb rates tend to be anything from 30-60% cheaper than hotel prices, which means sharing these popular resources is a very good deal for consumers.

Car sharing services like Lyft and Uber are also thriving members of the sharing economy. Experts at the Brookings Institute say private cars are unused for a very uncool 95% of their lifetime, which makes car shares a wholly natural and positive thing to do for all sorts of reasons.

The principle behind the sharing society

The simple principle behind sharing is the ‘only pay for what you use’ philosophy. In most cases, especially for higher value assets, you generally own a share of the equity which can be traded freely, making entry and exit a simple process. It’s a flexible asset-based concept that’s different from the less attractive timeshare proposition, where you often own nothing other than a chunk of time in which it’s your turn to enjoy the asset.

Why share?

Sharing makes common sense in a world where some experts think we’ve reached ‘peak stuff’, where people in wealthy Western economies own all the consumer goods they could possibly need… and then some. Manufacturing the goods we use means using natural resources, which are often scarce, and energy, which is expensive and whose generation often contributes to climate change. In times like this, with the world’s climate heating up faster than even the experts predicted, we need to find innovative ways to reduce our impact on the plant and its resources. The sharing economy taps right into this pressing need in all sorts of ways.

Today’s sharing economy

Today’s sharing society reaches far and wide into everyday life, so much so that it has become the norm. Co-working platforms are common, where companies provide shared work spaces for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and people who work from home. There are loads of peer-to-peer lending systems where individuals lend money to others at cheaper rates than banks and other traditional lenders. These have helped to boost countless small businesses who wouldn’t otherwise be able to fund growth because their bank says ‘no’ to a business loan.

Fashion sites let people sell or rent luxury clothing. Freelance sites match freelance workers and employees, dealing in everything from web design to gardening services. And Investopedia predicts that revenue from the sharing economy will hit a whopping $335 billion by 2025. No wonder yacht share is such a popular movement, a concept that’s growing remarkably fast.

The sharing society and yachting

Think about it and you soon realise yachts and the sharing society are the perfect match. For a start very few, if any, yacht owners spend 365 days a year aboard their boat. Many only spend a week, two weeks, maybe a month per year on the water, and the rest of the time the vessel is lying, waiting, and costing a small fortune.

According to Business Insider, a 130-foot boat with five crew can cost more than £26,000 a month to keep, and that’s before you embark on a voyage. Even when you’re super-rich, spending that amount of cash on keeping a boat ready to go at all times seems wasteful.

Arrange a boat share and the vessel can be enjoyed by other people as well as you. It’s a generous move to make rather than keeping the fun under wraps for yourself. It’s also good for the structure, décor and engine of a boat to be used regularly rather than stashed in a boathouse or left empty on the water for long periods of time.

The benefits of yacht share

As one boat share client says, “I have to say changing from a sole boat owner into a part share owner has proved to be a very positive move. Now there are effectively six owners and jobs get done quicker because all the costs get shared, reducing the personal financial impact considerably”.

Here’s a list of the benefits of fractional yacht share.

• It’s a great way to establish whether you eventually want to buy a yacht of your own
• You spend less than you would owning a boat, a fraction of the cost
• You sail from some of the world’s most amazing places
• The boat share itself, management and maintenance is all handled by the boat share operator
• It’s hassle free and time-effective, perfect for busy people
• You enjoy the freedom to sail where you want, when you want
• You get to share high spec new and almost new boats, including current models
• There are just a few other sharers on each yacht share contract
• You get guaranteed time on board for a fixed monthly fee
• You enjoy the freedom to cancel, change or swap bookings

How yacht shares work

The Yacht Share Network is the world’s leading listing portal and brokerage for yacht shares worldwide, with yachts available from €300k to over €10 million.

A 10% share in a yacht entitles you as a syndicate member to 5 weeks on board every year, but you only pay 10% of the yacht’s cost. This five week period reflects the actual amount of time that many yacht owners use their wholly-owned yachts for, so makes perfect sense.

It seems almost crazy in comparison to pay 10 times more than you need to, suffer 100% depreciation and pay all the running and maintenance fees, an large ongoing sum in itself. Our yacht share members get 100% of the self-same ownership and usage pleasure, but only pay 10% of the purchase price and a mere 10% of the ongoing running costs, which means they also minimise depreciation.

These days, sharing a yacht makes so much more sense than buying your own. It’s estimated that up to a quarter of all yachts are shared in one way or another, whether it’s sharing with family members, friends, or a structured syndicate like ours. Does it sound like an inspiring idea?

Treat yourself to a shared luxury yacht

Shared yacht ownership is making owning a yacht more accessible than ever. Have you thought about it? If not, why not investigate further? We’ll be delighted to explain the ins and outs for you, so feel free to get in touch.