There’s a lot of talk about the sharing society. It’s 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 a hobby that might otherwise be far out of your financial reach.
What is the sharing society?
In a nutshell, sharing economies let individuals and groups make money from the assets they aren’t using 100% of the time, and it’s all down to the internet. Communities have shared assets for millennia. But the internet and big data mean that people who own assets and those who want to use those assets find it’s easier than ever to connect and do business.
The resulting so-called sharing economy is a new way of distributing goods and services, very different from the traditional model where businesses employ people and the companies people work to sell wares to consumers. The sharing economy means individuals rent or share things like vehicles, homes, and even time using peer-to-peer systems.
As Investopedia says, “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.” Airbnb, for example, is a member of the sharing economy, 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.
Car sharing services like Lyft and Uber are also members of the sharing economy. Experts at the Brookings Institute say private cars are unused for a very un-cool 95% of their lifetime, which makes car shares a wholly natural and positive thing to do for all sorts of reasons.
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 stuff 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. And 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. An we need to do it fast. 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 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 the banks and other traditional lenders. They 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 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, costing you 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, which is a generous move to make rather than keeping all the fun under wraps for yourself. And it’s 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
- 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
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 thrilled to explain all the ins and outs for you, so feel free to get in touch.
