Hi
Has anyone had any experience with Smart Boating syndication?
smartboating.com.au/
Jules

I had a friend who is not the hands-on maintenance kind of guy, and he was happy with his experience. He had the advantage that he was retired and could take the boat out during the week.
If you have the money, and don't want to do long trips, it is good. Suits the trendy types who want to entertain friends for a day sail in comfort and convenience.
For the same money you could buy a 30+ft classic, but of course, more work, and not as easy or impressive to entertain.

Top end of town eh. I didn't see anywhere on the site clearly stating the need for a power boat license...........maybe it is obvious but it should be clearly stated............not sure what in the "training" section "exhileration" (as below last sentence in that section) might be but for sure I want some now...........

The sea awaits you! Enjoy the experience, the exhileration and the freedom it brings.

With $50,000 and $8000 a year you could own and maintain an ocean going yacht.

Horses for courses, some people obviously want to sail that way.

Very marketing focused, didn't see the steak knife offer but it must be in there somewhere. My reservations would be the contractual side. You have to pay a deposit, agree to some terms ( which are not stated ) and lock in your share. Sounds like other time-share mechanisms but at least it has a well specified exit. Lots of details to understand before you would want to make a commitment, what happens is they go bankrupt? what is your obligation? what if you want to bail early and there is no one who want to pick up your share? etc. etc. Still looks like it is a growing business for them as they seem to be adding boats to the fleet quickly.

+1 for MorningBirds suggestion

I have not had direct experience of boat-sharing schemes. However, I've been advised to look out for the maintenance clauses.

Syndicates like this usually want to keep the resale value of the boat as high as possible, which means that every ding and scratch will get repaired to a professional standard. That's fine if you want to keep your boat at a showroom standard of presentation, but it comes at a cost. There should be a maintenance allowance in the contract, but you might also get one-off incidentals that could be extra.

For example, if you owned your own boat, you might tolerate the small burn mark in the GRP next to the stove where you put down a hot pan by mistake, but the syndicate might not. Same for a cigarette burn, a broken hatch handle, minor chafes in the running rigging etc. etc. If you had your own boat, you can do your own repairs, but a syndicate might only allow professional tradies to do the work for you.

Share boat schemes can work well, but you should understand how the maintenance works, who pays for it, and who makes the decisions about how much to spend on those minor, running repairs.

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julesV said..
Hi
Has anyone had any experience with Smart Boating syndication?
smartboating.com.au/
Jules

Thanks for all the advice everybody. Much appreciated.

I did ask my mate to estimate how much it cost him and he guessed around $14k p/a over 4 years. Not that bad for the use of a $450k boat, as long as you get out often.

my numbers might be wrong but I figured;

10 people in syndicate
The $50k per person pays for the boat at $500k initially?
The $728 per month per person is $87360 per year and $436800 over the five years.

So someone is getting over $400k to maintain boat with insurance, slipping marina, repairs etc for five years

The boat starts off new. Don't forget depreciation. And you don't lift a finger, all done for you. Step on and go sailing. They even come out and berth the boat for you if you are not confident in handling in confined spaces

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keensailor said..
my numbers might be wrong but I figured;

10 people in syndicate
The $50k per person pays for the boat at $500k initially?
The $728 per month per person is $87360 per year and $436800 over the five years.

So someone is getting over $400k to maintain boat with insurance, slipping marina, repairs etc for five years

You have got it right but the other question is what happens to the boat at the end of the 5 year syndicate.

This yacht syndicate management caper sounds like a good lurk. Might check it out.