Cruising on a boat is such a wonderful way to unwind and reconnect with nature. There is something so relaxing and refreshing about the gentle sea breeze and the lapping of the waves, and even more so when you can experience it straight from your doorstep. Living the ocean lifestyle is such a gift, but is not always financially and practically attainable.

Owning a boat - from small motorboat to luxury yacht - is not for the novice, there are an incredible amount of considerations to take into account - who will take on the maintenance? Will you do it yourself? Can you afford the upkeep? How often will you be able to use the boat, and will it be worth the pricetag?

If you feel like you were made for the unique and wonderful yachting lifestyle, but it is just financially out of reach - then this article is for you.

What is Boat Syndication?

Boat syndication is a fractional ownership model which allows you to share both ownership and maintenance of your boat with other people, thus reducing the cost and time-consuming burden of upkeep. Although various syndicates may differ from each other and come with their own set of rules, they all provide a similar service and experience: partial ownership and access to a luxury yacht when you are ready for some time offshore.

How Does Boat Syndication Work?

So the main question is ‘how exactly does it work?’ There are two main options when is comes to fractional ownership:

1. You could purchase a share from a private owner and split the costs with them and any others in the syndicate, or;
2. You could enter into your syndicate through a yacht co-ownership company such as MIY Yacht.

This article will focus primarily on the latter. When you purchase your share through a company, the boat will be owned by you and your co-owners. Unless the company decides to reserve a share for itself and contribute to the running costs, it will not have any ownership over the boat. In other words - no ownership outside of the agreed boat syndicate. You own your share of the yacht, and can choose to purchase multiple shares should you wish for more access to it. Should you ever decide to leave the syndicate you can sell on your share, as it is your property to do so.

So what role does the company play in this agreement? The role may change from company to company but generally the burden of maintenance and upkeep will fall on them - this is the case when you enter into a fractional yacht ownership agreement through MIY Yacht Co-Ownership. A small number of weeks annually is reserved for any such maintenance, and will be organised through MIY Yacht - the cost of which will be split between the yacht syndicate owners.

In addition to this, MIY Yacht also offers a premium concierge service and can provide crew where necessary.

Fractional Yacht Ownership

So what, then, is fractional yacht ownership? Boat syndication can be referred to as a number of things - fractional yacht ownership is essentially another term for boat syndication, along with yacht timeshare ownership, and yacht co-ownership. The main models that this differs from are:

sole yacht ownership, where the yacht is bought outright;
yacht timeshare, where users purchase the usage rights for a certain amount of time annually without owning property rights; or
yacht charter, where you essentially ‘rent’ the yacht for a short period of time.

The beauty of fractional yacht ownership is that you have the unique experience of owning a luxury yacht, while the cost of ownership and upkeep of the boat is significantly decreased. Through the MIY Yacht Co-Ownership model, you can split the cost by c.8.

How Much Does Boat Share Cost?

The answer to this is dependent on the type of boat - and the short, perhaps obvious, answer is ‘a fraction of the boat’s worth when bought outright’. For example, MIY Yacht has boat shares that start from £175K in a boat that is worth £1.4M. When you buy yacht shares through MIY Yacht you pay one eighth of the price of the entire yacht.

Sharing the cost with a group of other owners decreases not only the initial purchase cost, but also the cost of maintenance as this is also split by 8. These add-on costs would usually come to around 10% of the price of the boat - but will cost you only around 10% of the price of your share.

There is, therefore, a significant difference in cost between sole yacht ownership and fractional yacht ownership.

Is Boat Share a Good Idea?

If you’re still contemplating this question, there are a few more things to take into account. The reality of sole yacht ownership is that most people’s lives will only allow for a maximum of 6 weeks at sea - the time allocated to you should you decide to enter into a boat syndicate like the MIY Yacht model.

The MIY Yacht co-ownership model comes with a concierge service, your one-stop shop for everything you’ll need when onboard your yacht. The MIY team can offer everything from organising new and innovative water toys for you to enjoy, tickets to performances, exhibitions or restaurants at your destination right down to ensuring your preferred bottle of bubbly is onboard before you set off.

Further to this, the MIY online platform offers you the chance to swap your weeks onboard with other MIY Yacht owners - meaning you can test out other vessels and explore new destinations.

All of these benefits, and more, are at your disposal when you choose to enter into a yacht share network. And in the unlikely event you decide this lifestyle is not for you, you can simply sell on your share and opt out of the syndicate.

Are Boats a Waste of Money?

When careful consideration is given to the right boat, they are a wonderful investment that can bring you years of joy and create wonderful memories for you and your family. Investing in sole yacht ownership could be a waste of money if you do not have the time to be constantly using it, as they do come with a lot of responsibility and hidden costs (see Forbes article here on the costs of sole yacht ownership) and can require a lot of upkeep.

This is where yacht co-ownership really is the gift that keeps on giving. Your luxury purchase will cost less initially, your upkeep costs will also be significantly lowered, and should you decide to enter into your boat syndicate through a company such as MIY Yacht - the maintenance and upkeep will be taken care of by them. If you want to experience the world’s oceans, in the most beautiful and luxurious fashion and share the cost of this wonderful lifestyle - yacht co-ownership may well be for you.

For more on MIY Yacht and how this magnificent yacht ownership model works, click here.

How does a Boat Syndicate work?