FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Due to the unique nature of the YachtPlus Programme, some people have been asking about the benefits of becoming an Owner. We have summarised the main questions below. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further queries and we'll be happy to answer them.
What is fractional ownership?
Fractional ownership is a powerful new business model, combining the quality and guaranteed availability of ownership at a fraction of the price. It is also a much better proposition to rental/charter where costs are often high and quality mixed.
Fractional ownership lowers the threshold for access to expensive and typically under-utilised assets such as jets and high-end real-estate (e.g. holiday villas). In the private aviation space, NetJets’ pioneer programme now offers access to the world’s largest private jet fleet.
The YachtPlus programme applies, for the first time, fractional ownership to luxury yachts, instead of owning a boat and having the cost and maintenance headaches associated with full ownership. Whilst YachtPlus competes to some extent with traditional yacht ownership or charter, our “third way” yachting solution opens a whole new market for access to a yacht as a hassle-free lifestyle asset.
What exactly do I buy when I subscribe to the YachtPlus Programme?
Through the YachtPlus Fractional Ownership Programme (“the Programme”), you acquire a fractional interest in a specific luxury motor yacht in exchange for the right to access a fully serviced and crewed fleet of identical luxury yachts for a guaranteed number of weeks per year for the duration of the Programme.
How fast do you expect the fleet to grow?
YachtPlus has launched with an identical fleet of three 41 meter Foster + Partners designed contemporary motor yachts. At any stage where we feel there is demand for a different type of yacht, be it a motor yacht that is larger still or a fleet of sailing yachts, YachtPlus will add different yacht sizes and yacht types to our fleet and allow our Owners to interchange across the fleet.
What happens if I cannot use my designated weeks? Do I forfeit them?
You do not forfeit your unused weeks. As an Owner, you can offer unused weeks for charter through YachtPlus and receive the net charter revenue or exchange the weeks with other Owners. Alternatively, you can make the yacht available to your family, friends or business as there is no requirement for you to be on board as Owners.
What are the chances of finding a charter during off-peak weeks?
Although demand for charter is strong in the summer in the Mediterranean, the off-peak weeks in the YachtPlus annual cruising calendar still allow for very enjoyable cruising. YachtPlus, the central agent for the charter of our Owner’s unused weeks, knows the occupancy patterns of each of our Owners and Owners’ friends, a fair share of whom prefer off-peak cruising, and they will be the first port of call when an Owner’s week becomes available for charter. In addition, through our Preferred Partners within the yacht charter broker community, we will actively promote the yachts. Finally, we also do programmes with corporate clients who are less season-bound.
How long is the contract term?
We think of YachtPlus as a solution to secure access to a yacht as a lifestyle asset and as such there is no limit to Owner’s participation. However, there is a limit to the age we allow our Programme yachts to reach. None of the yachts in our Programme will be older than eight years.
What happens at the end of the contract?
When the yacht reaches eight years of age, the Owners mandate YachtPlus to offer her for sale in the open market and the net proceeds are distributed to the Owners. However, the Owners can retain the yacht if they so wish.
Does this mean I am locked-up for eight years?
For Owners, there is no obligation to stay in the Programme for the full eight years. If an Owner wants to leave early, his share in the yacht will be remarketed through YachtPlus and he will receive the proceeds of sale, minus a remarketing fee.
What can I expect the yacht to depreciate per year?
Market data supports the assumption that a high-quality uniquely designed custom-built yacht will depreciate approximately 50% over the 8 years (in today’s economic climate). It may be that depreciation is less if the markets improve.
How does YachtPlus structure ownership on the legal side?
We have structured Ownership in such way that our Owners are 100% protected against the two major credit risks in co-ownership schemes: default by another Owner or bankruptcy by YachtPlus itself.
Does this mean that my ownership is completely ring-fenced from any claims third-parties may have against YachtPlus as a company or one of the other Owners?
That is correct. At every stage, the yacht is out of range of creditors.
Are the yachts mortgaged?
The yacht cannot be used as security against lending, not by any Owner for the fraction he owns and neither by YachtPlus, which has no legal title to the yachts anyhow.
Does YachtPlus look after the yachts?
YachtPlus services and crews the yachts on behalf of its Owners. All maintenance and servicing costs are shared amongst the Owners pro rata their ownership participation in the yacht. There is full disclosure of all costs – it is very transparent.
What is included in my annual dues?
The list of what is NOT included is shorter than the list of what is included. Fuel burn, mooring fees, telecoms, and food and drinks consumed by the Owner and his guests whilst cruising are not included.
The annual dues cover all other expenses related to the yacht, including:
- Fully crewing the fleet for 40 weeks of the year with a crew of up to eight.
- Cross-Atlantic repositioning between Mediterranean and Caribbean and back.
- Ongoing maintenance and servicing, spare parts, engine maintenance.
- Major repairs, dry-docking, and major refits if necessary.
- All other operational expenses related to the yacht (such as insurance).
Are there any cost surprises?
Annual maintenance and management dues are calculated on a cost-plus basis, averaged over the fleet rather than attributed to one particular yacht. This helps Owners save money. By setting the budget in advance, at the beginning of every year, we mitigate the cost unpredictability that is a feature of full yacht ownership.
Do you “double-book” the yachts to make more money?
In contrast with other co-ownership schemes, especially in the real estate space, we do not “double book” the number of available weeks per year. As a result, we do not have to rely on the probability of no-shows and cancellations to be able to guarantee each Owner his/her available weeks. In addition, we put an absolute limit on the number of Owners per yacht of eight Owners only.
Is access limited to the yacht in which I took a Participation?
It is most definitively not. The strength of the fractional model is that it pools fractionally-owned assets for use by all owners. This means that, as yachts are added to the fleet, Owners’ access points multiply.
How do you deal with repositioning?
Cross-Atlantic repositioning twice a year, a formidable expense for a sole owner of a yacht, is shared amongst all Owners pro rate their ownership.
Repositioning within the Mediterranean or Caribbean is free for Owners who access and disembark at the yacht’s home base. These bases are balanced out over the Mediterranean and Caribbean and can move around over time, depending on how our Capacity Model identifies “clusters” of demand in specific zones of the respective cruising areas. Factors such as vicinity of airports and transport facilities are taken into account.
Access away from the yacht’s home base incurs a repositioning fuel charge and may take some time out of the Owner’s days’ use. However, the overriding principle is that an Owner will never have to pick up the tab for the previous or following user disembarking or accessing the yacht at any specific location.
Is there a specific check-in and check-out time?
Owners can check-in from 6pm onwards and YachtPlus requests them to check-out by 11am. If Owners choose to disembark at any location different from the yacht’s home base, they will be given an estimate of the cruising time necessary to bring the yacht back to the shorter of the difference between either (1) their preferred drop-off point and the next Owner’s scheduled boarding point, or (2) their preferred drop-off point and the yacht’s home base. The Captain will then build in this time in their journey planning. The same applies to an Owner who embarks away from the home base.
Here again the overriding principle is that an Owner’s time should never be affected by the behaviour of the previous or following Owner.
Where will the yachts be registered?
The fleet cruise under the Isle of Man flag.
