Boat Share / RibShackMarine

[atlantic]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience of boat share schemes, in particular via RibShackMarine out of Southampton?
I'm a previous owner but considering going down the shared route. Any tips, thoughts, comments etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[jakew009]

No experience at all, but I'd have thought in this country, sod's law will dictate that on the 3 sunny days we have, someone else will be using the boat.

[SimonCh]

Originally Posted by atlantic

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience of boat share schemes, in particular via RibShackMarine out of Southampton?
I'm a previous owner but considering going down the shared route. Any tips, thoughts, comments etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

No experience here but here's my tuppence worth...

I've always been against shared ownership of stuff. I'd rather have a cheaper one that's my own. I imagine that one of the other owners would either be very fussy, or very rough.... either way different from whichever you are. So you get one person who knackers a gearbox by hitting a rock - do they own up? Does everyone share the cost of the repair? What about general wear/tear... shared costs, except Person 'A' had all the nice weather days on the boat and had loads more run hours than everyone else.

"who scratched this? Who cracked that" I imagine there will be lots of those kinds of debates. I just couldn't be doing with it.

Whoever is handy will spend much longer carrying out maintenance than the rest... will that cause issues?

Alternatively you may get a boat share with similarly minded, fairly chilled out people which works really well...

[lakelandterrier]

I've heard of several instances where shared ownership works, more often within families.

Not sure when it's brokered through a commercial business which I assume the entity you mention is

Also know of lots of instances where it hasn't worked and ruined friendships.

The last boat my father had was an upgrade from a Westerly Centaur to a larger Konsort with a very good friend in partnership. They did different sailing. My father enjoyed swinging around on the mooring doing maintenance & day trips, his friend preferred longer cruises over several days - or weeks. The boat more often than not was not around for my father just to chill on board. It actually turned him away from a life long love of sailing. That's influenced my thoughts on this

I'm in Simon's camp - better to have something you own and can enjoy on your terms and compromise on that than risk loss of enjoyment and maybe friendship from part ownership.

That said I'm lucky enough to have been able (with other sacrifices/ compromises) to own a boat that suits my needs.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by atlantic

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience of boat share schemes, in particular via RibShackMarine out of Southampton?
I'm a previous owner but considering going down the shared route. Any tips, thoughts, comments etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Personally I've looked at all of the commercial schemes, and barring the issues around location they seem like a very easy but expensive way to own a boat! If you really need a shiny new boat, want it in a marina/dry stack, and to turn up and go then its probably an option but most people can own a very nice second hand boat for that money, or just charter for a week and a couple of weekends for the same annual cost.

Originally Posted by SimonCh

"who scratched this? Who cracked that" I imagine there will be lots of those kinds of debates. I just couldn't be doing with it.

Yeah those are often the kind of things people who have never done it, or who have done it informally cite as the issues. And I think they are right to highlight them as potential problems - at least for privately organised syndicates - the biggest issues I've heard have been when there is an owner who then decides to share it, because it feels like their boat. You can find plenty of positive stories about sharing boats/planes/holiday houses etc - I think that's about establishing the ground rules and expectations clearly, with formal agreements etc, treating it like a club/business transaction rather than just a few friends. There are a lot of things to think through, what happens if someone wants to leave, what happens if someone dies, what happens if there is a big repair bill, what happens to any surplus from maintenance budget (eg. upgrades, refunds, reduction in next year), solving those problems is where a management company can help - but I'd say if you can't sit down and talk through all those options and agree on them you probably aren't a good mix for a syndicate. If someone is being much more anal than you about the details of the agreement or totally blazee you probably are going to conflict at some point. I think it probably helps to have members with similar financial means/attitudes. I know someone who says that quitting his med yacht share when the kids were born is the worst mistake he ever made because finding another group with the same approach is going to be really hard.

Originally Posted by jakew009

No experience at all, but I'd have thought in this country, sod's law will dictate that on the 3 sunny days we have, someone else will be using the boat.

The boat share schemes like those mentioned by Atlantic are supposed to help with that because you typically have access to a pool of boats rather than a single boat. I think it would work well if you aren't tied to weekends.

I know someone who does it with a plane and another with a yacht and they both suggest they actually use it more - their weekend is allocated and planned in advance so they are going out unless its horrendous rather than waiting to see if next weekend will be better.

The other option is to share the big boat which is much less weather dependant and have a small boat (SIB, kayaks, etc) which you will really enjoy using when the weather is amazing - so even if sunshine is not on your share days you don't care.

[John Kennett]

Ribshack have been around a long time and are well established with a good reputation. It’s a fully serviced offering though that comes at a price. If it fits your needs and your budget then I think you could go ahead with confidence.

Another option, also realistically eye wateringly expensive, would be to bareboat hire from Solent RIB Charters. I think they’ve got a club offering too but I haven’t checked it out.

Private syndicates are more risky but can work out much cheaper as it cuts out the middle man. I was part owner of a motor cruiser on the Thames for 8 years and it worked very well. I’ve thought about it for a big RIB but the risk of damage is much more of a concern as is the fair allocation of running costs.

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by Poly

The boat share schemes like those mentioned by Atlantic are supposed to help with that because you typically have access to a pool of boats rather than a single boat. I think it would work well if you aren't tied to weekends.

I know someone who does it with a plane and another with a yacht and they both suggest they actually use it more - their weekend is allocated and planned in advance so they are going out unless its horrendous rather than waiting to see if next weekend will be better.

The other option is to share the big boat which is much less weather dependant and have a small boat (SIB, kayaks, etc) which you will really enjoy using when the weather is amazing - so even if sunshine is not on your share days you don't care.

I know people do it but I still struggle to see it in this country. If you have 10 boats and 100 owners, everyone is going to want the boat on the sunny bank holiday weekend forecasted 2 weeks out...

I agree its a better option if you are retired / don't want to use it on weekends or perhaps if the boat was based in the med and you could pretty much guarantee the weather for 6 months of the year.

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

also realistically eye wateringly expensive

When you consider how many ribs are for sale that have only averaged 20-30 engine hours per year, it's probably not so bad.

However, I would agree that if you buy the right boat secondhand and keep it on a trailer, owning a boat is actually very cheap.

[Tim M]

I used to run a 23m Princess in the Med that was owned by 8 owners, and "managed" by an allegedly reputable company in Cape Town. With that example, it didn't work. The owners (and their wives) were usually at each others throats about one thing or another; some had thrown all the money they had at their share of the boat and wanted to run it on a shoe string, others threw some cash in as a fun way to spend a bit of their summer and didn't really care what they spent. As the skipper it was a total nightmare being told every other week to do things differently - don't buy this brand, buy a cheaper/more expensive one from anything from loo paper to bed sheets. Then there were arguments about usage, some liked to be in marinas overnight, some liked to anchor for a week at a time so of course there were those who argued the "anchorers" should pay more in due to more wear and tear on the generators/water makers etc. Then there was the allocation of slots onboard; they had their yearly allocations but often used to swap with money or other backhanded deals for more preferable times like school holidays. Consequently the management was somewhat "fragmented" and often led to lots of crew stress trying to make it all work on the ground! (Not to mention listening to owners constant bitching onboard about other owners!).

That said, that is very different to what you're talking about. I have two friends who have Ribshack shares and have heard no complaints. Personally I don't think it would be for me; part of the enjoyment I get from RIB ownership is tinkering with it, buying new bits etc as well as using it (whenever and wherever I want). Obviously with fractional ownership all of that goes out of the window, but of course for lots of people that's an attraction. Ribshack have been around for a long time and have lots of customers, which suggests their management works a lot more effectively than the South African mob I worked for 18 months!