I’ve been desperate to get on the water and have joined a rib club here in Hampshire which has been awesome but it has given me the bug and I really want to own my own rib to give me the spontaneity and control as to when I go out. Then I started checking out what I can afford and it’s clear to me that a share makes sense. Seems a real waste all the boats sitting about doing nothing. Halfing or thirding the costs means I could have access to a better and bigger boat and all the servicing and dry stacking would be much more affordable also. The problem is finding someone who would want to share a boat. I’ve tried all my friends and they either are not keen or have a different idea of what boat. Some are up for 9m cobras that are out of my league. I decided that it may well be a problem other are having and have set up a Facebook group for those looking for a boat share to post. It’s not commercial, I’m not promoting anything. I’ve asked and got permission from the admins here to post. So if anyone else is looking for a boat share and is struggling to find a partner or 2 to match up with please feel free to take a look at the Facebook group and post what you want.
This topic has been raised before, and I'm not saying it's not the right thing to do, but from reading earlier threads it sounds great in principle, but comes down to running costs, trust in your partner or partners, obviously their experience in how they manage the boat, potential damage and wear and tear, when you can access the boat, what happens when you've had enough and want out?
Yup. Boat sharing is great so long as you don't run the boat share and it doesn't involve any friends.
I've friends who use RibShack and find it great. They get to know their other co-owners and the company take care of everything.
If you try to manage a share yourself then you are basically paying money to be someone else's mother and carer, to clean up after them, fix their mistakes and be on call 24/7. That's normally a job most sane people only do if they are paid. No normal person pays to do it.
And then you have the 'friend' risk. The tool who takes liberties either not cleaning up, not looking after or always pushing to change dates or late with money.
If you're going to boat share then do it professionally and pay someone else to deal with all the rubbish or enjoy the immense freedom of living within your means and have a smaller boat all to yourself.
If you're going to boat share then do it professionally and pay someone else to deal with all the rubbish or enjoy the immense freedom of living within your means and have a smaller boat all to yourself.
Is it just powerboaters who are selfish idiots? Its a fairly common thing in the yacht world and whilst of course there can be issues, it seems that yachties manage to make it work whilst everyone here always says its doomed to failure.
I don't think you necessarily need to pay someone else to run it all for you - it depends what you all want from the boatshare; but putting in writing the rules and clearly defining costs, repairs, selling up etc is (a) just common sense (b) forces you to consider and discuss some of the things that people say can go wrong.
I have no personal experience of boat share to offer... for the significant reason I saw the hassle when dad tried it many decades ago so would always do as TN says... living within my means.
His was a single share with an apparently like-minded trusted friend pre-purchase... until sharing opened up the cracks proving it doesn't matter what you put in "the rules"... if the other person doesn't do... you have to make up the slack.
I have looked at a RIB share recently in Plymouth, it was actually great value. £4,800 for 1/4 share of a 2005 cobra 7.5 with a 2019 Mercury 200, a 2020 refit of all electronics and 2021 full reupholstery. It would be about £40-50 a month in ongoing costs on top so very reasonable.
The chap that formed the syndicate was happy to do the admin. He is retired and has several other larger boats that he part-owns and administers too. Apparently they never really had an issue as he is careful to only allow people to join that he believes will respect the boat after a few hours on the water with them. The only disagreement he said they had is whether to fit a Mercury of Yamaha outboard when it came time for an upgrade.
The only reason I didn't join is because I want to take the RIB further afield than just Plymouth. That wasn't an issue with the members, but driving from Gloucestershire to Plymouth to pick up a boat then head to Wales/Southampton etc is a bit too much when I fancy a few days elsewhere. And I would have to buy a new trailer as the current one isn't road legal and only fit for launching from dry storage to the slip 50 meters away.
Is it just powerboaters who are selfish idiots? Its a fairly common thing in the yacht world and whilst of course there can be issues, it seems that yachties manage to make it work whilst everyone here always says its doomed to failure.
I don't think you necessarily need to pay someone else to run it all for you - it depends what you all want from the boatshare; but putting in writing the rules and clearly defining costs, repairs, selling up etc is (a) just common sense (b) forces you to consider and discuss some of the things that people say can go wrong.
Funnily, until a few friends joined RibShack, my experience has been from friends who have done yacht shares and have found the experience tarnished by that one person who never had any plan to follow the rules, leaving the boat messy, leaving it in a different harbour as if doing the next person a favour, stalling on payments or constantly trying to change dates. I don't think it's anything new though as my father knew people in the 80s who tried yacht shares and often found someone had over stretched themselves and were out to get as much as the could from the others.
I don't think it's anything new though as my father knew people in the 80s who tried yacht shares and often found someone had over stretched themselves and were out to get as much as the could from the others.
I think that is a valid point. You want to make sure your “partners” are of similar means / attitude to yourself. Like any business relationship or marriage you want to make sure you are compatible and maybe some people jump in too quick or are desperate to fill a vacancy. That may be especially important in terms of leaving - if anyone can sell to anyone the remaining members get no say it’s risky. If the remaining members can veto you will be unsure when you get your capital back!
Sula
