Fractional Ownership of Superyachts

Fractional Ownership of Superyachts - revisited

by Raini Hamdi, Forbes.com on 15 Sep 2016

"I don't think I could eat a whole one..." Singapore Yacht Show 2014 Guy Nowell http://www.guynowell.com

There have been plenty of attempts to get any number of versions of fractional ownership of boats off the ground. Or into the water. On the face it, the idea is sound. A superyacht - of even something slightly smaller - is a very expensive item that gets used only very occasionally. Sharing the maintenance and upkeep costs among a number of individuals, and increasing the amount of time that the yacht gets used by the multiple 'owners' ought to close to a no-brainer. But still, we haven't heard of any schemes like this that have been a runaway success. Maybe it's because the sort of person that wants a superyacht, and can afford one, doesn't want to share his or her customised taste with another part-owner. Maybe it's because the same owner really wants their very expensive 'floating asset' to be avaialable at a moment's notice. Theories abound. But the man who started with Amanpuri in Phuket and then created a series of ultra luxury 'Aman' hotels all over the world thinks he can crack the equation. Read on.

Ultimate entertainment platform? Singapore Yacht Show 2014 © Guy Nowell http://www.guynowell.com

Visionary hotelier Adrian Zecha sees “an obvious gap” in superyachts today. An asset-light generation of cash-rich, time-poor, ultra HNWIs do not want bragging rights to owning and maintaining a boat they will use only a few weeks a year. And even if they can charter one, what’s missing is consistent, personalised service the hotel industry offers.
The solution is Mahá Yacht Club (MYC), his latest joint venture with marine expert Stephen White and an old hotelier partner, Jonathan Breene. It aims to create the new ideal in superyachts by marrying marine expertise with hospitality excellence and simplifying access to the high-end vacation pursuit.

“In an ideal world, the perfect yacht would be custom-designed by the leading experts and the on-board service would be provided by industry specialists, not only hospitality professionals, but perfectionists in an industry that have been internationally noted for their excellence,” said the MYC literature.

The club accepts only 60 members who pay a single upfront fee of €3.5 million (US$3.9 million) for a 10-year membership. This offers them four weeks access per year to MYC’s six private fleets, four positioned in the Mediterranean, and one each in the Bahamas/Caribbean and Phuket/Bali. Construction of the fleets, which are in the final design stage, will start in a few months for operation in early 2019.

While 350,000 euros a year may look staggering to some, White, who is MYC’s founder and CEO, said: “It’s half the price if you were to charter a superyacht four weeks a year for 10 years. And if you own and use a yacht for the same duration, it’ll cost you about €50 million.”

Acres of white. Big boats everywhere. Genoa International Boat Show 2014. © Guy Nowell http://www.guynowell.com

Beyond the maths, it’s the vision and execution that will make MYC possibly a game-changer in the waters. Some of the big laps it is making:

• Instead of one 50m or 60m superyacht, members get a flotilla comprising a 36m stay boat (with room for eight to sleep and 50 for a party if they so wish), a 16m day boat and a 10m play boat.

• The 36m motherships are custom-built for MYC by Amsterdam-based Feadship, a market leader in superyachts. Interiors may be designed by the likes of Jean Michel Gathy, who has worked on many Amanresorts and GHM hotels, chains which Zecha founded

• MYC has a full-time dedicated crew, with training standards set by Breene, who founded the Setai Group

• The superyacht is personalised to the client, who gets 2 sqm of belongings which are shipped to the yacht they are going to and set up as their boat – just like with the villas at Amanpuri, the first Amanresort which Zecha opened in 1988, where the space is set up for the client when he arrives and ‘dismantled’ when he goes.

How about a slice of one of these? © Guy Nowell http://www.guynowell.com

In a MYC video, Zecha said: “Being in the hospitality industry, it became apparent to me that what is still lacking is dependable, professionalised service and what we are attempting to do is to bring that professional service element to yachts.

'The clincher is Zecha', says Bangkok-based Laurent Kuenzle. “He knows the Aman junkie kind of crowd like no other. If there’s anyone who can do this, it’s him.”

“In Asia, people are starting to look at yachting, but not in the same way as the Russians in the 90s with those massive mansions at sea. Asians are looking at how they can get the exclusivity, privacy and security without breaking the bank. We know the rich Asian millennials from Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia are starting to buy yachts this size from Feadship but there’s always the problem of, I’ve got a yacht, what do I do with it now?”

If all this sounds like the making of inimitable boutique hotels for which Zecha is the acknowledged master, it is. Except, these ones move.

Full story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/hamdiraini/2016/09/12/having-made-his-mark-on-land-adrian-zecha-turns-to-the-seas/#18a3e7606fe0