Buying into a charter or fractional program

[GTom]

Originally Posted by mausgras

I'm a charter owner and it could not have been a better arrangement for me.
I own the boat 100% and I can have as little or as much owner charter as i like. I usually owner charter 3 to 6 months a year and in 4 years I have not made any money but the boat has not cost me anything in marina or maintenance either. In effect I have been sailing free all this time .....

Sounds like a great deal, question how does the end look like? I guess the new-> chartered depreciation is on you. Still, all marina and repair bills you are offsetting can justify the charter. If the final numbers add up positive (=boat even pays for devaluation, would be surprised...) I'd want to own a large, even 100% share. Less than 50% share is problematic, because all owners want to sail "a bit", which is hurting revenues.

I did quick maths for the Adriatic - which is car accessible to me but the numbers didn't really add up, mostly because of the short season.

I would be glad if charter owners could share their boat's yearly utilization%, even in the narrow high-season Adriatic I see more boats sitting in the marina than actually sailing, around here any number higher than 30% in August, 10% in June+July+September would surprise me...

[ChrisJD]

I just logged in again for the first time in a couple of years after receiving a PM from another future cruiser about fractional programs, and figured I'd provide an update. We decided not to go with a fractional or charter program after all, and just sucked it up and bought a Sabre 402. We adore the boat, and love the flexibility of being able to use it whenever we want to, but I think a cocaine habit would have been a lot cheaper. The good news is that, considering the long-term goal is actual cruising, the last two years have made us a lot more comfortable not just in sailing (going from a Hunter 33 to this is like going from a Sunfish to a Hunter) but in managing and maintaining a boat. The bad news is that I may never retire. But who cares - it's a Sabre 402!