How much is dedicated yacht support worth?

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by magellanyachts

Maintaining one large yacht is a full-time endeavor by itself and dealing with some of these owners is a task I would wish on my enemies.
Good luck.

[Cadence]

I believe it could be a viable industry for someone with a good business background and money for a substantial investment. Probably servicing the mega yacht industry and in the lesser traveled ports?

[Jim Cate]

"Agent" type services as mentioned by several posters are well and good, and have been around forever. But the OP's proposal was to supply

His concept is to provide an around the clock "concierge" style service that would be able to manage any request, any where, any time. Thus allowing an Owner/Sailor/Captain to get back to enjoying their time.

Note the anywhere, any time phrase... that's what seems essentially impossible to me. Simply not gonna happen. Scaling back to support in one location, then sure, it could be done, and apparently is being done. I suspect that even the currently successful agents are not really 24/7. I've certainly heard merchant ships making repeated calls on the VHF, trying to reach their agents... hour after hour. They don't always sound happy...

Jim

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Elan450Sailor

Dear All,

I currently own an ELAN 450, and as a sailor I've been asked by a good friend of mine to help gather some feedback on a business he's developing specifically to support yacht owners/captains/sailors.

His concept is to provide an around the clock "concierge" style service that would be able to manage any request, any where, any time. Thus allowing an Owner/Sailor/Captain to get back to enjoying their time.

These requests could range from anything such as arranging berths, provisions, fuel, laundry to more complex request requests such as assistance with registration, legal, Insurance. As well as the marine services the "concierge" would be able to book flights, hotels, hire cars etc etc. Ultimately it would be a luxury lifestyle concierge that has a focus on the marine industry.

So what I would like to find out is...

1, If such a service existed would you see a benefit in having it?
(Y/N)

2, What price would you expect to pay for membership an all inclusive concierge per month?

3, Would you kind enough to provide an example of a time when this sort of service would have been useful?

If you can include the boat you own/sail and where you keep it, within your answer, I would be most grateful.

Thank you so very much in advance.

I don't understand. Is this going to be someone aboard the vessel, like a steward, or someone remote? If remote, how will they deal with the physical needs aboard the vessel?

[Mithril Bham]

Originally Posted by Teknishn

Years of experience with many owners. Didn't say all owners.

[Pelagic]

Basically 2 types of companies exist...
1 Yacht Agents who handle all the day to day needs of owner and crew

2 Yacht Management Companies that hires the Agents, hires the crew, performs all Legal and TREASURY functions, making monthly reports to Owner.

Yacht management companies are really top heavy, expensive but useful if Owner is using Yacht as a business write-off to offset capital gains

[Soton]

Perhaps your friend needs to rethink his business model. As stated there are already agents out there. Although it is not a service I would need on the south coast of the UK I would not know where to start if I needed a agent. Possibly your friend needs to consider being a facilitator to link yachtsmen with agents.

I wish him the best of luck whatever way he takes his idea. Its always worth having a go even if it results in failure.

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by magellanyachts

Years of experience with many owners. Didn't say all owners.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply ALL owners as I too also have years of experience with many owners (particularly during construct, outfitting, trials, and then might crew as the Engineer for a while). One of my worst experiences was with a reasonably good owner...his wife made things miserable. Changed out head fixtures, toilets, shower heads, recessed lighting, towel warmers, etc. in the 7 heads on the yacht six times in 2 months because the two of them couldn't agree on the decor! Current project's Owner is a hard, but fair, gentleman who is technically adept and is generous with those that work hard (frequent bonuses, decent pay, offers excess parts and materials for free or at cost). Not a bad gig!

[Elan450Sailor]

Dear All,

Thank you all so very much for your valued comments and feedback. I see that i possibly didn't explain my friends concept correctly.

A lot of you are commenting that an individual cannot provide an anytime anywhere service, and i agree that would seem like a monumental project to set up in most cases.

To explain further... His "Concierge" service works like central hub between trusted service providers and boat users, designed around the same concept as the "luxury lifestyle concierge" service used my American Express, Mastercard Black, Coutts Silk, Quintessentially etc etc. These companies are able to provide this service because they outsource to an established concierge service and simply put their own branding on the front end.

My friend is in a unique position whereby he has a personal relationship with the owner of one of these dedicated concierge companies (this particular company already provides services to one of the big credit card companies and has an existing global network of service providers). With said back office supporting his idea he has integrated his 30 years of marine knowledge into their network.

So ultimately he is able to offer a luxury lifestyle concierge service that has a dedicated marine "arm".

His intentions are to offer this service to boat users who travel. The individual would be able to call the dedicated number, have the phone answered by a 24/7/365 call centre and have their request taken care of.

The Concierge would then contact the service provider who in tern would arrange with the customer for the service to be provided.
The customer's requests could be anything from finding a berth, a hostess, a cleaner, fuel, a mechanic, to requesting a car be waiting at the marina, a hotel, restaurant booking, tickets to a show, or even just finding out the best places to visit.

The best part about all of this is that membership to this service would be a fraction of the price of a luxury lifestyle concierge.

I hope thats explained it in a little better detail and you can see that it has merit.

Please keep your comments coming.

Regards

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by redhead

Interesting concept - a friend of mine used to have a company that did the same thing for private aircraft and I think your market will be the same people. High income, little time to plan, limited time to research, unlimited (or nearly) budget. Target areas like Miami, Newport, Bahamas, San Diego come to mind. I think the market is there, but not a huge one.

As a Pilot I have seen this type of thing, its pretty common for the type that flies a 65 Million dollar jet. I have seen a many a $50 sandwich, $300 food trays and $10 a bottle of water.
I think it takes that kind of insane mark up to make money at this, your target would be Super Yachts with crew, the type that has a Helicopter for a dinghy, seriously.