Chartered Beneteau Oceanis 41.1 pays for itself

The most expensive thing you can do with a boat is not use it

Knowing this, Jeremy Nelson was considering a timeshare Beneteau Oceanis 41.1 but decided against it. He found the rules around usage way too rigid. If he was going to buy a boat, he wanted it freely available to him. One day over coffee, Jeremy and his colleagues hatched a plan to go in on a boat together. They had chartered boats through SailCorp for work events and caught the bug.

“It’s perfect for us. We all use the boat whenever we can. Even though there are five using the boat we don’t get out during the week; we are at work. Plus, most of us travel extensively. There are periods when we simply can’t get on the boat. The best thing we ever did was put it in the charter. The boat pays for itself!

We saw a great deal Flagstaff Marine had on a demo Beneteau Oceanis 41.1 and were sold. Having previous experience with SailCorp, we called to see if they were keen on adding a Oceanis 41.1 to their fleet. They were over the moon. Their clients love Beneteau yachts. The 41.1 has a wide stern making the rear cabins quite large. And it has a swim platform. It’s a good looking boat. And even better to sail.”

The next step was to get the boat in survey and figure out the revenue

Firstly, they handed the surveying over to Flagstaff. The process can be tedious and expensive. Auditors go over your boat with a fine-tooth comb making sure it meets government regulations. You need plans from manufacturers, approved quality inspectors to do the audit, and a long list of safety equipment. The survey really is to ensure the boat is completely safe to use, so at the end of the day, everyone wins.

“On a whole, the process was pretty straightforward, largely because Flagstaff managed it for us. Having experienced professionals on board made a huge difference. They took care of everything from beginning to end. They’d been there, done that, and were able to get our boat through survey quickly.”

Secondly, the five guys incorporated. This way they can claim back GST and ongoing costs of running the boat against the revenue. The guys are thrilled with the result. The boat pays for itself and they get to use it when they want.

One boat, five owners, good times for all

The five owners are at very different stages of their lives. Jeremy has two kids, aged eight and ten. They use the boat for family bonding time.

“We love going up to Pittwater and spending the night. I have a few kayaks, we have a paddle and cruise around on the electric outboard. The kids love it, and my wife has fallen for sailing.”

The younger guys mostly go out for day trips. They like to chill out after a long, stressful week at work. Sailing the sparkling harbour while throwing back ice-cold beers is the perfect way to unwind.

Having the boat in charter makes life easy

One time some of the guys forgot to bag the sail after taking out the boat. The charter company took care of it and gave the guys a friendly reminder on how to leave the boat – meaning there are no awkward conversations when someone isn’t pulling their weight.

“SailCorp have been amazing. They are based in Lavender Bay, which is really convenient for us. Mooring can be such a pain and ones near the city have a really long waitlist.

Initially, we were a little worried about going into the bareboat charter. The idea of relatively unskilled captains taking our boat out made us nervous. But we found SailCorp’s vetting excellent and the boat is looked after really well. Plus, they clean and maintain the boat better than we ever would!”

Jeremy finds it really reassuring having a team of professionals looking after the boat. “Last week the wind hit 100km. I was a little concerned about the boat but, on the whole, I knew the team on the ground would take care of everything. What would’ve been a stressful situation was a non-event.”

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