Want to party on a boat? This Airbnb for boats and yachts is your best bet

 
Airbnb works as a business model because it leverages on something people own that they hardly – or in some cases never – utilize but continue to pay the bill for. It gives people a way to monetize assets that would otherwise would have languished in waste.

Boats and yachts comprise another type of property that tends to be used once in a very long while. Tim Gundry, co-founder of Singapore- and Sydney-based boat rental marketplace Boatbay, only came to realize this when he and his brother Nick were on holiday in Phuket a few years ago:

We visited Boat Lagoon Yacht Marina, and were amazed at how many boats were sitting idle in their berths, and additionally considered the costs associated with storage and maintenance of them.
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Being the co-founder of the previously acquired travelmob, Nick was all too familiar with the sharing economy, and together the brothers decided to apply the concept to boating, yachting and other related activities on the water. Not surprisingly, Tim terms Boatbay the “Airbnb for boating, yachting and people who want to experience a social activity on the water”.

As with Airbnb-like services, Tim believes Boatbay creates a win-win situation, enabling an owner to earn money out of his or her boat, while making luxury boating activities affordable and more easily accessible for the masses, who – let’s be honest – will probably never get to own a boat in their lifetimes. Their focus is on Asia Pacific and the Middle East, which he claims are the two biggest emerging markets for sailing and yachting.

Access to interesting watercraft


Boatbay currently has quite a variety of water-based vehicles on its platform. “Boat renters can search and rent a luxury motor yacht in Sydney, a sports fishing boat in Dubai, a classic 1906 Danish-built sailing yacht in Phuket, a houseboat in India, or even a submarine in Bali,” Tim says.

These are just some of the more interesting options a customer can pick out from the current 275 qualified boat listings that they have onboard right now. Some 4,000 visitors peruse the website daily, which is impressive for a platform that has launched for about two weeks now.

Here’s the exciting part for water lovers – Tim says that renters are allowed to take boats out for a sail without a captain, though this is still highly dependent on local laws, the preferences of boat owners, and the level of experience of renters:

Renters have the ability to filter their Search on Boatbay by “Bareboat”, “Bareboat with Skipper”, or “Crewed”. “Bareboat” means renting a boat in which you are the Captain. “Bareboat with Skipper” refers to renting a boat with a certified Captain in control. “Crewed” means renting a boat with both a certified Captain and crew to do all of the sailing for you.
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Boat owners and boat charter companies are allowed to list their boats at no cost. Their revenue comes from the 12 percent commission that the owners and companies are charged on boat bookings that are made and “consumed”. Rental rates range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a day, depending on the size of the boats.

The duo have so far raised a round of seed funding from Singapore, and they’re already gunning for their Series A round in four to six months. Investor interest has been strong, but Tim isn’t very surprised by this. “It’s not surprising given that recreational boating is a $50 billion industry, and Boatbay enriches people’s lifestyles by enabling fresh social experiences,” he explains.

See: Evictions? Regulations? Taxes? How can Singapore deal with sites like Airbnb?​

The post Want to party on a boat? This Airbnb for boats and yachts is your best bet appeared first on Tech in Asia.
Source: site chinois