Who have experience around buying a sailboat by means of Sunsail Yacht Partnership or Mooring or others?

One comment

1. 

   david on November 21, 2008 at 12:32 am

   I currently own a boat in the Moorings fleet. When I was considering the owner/charter option I considered both Sunsail and the Moorings, and obviously chose the Moorings.

   I’m about half way done with my 5-year contract and so far have been very pleased. In addition to paying all insurance, maintenance and dockage, I will be getting almost 40% of the cost of the boat back to me in guaranteed monthly income. The monthly income is guaranteed regardless of how much the boat is actually chartered.

   I can sail the boat either 2 weeks high season and two weeks low or 6 weeks low and in addition can take an additional 3 weeks on short notice if available. I can also trade for boats at other bases which is limited to 2 weeks per year for any given base. I can not guarantee this is the current agreement for incoming owners now.

   Obviously charter boats will get a lot of use and abuse from people who may not be as knowledgeable or caring as typical yacht ownership, so I don’t think this is a good way to get a new yacht at a reduced price. This higher wear and tear is a criticism you will hear often, but what you don’t hear is that in my opinion this needs to be balanced against the fact that the charter companies are constantly maintaining these boats. People who are spending a lot of money on charter vacations are not going to spend a lot of money on boats that have broken systems or are in bad shape.

   Another thing I like about buying a boat that is intended for the charter industry is they have the end use and outfitting in mind from the get go. For example, autopilots and cockpit nav systems are built in and not some retrofit plugged into a cigarette lighter receptical.

   They also tend to be farily ergonimic with many comoforts. This is something I have mixed feelings about. Hot and cold running water is something many enjoy for chartering, but if you are going to keep the boat afterwards for cruising, it might be hard to have guests limit their water and the more complex systems will be more prone to breakdown and harder to maintain. The solid glass liners are beautiful, but also limit access to hardware backings, wiring and plumbing. (Though this can be true on non- charter boats as well)

   The bottom line for me, is I think if you would like chartering, ownership affords you similar cruising at destinations all over the world at a fraction of the price of chartering and none of the headaches of typical boat ownership. However, if your plan is to get a new boat for less cost, I think you may be disappointed. Also, its not a good option if weekend sailing, etc. is important to you.

   P.S. – The Moorings and Sunsail are now owned by the same parent company, but run fairly independantly. Footloose charters is a division of The Moorings is comprised largely of Moorings boats. Owners can keep their boat in the Footloose fleet after their Moorings contract is up.

   You should check with these companies for their most current ownership information as things may have changed since my contract began.