How much would you pay to charter a race yacht???

[ab1974 1]

Moving this from the previous thread.......

 

While the MSA is the main 'stopper' from people putting their yachts into charter, I wonder how much the commercial reality would be as well.

 

For instance, say I had (I wish) a First 40.7 or a Sydney 38 or any other c$250k-$400k yacht I wanted to charter out for racing. Would people be prepared to pay $1,000 for 24 hours mid week (ie a Wed night race) $2,500-$3,000 for a weekend and say $10,000 for a coastal classic - as they would be the rough numbers I reckon you would be up for, plus $5,000+ insurance excess.

 

Would people pay to charter? Thoughts??

[Guest]

A group in Welly has chartered privately a 1020 for racing.

Not sure how the insurance etc works, but it's not cheap for them in my opinion.

Prior to this they were chartering an MRX race by race as well.

[Guest]

I suppose it depends on the yacht but I'd be thinking you'd be looking at some considerable bucks.

 

Insurance would be large.

The 'you f*ck it, you fix it' bond could be right up there also.

Then if it's something like V5 for example you are talking a fair few bucks worth of kit so even a small % is still a nice healthy sum.

 

Then there could be a loading for timing i.e. you want the boat for a big regatta so maybe some supply and demand cost in due to that.

 

Charter to race one would be far higher or potentially so due to race related incidents, like the skipper cocked up again and forced the bowman to whitebait the kite meaning work for a sailmaker. Costs like that could add up real quick. I doubt many would insure you for cock-ups like that.

 

We looked at chartering a 42ft AWB for a regatta in Aussie last year. It wasn't that bad if you could spread it around say a crew of 6. Can't quite remember what but thinking around $500 each for the 5 days, plus fuel and consumables sort of a thing. But then they have a pile of those over there often doing bugger all so maybe they were working on the 'some coin is better than no coin' theory. Also the organisers sussed some charters and there may have been some deal with that, I don't really know.

[BelowPAR 0]

What about the opposite tho? The MRX's. Arent they sort of sold cheap, but then you cant change anything and have to have them in race trim full time and avail for set dates? plus pay some sort of bond. Dont really know the details. But you could possibly work out the numbers using their figures.

[Guest]

To 'own' a MRX isn't really that bad when you talk money. Sure you lose it a few days a year and it is rented out to others when you aren't using it but that is reflected in the buying price. For someone wanting a race boat for a few odd things a year they do seem good value.

 

But they are under one umbrella which has to help with maintenance and so on costs. People will talk good deals when you rock up saying 'gimme a dozen please'.

[Bogan 8]

And the MRX's can't do coastal or simrad or....

 

Not sure the cost would be as bad as you think.

 

I was part of a group that chartered boats in Sydney (Sydney 36s and First 40.7s I think) a few years ago for not much more than normal per day charter rates. We raced those (no extras) pretty hard over Sydney harbor for three days with the blessing and assistance of the charter company.

 

I also recall that the per day rate for MRXs for a regatta isn't terrible, and that included race management. Been a while since I looked into that though.

 

Look at it another way. I own a 1020, and my crew race it without me when I'm not available. That goes for alot of boats in Auckland.

 

So if you can get comfortable with the "hirers" and they agree to make good any damage, then what's the problem?

[Guest Rocket]

The problem is when the damage gets to say ripping the rig out or T-boning a yellow cat etc.

 

The MRXs were available for private charter for Wed nite etc. and a few used them - mainly girls crews. Don't know what the situation is now - haven't been out in one for a while. Reality is people don't like paying the actual cost to use a boat - they like the idea. And as soon as you go beyond a harbour race the risks and wear and tear go north real fast. Most often a charter has an Owners rep on board to keep it under control - certainly MRXs do that. I always found the MSA side of it pretty easy to deal with but they had been trained up and there was plenty of history/experience with the MRX fleet.

[Murky 1]

From SA - page two of the front page if that makes sense:

 

deep vee

While some of the major Caribbean regattas (Heineken, Antigua) have seen not insignificant overall downturns in their fleet sizes, one interesting trend is the continuing growth of pay-per-berth entries, or ‘head boats.’ OnDeck is one of the big players in this game, which promises to help get more butts on boats and more boats on the line – not a bad thing at all – provided the boats are still in one piece for the next event.

 

Estimated damage to this Beneteau was in the neighborhood of 15 grand, and here's the brief report from the holed boat: "We were on starboard and Elandra (Class 4 overall winner) was on port, just before the start of race 8 on Friday. The owner of Elandra, Calvin Reed was a gentleman. He immediately retired from the race, and the race committee gave us redress."

[Guest]

I have a friend who is pretty much a world class sailor who has often wondered whether there was a maket for the idea of getting a (paying) crew together, take them out locally enough to get them up to a decent standard, then go charter and do a major offshore regatta (Farr 40 worlds - Antigua????) He'd put the whole program together.

 

Otherwise it is rare and not easy for locals keelboat sailors to get big regatta experience o'seas.

[shanson 0]

I believe there are a couple of Kiwi guys that regularly charter a boat for the Sydney to Hobart, I considered it but decided to do some racing locally and decided cruising was for me!

 

I also bid a ridiculous amount to assist in a delivery of Spirit of Canada one of the Velux boats that came to grief around Tasmania (Still makes me smile when I remember how pissed my wife was!) but was outbid by an American.

 

I thought leasing a race boat was pretty common in the US? I'd be surprised if the America's Cup boats were actually owned rather than leased for the tax benefits.

SHANE

[peggs 0]

The Wellington MRX's go for $500 per day, or $250 per half day. $1500 bond.

[Guest]

That Bene was one of ours (the Cayman Islands team). The big boat got destroyed a couple of days earlier, so we ended up with a 33% survival rate.

 

It isn't always that bad ...