Due to the high cost and effort involved in owning a yacht, many people who want to enjoy yachting either charter yachts occasionally or don’t get to use them at all. Chartering can be expensive and doesn’t always guarantee high standards. Those who buy a complete yacht often cover all the expenses but don’t use it enough to justify the high running costs year-round. Yacht Share, founded by Simon Maunder, has reinvented yacht ownership by building syndicates for small like-minded group to share ownership thereby making yacht ownership, more affordable and less stressful whist still getting to use the yacht their chosen 6 to 8 weeks a year.

Simon Maunder, a serial entrepreneur and experienced yacht owner and captain, recognized the need for a better yacht ownership experience. Yacht Share lets owners purchase a share by giving them several weeks of sailing each year with operational and maintenance costs that is divided based on ownership. A dedicated app simplifies scheduling, housekeeping maintenance and payments while Yacht Share handles the crew and upkeep. It’s a simple, flexible way to enjoy yacht life without the usual difficulty or high costs.

We at Business Honor spoke with Founder and CEO Simon Maunder to learn how Yacht Share is making yacht ownership easier and more economical while keeping a strong focus on customer experience and effortless service.

Interview Highlights

What inspired the founding of Yacht Share Network Ltd., and how has that founding vision shaped the company’s core mission and values today?

As a businessman constantly focused on efficiency gains, I couldn’t make peace with the extremely inefficient scenario my private yacht ownership presented by only being used for 6 weeks a year and sitting idle as a huge cost center for the remaining 46 weeks. By sharing the yacht with like-minded owners and each of us using her in turn, we reversed the value proposition to one of great efficiency.

Can you give a brief overview of Yacht Share’s core services and how they simplify yacht ownership for clients?

Yacht Share provides a hassle-free turnkey yacht ownership experience. Owners turn up on their chosen week, enjoy their week on board, and then simply leave again. Everything in between is taken care of by Yacht Share.

How does Yacht Share manage high demand during peak seasons, and what distinguishes your approach from competitors?

Each yacht has a dedicated app with an algorithm that ensures fair and equitable access for each owner commensurate with their equity in the yacht. Yacht Share is over 10x the size of the nearest competitor, so it can offer economies of scale the competitors simply can’t get near to. As yachts and their running costs are very high value and high cost, a small percentage difference translates to a hugely significant sum.

Given Yacht Share’s acknowledgment that yachting has an environmental impact, how are you actively working to reduce your ecological footprint through the co-ownership model and operational practices?

Our ecological footprint is a core part of our thinking and strategy. Our multi-owner efficiency model makes our yachts the most efficient on the planet. No other company manages an average of over 40 week’s usage per vessel per annum. The yacht build cost energy and material savings; the operating cost efficiencies of just one yacht for 8 people over 8 individually owned yachts; and the corresponding lesser environmental impact simply cannot be matched.

The eastern seaboard and the Caribbean offer a rich variety of cruising experiences across seasons. How does Yacht Share’s model enable owners to fully enjoy this diverse range of destinations year after year?

Our offering goes well beyond the eastern seaboard and the Caribbean, as our program allows owners to swap weeks on a global basis. Caribbean this trip, Cote d’Azur the next!

Can you explain how Yacht Share’s rotational usage system and app ensure fairness and flexibility among co-owners?

We use a rotational selection system, where each owner chooses their weeks in turn. The order is revised each year to ensure fairness. You can also swap weeks with other owners via our app if you’d like to adjust dates or combine time for a longer stay.

What key innovations earned Yacht Share the Most Innovative Yacht Ownership Solution Provider award in 2025?

The use of tech to provide real time and fully transparent information to each owner on the yacht. Every aspect of the yacht’s operation, running costs, usage algorithm, and a wide variety of other useful and informative data is displayed on the yacht’s dedicated app.

As the CEO of Yacht Share, how have your personal experiences and philosophies shaped and guided the company’s growth and direction?

The idea was formed from a clear need for greater efficiency and a better value proposition in the marketplace. With an underlying principle of building Yacht Share with extremely robust systems and procedures coupled with a very high customer-centric service philosophy, we have grown mainly by referral. Our existing owners are our ambassadors and introduce the majority of our new owners.

How do you envision the future of yacht co-ownership evolving, and what role will Yacht Share play in shaping that future?

Our ambition is simple. We would like to see the majority of private yachts under multiple ownership, as this will be the most ecological way to improve the industry’s environmental footprint.

Simon Maunder | Founder and CEO

“The Fractional Association not only provides the know-how and tools to operate the syndicate professionally, but it also provides an unbiased and fair remedial process in the unlikely event that it may be needed.”

“Yacht Share places strong importance on maintaining the relative ease of buying or selling a share within its syndicates that tend to transfer ownership more quickly and with fewer complications than the sale of an entire yacht.”