Here's a novel approach to the concept of yacht ownership, based on a model of fractional ownership methods currently applied to luxury resort homes and private jets.

Robert Chatmas is a real estate developer of high-end resort properties in the Aspen, Colorado area, as well as a licensed pilot and a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton captain. He feels the time is right to apply the fractional ownership principles that have been sucessfully employed with resort properties and jets, to luxury yachts.

His passion for boating led him to found YachtWise, a yacht management company located in South Florida with offices in Colorado.

Fractional ownership means that a buyer pays a percentage of the price of the property as well as a percentage of an annual management and maintenance fee; the buyer then owns a percentage of the property and uses it for a certain amount of time each year.

Over the past decade, the fractional ownership concept has been successfully implemented in real estate and aircraft. Chatmas feels that it is even more advantageous for yacht ownership due to the high maintenance expense and management commitment of owning an expensive asset that is often used only one month per year by its owners.

The yacht owner can have the pride of ownership as well as use of the yacht for four weeks per year, at only 10% of the expense of full ownership, and none of the management hassles, according to Chatmas.

YachtWise's program offers fractional ownership of a $3-million luxury motoryacht. An owner contributes 10% of the initial capital input of the price of the boat and then an additional 10% of the annual management and maintenance expenses. In return, the owner has the yacht for personal use (or for guests' and/or clients' use) four weeks per year in various ports as the yacht travels from the northeastern United States to the Caribbean. The owners, through YachtWise's management group, set the itinerary of the yacht each year and can arrange their personal scheduling needs through the company's concierge services.

Chatmas says that there are typically three reasons people who desire to own a yacht hesitate: (1) they have limited time available to use the yacht; (2) the expenses associated with full-time ownership and part-time use are not justifiable; and (3) most important, they do not want the burden of managing the vessel.

"We believe that fractional ownership provides all of the benefits and luxuries of owning a yacht while addressing the barriers to sole ownership" he says. "In addition, fractional ownership is less than 50% of the expense of chartering and you own the yacht."

YachtWise has begun to initiate fractional sales, and is currently accepting applications for an 80ft luxury motoryacht with a full-time captain and steward. Additional staff such as a chef are available on request.

For more information, visit yachtwise.com, or call 954 609-9066.