Martin Gray of Pure Latitude phoned me yesterday to ask about advertising with yours2share. We’d met some time ago at an exhibition and he receives yours2share’s newsletter.
What I hadn’t realised is that Pure Latitude is rather like a car club or destination club, but for boats. They have a range of boats, mainly sailing yachts, but there is also a rib and motor yacht. Members buy so many points with which they can “buy” use of any of the boats on a daily basis.
So far Pure Latitude has six boats: Beneteau First 27.7, Bavaria 31, Dufour 34, X Yachts 37, Rib 6.5 and a Swordsman 30. Pure Latitude manages and maintains them so their members just turn up and sail.
Currently all their boats are on the Hamble, but Martin tells me that he wants to increase the Hamble fleet by a few more boats and then expand to other locations, including overseas. This means members will not only be able to sail a range of boats, but in a variety of locations.
Given the growing popularity of car clubs and destination clubs, it seems strange to me that there aren’t several major players offering the same product to the boat market. But I can’t think of one. I’ve even just hunted through Google. Most fractional sailing companies offer to build and manage syndicates who own one boat. Sometimes one person owns the boat and the other members agree to hire the boat over a long period.
Effectively Pure Latitude is offering members the opportunity to own a share in lots of boats. If there really aren’t any other players in this field, I have a feeling Martin won’t be on his own for long. I think it’s a great idea.
wow, I’ve looked at this and it’s really interesting – might be just what I’m
after.
I have never made the big jump to purchase and too often been frustrated by the availability and quality of charter boats – especially when it comes to
condition of sails and getting that extra bit of performance. And there’s
always a fair amount of time required to be briefed on the boat, making a
day sail more trouble than it’s worth. On the face of it, this seems to cover off all those points. Is it too good to be true?
The swordsman looks very exciting!
I have a property in Menorca that someone may want to borrow for some sort of rental fee it is 90 sq m and will be useful for storage of boats, furniture etc. Avaialable now in Es Castell 5 mins from the the capital Mahon.
Call Tom on 07932 683641 or email