DESCRIBED as an “Airbnb for boating”, Boatbay was launched yesterday as the first boat rental marketplace based in the region with the intention to exclusively build boat and yacht supply listings across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
Tim Gundry, co-founder of Boatbay, observed: “We are seeing an increasing amount of people taking to the water for a growing variety of reasons, such as hosting a corporate event or birthday party, fishing, water skiing, recreation and family holidays.”
“We are building a peer-to-peer driven community which empowers people to write and post user reviews of boat owners, yacht charter companies, and those who rent or charter boats,” he added. “Boatbay is the Airbnb for boating, yachting and people who want to experience a social activity on the water”.
The peer-to-peer website (www.boatbay.com) allows boat owners as well as boat charter companies to list their vessels for free, adding photos, contact information and pricing.
Owners can rent the boat alone, charter the boat with themselves as captain, select a captain of choice, or rent to consumers with a boat licence.
Most boat owners utilise their yachts 15 days a year on average, but must pay annual storage and maintenance fees. With successful bookings, owners pay Boatbay a commission for its service and earn the rest.
Said Gundry: “The expenses really add up. The advantage of using Boatbay is that you can offset these expenditures while still enjoying boat ownership”.
“A wide variety of watercraft can be found on Boatbay…Boat renters can search and rent a luxury motor yacht in Sydney, a sports fishing boat in Dubai, a 1906 Danish built sailing yacht in Phuket or even a submarine in Bali.”
