The Gentleman Magazine Issue 9 | June 2018 | Page 56

A NEW WORLD OF SIMPLER, CHEAPER YACHT CHARTERS
Ahoy Club, the world’s first bespoke luxury yacht charter
service, which launched in May with a promise to transform
the global charter market.
The unique Ahoy Club platform will allow charterers to book a
yacht in minutes, rather than days or even weeks, by replacing
the current, outdated manual process with pioneering digital
technology. It will lower the cost of chartering by around 20%,
making it accessible to a wider market and generating more
revenue for superyacht owners.
After three years of development, the Ahoy Club team,
comprised of experts in yacht ownership, management and
chartering, has combined the efficiencies of automation
technology with bespoke levels of service in a single platform.
The business is launching globally, with Head Quarters in
London and the Sydney office Ahoy Clubhouse will extend its
on ground office presence into key yachting hubs around the
world.
Booking a charter yacht will become a simple process. Once
a yacht has been selected and requested by the charter guest
on the app, an owner’s acceptance automatically generates a
transparent and independently recognised digital contract
- and a 25% deposit is immediately accepted via credit card
instead of the current 50% deposit required by bank transfer.
The time saved in this process alone can amount to weeks,
revolutionising the industry for guests and owners alike.
56 | The Gentleman Magazine “Powered by
The Ahoy Club’s expert personal concierge and Charter Agent
teams are available 24/7 to support clients in their choices,
selections and itinerary suggestions, just as they would be with
any existing retail charter broker, but for the added advantage
of the state-of-the-art electronic platform.
Currently, the charter season is focused on the peak 3 summer
months, principally because the process is so slow and
inefficient. Ahoy’s automation allows yacht owners to set prices
instantly for specific periods, which will lengthen the charter
season.
A yacht owner will be able to set prices all year round – by
the day or at the most popular times, such as the Cannes Film
Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix – or to make special
offers in shoulder or low periods, keeping the yacht available
for charter rather than laying it up for the last few weeks of a
season.
Charter guests will be given more options throughout the year,
driving further interest in the market and making superyachting
a more approachable and easier lifestyle choice without losing
its exclusivity. By implementing scalable technology and
automation, Ahoy Club is able to reduce standard industry
fees dramatically. In the Mediterranean superyacht charters
average €100,000 to extend well over €1m so this represents a
significant saving.
, Security in Motion”