F
or years, yachting has been the
aspirational hobby for many
dreamingofdaysspentonthe
sunsoakeddecksofasailing
boat, feeling the wind in their
hair on board a motor yacht as it cruises
along the Cote d’Azur or the gentle bob as
they lie aboard a catamaran. his dream
hasneverbecomeareality,untilnow...
Entrepreneur Matt Ovenden was fortunate
enough to grow up boating in the UK and
abroad,sowhenherecentlyintroducedhis
children to boating he quickly realised how
relatively inaccessible it was; this set him on
the path to building borrowaboat.com and
making boating more available to others.MYTH BUSTING
herearetwomythsaroundyachting;onethat
itsunafordableandthesecondisthatyouhave
to have a complicated set of qualiications in
order to do it. Borrow a Boat deies both of
those assumptions, delivering a platform that
boasts over 17,000 boats across 60 countries,
from canal boats and catamarans to speed
boatsandsailingyachts–thereisaboat
for every budget. here are a vast number
of destinations to browse, from the Amali
Coast and Balearics to the Paciic Islands and
even the more obscure destinations such as
Myanmar in Asia. For those without experience,orwhowanttotakeabackseat,mostofthe
boatsareavailablewithaskipperonrequest.
Customers can message the boat owner with
any requests, allowing them to design their
own charter with unprecedented control.Accessibility for the masses is at the forefront
ofBorrowABoat’sphilosophyandtheyhave
recently met their latest milestone, celebrating
thelaunchoftheplatform’snewapplast
month.heappistheirstofitskindintheUK and enables users to select a boat wherever
theyareintheworldinaslittleas24hours.
Ifyouwakeuponemorningsmellingthe
freshseaairfromthebalconyofyourvillain
Mallorca,logontoBorrowABoat’sappand
youwillbeinstantlynotiiedoftheweather
forecastfortheweek,whatboatsareavailable
and the nearest vessels to your location.A FRESH APPROACH
Looking ahead, Matt predicts: “his app will
revolutionise the charter market by opening up
access to boats, which we see parked in marinas
the world over, almost always under-used. It will
allow people to land in a destination and book a
boatatshortnotice.hereisnoneedtocommit
to a seven-day trip, that’s a unique selling point
for our customer base who are looking for
experiential travel that suits their lifestyles.”
Borrow A Boat’s irst year of inception in 2017
boomed thanks to two very successful rounds
of Crowdfunding. heir second round was
over-funded by 235 per cent, with close to 700
investorscomingonboardandainalisedtotal
of £470k raised. Borrow A Boat continues to
grow,withmoreandmoreboatownerssigning
theirvesselsuptotheplatformacrosstheworld.
A new generation of boat chartering is on its
wayandBorrowABoatispioneeringthewayin
anewsector,thatcanperhapsbestbedescribed
as ‘AirBnB dedicated to boat charter’.BORROW A BOAT ADVERTORIAL
BORROW A BOAT
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT
BORROWABOAT.COM
A new generation of yacht charter has arrived,
and one company is leading the way
July 2018 Yachts & Yachting 15