Expensive pleasure: how to open and recoup investments in a yacht club. Own yacht club, or rent scarlet sails Achievements and plans

Of course, yachts are a luxury item and not everyone can afford it. But it is worth noting that yachts are very different. For example, simple pleasure yachts can cost from $3,000. Cheap yachts cost no more than $20,000. Therefore, not only millionaires, but simply wealthy people can afford such yachts. Beginning yachtsmen first of all need to learn all the intricacies of yachting. For this case, there are yacht clubs. Own yacht club is profitable and promising business. So, this article will be devoted to the question of how to open a yacht club. However, not every entrepreneur can afford this business, since it is necessary to spend quite a lot of money on organizing a yacht club, but at the same time, such establishments can bring quite good money.

Your main visitors will be wealthy people, for example, businessmen, politicians, etc. For your yacht club to be successful, you need to find the right location. If you find an attractive location for a yacht club, then this will certainly have a positive effect on the influx of customers and, accordingly, on profits.

There is one problem in organizing this business - it may be difficult to choose the right land plot. As a rule, good places have long been dismantled. But if you are not used to giving up, then you need to go all the way. If the authorities of your city consider your project to be potentially promising and assign the status of a city landmark, they will be interested in the development and implementation of your project, so they can even allocate a free land plot. In this case, it will be beneficial for both you and the authorities. After all yacht club opening positive impact on tourism in your city.

So, once you find a suitable place for a yacht club, you will have to furnish it with the necessary facilities. First of all, you should solve the problem with the pier. The most democratic option is to install a floating pontoon berth. In addition, such a berth has an undeniable advantage - it does not violate the environment. Therefore, you will not have problems with environmentalists with sanitary supervision.

After installing the pier, you should consider the range of services. After all, yacht clubs can offer a variety of services. For example, this can be yacht charter, yacht parking, yachting training services, etc. It is worth noting that yacht clubs can be different and include a wide variety of services.

It should be taken into account that this business requires large investments. On this moment there are four categories of yacht club: 1, 2.3 and 4-star. Using an example, we will analyze the opening of the simplest one-star yacht club.

To open a one-star yacht club, you need an amount of 80-100 thousand dollars. Such a yacht club can accommodate about 15 boats and several small yachts. As a rule, the main source of income for one-star yacht clubs is the rent that is paid for the berth. Over time, you can expand the range of services, for example, open a small yachting school. You can also offer walking tours on a yacht. Remember, the more services you have, the corresponding profit will be. Many yacht club owners start small. First, they open a simple one-star yacht club and expand it into a luxurious four-star yacht club.

The yacht club is profitable business. If you can correctly implement the yacht club, then all the money invested can pay off in two to three years. The payback period cannot be predicted, because here it will depend on your capabilities, effort and desire.

Comfortable access to high water both in Moscow and in the Moscow region - equipped berths for yachts and boats, boathouses or places for winter storage, landscaped beaches for summer holidays on the territory of a residential complex - an exclusive offer, a great rarity and expensive pleasure. There are less than a dozen such projects in the Moscow region, and only a few in Moscow.

According to analysts at NDV-Nedvizhimost, 63% of waterfront properties in Moscow are positioned as business plus. But residential complexes that have a yacht club at their disposal - an unconditional sign of the high status of the object - account for no more than 1%.

The presence of a yacht club in a residential complex does not so much affect the price as it allows you to create an exclusive offer, commented in the press service of the Capital Group (the developer of the City of Yachts residential complex on Leningradskoe shosse, 37). Elena Pervakova, General Director of Soho Estate, disagrees with this: “Villages and residential complexes near the water with infrastructure for yachting are about 30% more expensive than comparable projects located in the “field” in terms of other characteristics. Extensive service options for yacht owners definitely increase the investment attractiveness of the project. Andrey Boyko, the owner of the Burevestnik Group and the creator of the Burevestnik yacht club of the same name, agrees with the realtor: 1 sq. m of housing in a project with a marina is 20–30% more expensive than without it.

Pervakova cites the example of the Pirogovo resort near Moscow (a project of the Guta-Development company) on the Klyazma reservoir in the Ostashkovskoye highway area. There, in addition to expensive author's houses, there is a yacht club that lives an active life and is open to sail lovers: a rental fleet for practical exercises and regattas, a sailing school and its own infrastructure for storage and maintenance of ships (winter boathouse, berth for 40 yachts up to 25 m long). “There is no concept of a village for yachtsmen on the market similar to Pirogovo,” Elena Pervakova is sure, “although yacht clubs are not uncommon in premium villages near the water.”

There are also projects with their own yacht clubs in the elite segment of residential real estate in the Moscow region at the Khimki, Pestovsky and Ikshinsky reservoirs. For example, the Zeleny Mys settlement of the Comstrin company has a berth for 60 vessels up to 18 m long, a technical berth, lifts and a boathouse for winter storage. According to the press service of the developer, 20% of the residents of the village are members of the yacht club. They are provided with preferential rates for parking and servicing ships - about 40% lower than for third-party customers. For example, a boathouse for a resident of the "Green Cape" will cost 30 rubles. for 1 sq. m of vessel per day, and for a "non-resident" - 50 rubles. for 1 sq. m per day. The marina is managed by a unit created under Komstrin, headed by Harbor Master Yevgeny Makarenko.

“Yachting is one of the elite sports that attracts a wealthy and successful audience,” says Maksim Sukharkov, Director of Guta Development's suburban real estate sales department. “There is a certain and constant circle of people around yacht clubs – interested people, active athletes, business partners, etc.” To create not just a parking lot for boats of residents of the village or residential complex, but a fully functioning marina - this requires a detailed development of the concept. We need an analysis of the location, the state of the water area, transport accessibility both by land and water, and much more. “And above all, it is necessary to understand the feasibility of such construction,” Sukharkov concludes. Because it greatly increases the cost of a development project.

Dear toy

Building a yacht club is difficult and expensive, developers interviewed by Vedomosti admit. The creation of a yachting infrastructure alone can cost an investor an average of $6–7 million. For approximately this amount, Andrey Boyko is ready to enter the project of a residential complex under construction and create a high-quality marina in it.

Boyko already implemented a similar project a couple of years ago together with Capital Group in the City of Yachts residential complex in Moscow on the banks of the Khimki reservoir. Here, on the territory of the residential complex ( total area– 60,000 sq. m, residential - 30,000 sq. m), in the water area of ​​2.5 hectares there is a marina that can accommodate 250 vessels up to 40 m in size, a restaurant and a saloon. For residents in the "City of Yachts" preferential conditions for winter storage and maintenance of boats are also provided. As well as integration into the network of Burevestnik Group clubs. The cost of creating a marina in the "City of Yachts" amounted, according to the press service of Capital Group, to about 20% of the total investment in the residential complex, which is estimated at $110 million.

According to Andrei Boyko, an agreement with the co-owner of Capital Group (Vladislav Doronin) on the creation of a modern marina in the residential complex under construction was long ago. About $ 5 million was spent in the "City of Yachts" only to break the mooring facilities already built there. “It’s cheaper to do everything from scratch,” says Boyko. He plans to bring the yacht club to payback in about 2.5 years.

Now Boyko is negotiating with a number of developers in the Moscow region. When asked if he was looking for clients or if developers were turning to him, he replied that they were already turning to him: Burevestnik offers a yacht club management standard that can be replicated, but for Moscow this is still a novelty.

Yacht Club Manager

There are different models of participation in a development project in terms of managing a yacht club. You can enter the project at the construction and design stage as a contractor for the construction of yacht infrastructure. You can provide the services of a service department or a management company. Or become an operator by renting a marina. Burevestnik Group, according to Andrey Boyko, is ready to come to the project with its own investments, independently design and build a marina, investing 100% in it own funds. “Of course, in this case we expect that we will manage the marina ourselves. However, we are ready to do everything on a turnkey basis and sell the marina to the developer, who, in turn, will manage it on his own,” he says.

Burevestnik Group already has several similar projects on its account. The first and most famous is the Burevestnik yacht club of the same name. It does not have residential areas, but all the main and related infrastructure is available. The second project, according to Boyko, where he acted as a consultant, was the yacht club in the Scarlet Sails residential complex, the first in Moscow in the city with an existing residential complex. In a fenced area near the water, there is a berth for fifty yachts up to 20 m long and a draft of up to 2.5 m and a spacious room (361.3 sq. m) of a wardroom, from which a picturesque view of the river opens. A place for winter storage of small boats is organized nearby.

As the old-timers of Scarlet Sails recall, by the time the yacht club opened, more than 80 applications had been submitted for 36 vacant places, so the places were distributed at the auction. The cost of some berths reached $15,000.

Now the company "Grand Marine" manages the local marina. The press service of Don-Stroy says that they are thinking about selling this business to some operator. “A developer, as a rule, does not want to get involved with a business that is incomprehensible to himself,” Andrey Boyko talks about the model of cooperation between land and water developers.

Evgeny Panasenko, head of the GVA Sawyer representative office in the Southern Federal District, agrees with Boyko and believes that the developer can get more by handing over management non-core asset professional player. “Of course, a yacht club can be run by its own Management Company village (residential complex), then the entire income remains with the developer. If you involve professional operator(UK, which has experience in managing similar projects), she will have to pay. But at the same time, a professional player will be able to increase the profitability and reputation of the yacht club,” says Panasenko.

The main sources of income for water developers in projects of residential complexes are: parking of ships in the marina, winter storage of yachts, service maintenance, sports and entertainment infrastructure of the complex and, of course, membership fees (as a rule, the annual maintenance of the yacht costs the owner 10% of its value). A land developer can count on an additional 20-30% from the sale of houses or apartments.

So far, owning a boat or yacht in Moscow is more of a toy for the owner and is used for walks, trips to a restaurant, and relatively short trips. Although many wealthy people would gladly use them to get from home to office without traffic jams and comfortably along the river. But for this it is necessary to create the appropriate infrastructure and conditions for the movement of small vessels, says Igor Lagutkin, director of the Moscow construction company Marina Development (the company designed the Strogino yacht port, the first in Moscow, the marina of the Pestovo golf club, the Zeleny Mys yacht port, the Royal Yacht Club, various private berths, etc.). “In 2007, we developed proposals for the placement of additional yacht infrastructure facilities for water taxis, and conducted research. We passed along the entire Moskva River and examined the berths for their suitability for mooring small (up to 20 m) vessels. It turned out that 80% of the berths were unusable. Most are designed mainly for motor ships and river buses,” he says. In such major city Like Moscow, the use of a small fleet is simply necessary, Lagutkin believes, and for this it is advisable to combine the efforts of public and private structures.

overseas experience

One of the largest foreign "new buildings" with a yachting component is Limassol Marina in Cyprus. The construction of artificial islands with a 4th generation marina (designed for 643 yachts ranging in length from 8 to 115 m) and a residential complex began in April 2010, and by the end of 2013 its implementation should be fully completed. According to experts from Sybarco (the developer of the project), the entire construction cost the company 350 million euros, almost 200 million of which were spent on the creation of the islands and the main breakwater. It is planned that the marina will provide high-speed refueling and repair services using a dry dock. In addition, this is the official port of entry into the country, where you can go through customs and complete all documents. Founded in 1782 and still the leading company in this field, Camper and Nicholsons will manage this grandiose project. Today, according to the company, almost 50% of the property owners in the project are Russians, but only half of them own yachts. The Russians are attracted not so much by the presence of berths, but by the “lifestyle on the water”. A large-scale yacht complex in Montenegro Porto Montenegro includes a marina and a port with year-round navigation and a full range of services for yachts and superyachts (developer - Adriatic Marinas). In February 2013, a project was launched here to double the number of berths - from 245 to 490 by the spring of 2014. The Montenegrin company Yu Briv won a tender for the implementation of the second phase of the Porto Montenegro yacht complex project, including the expansion of existing berths and the construction of additional , based on projects developed by the British company Marina Projects. “The new marina infrastructure covers all market segments, especially for superyachts and megayachts, for which a new modern center will be created in the near future complex repair and service,” says Yacht Complex Director Tony Brown. Photo: Porto montenegro

The English proverb “A yacht is a hole in the water surrounded by a tree where money should be thrown” does not stop either the British themselves, who buy about half of all yachts in Europe, or other enthusiasts.

Moreover, the owners of expensive ships often strive not only to cut the waves under their own sail, but also to literally earn on a fair wind by providing ships to renter tourists. According to aggregator websites that accumulate information from all charter companies, approximately 70% of the 14,000 boats rented in the water area mediterranean sea, are private.

Over the past 10-15 years, sailing has gone from exotic to standard middle-class entertainment. Spending a week on a yacht at sea costs from €500-700 per person, which is comparable to staying at a hotel. In addition, most large companies at least once organized a business regatta or cruise for clients and partners. According to 2014 statistics, the Russians were among the top three in terms of the cost of renting sailing yachts, paying an average of about €3,000 per week.

Participants of the commercial yachting market interviewed by Forbes agree that in a good scenario, the owner of the vessel can count on incomes of 15-20% of the cost of the yacht per year in the first 4-5 years of operation, then they decline quite sharply. After that, the best points of the business plan will be investments in repairs - about 10% more - and sale on the secondary market. The deal can be called successful at a price of 60-70% of the original cost.

Thus, in five years, the owner of the yacht can receive net profit about 25% of the investment. However, in order for these calculations to be justified, a lot of effort will be required.

Choose a yacht

In order to comfortably accommodate 6-8 people on a ship, it is worth considering the most popular models of yachts 40-50 feet in size, which are especially popular and are universal in service: Bavaria Cruiser, Hanse, Beneteau Oceanis, Dufour. They can be used for both cruises and regattas. According to itboat.com, the purchase of such a yacht would require €150,000 - 200,000.

There are quite a few purchase options. If we are talking about buying a new yacht, it is worth making friends in charter companies that receive significant discounts from manufacturing companies - from 40 to 70%. It is possible that it will be possible to take advantage of part of this discount, especially if the buyer immediately concludes a contract for the lease of the vessel.

If you choose from options in the secondary market, it is better to hire a surveyor (inspector). “He is on your side because you pay him. Make a list of defects and the cost of fixing them, and begin systematic, reasonable negocianism. I have not yet heard that a person who really wanted to buy a yacht for reasonable money did not achieve his goal because of the owner’s refusal to compromise,” advises Yury Fadeev, director of the Kabestan yacht company.

The easiest way is to buy a new yacht and contract with a charter company to rent it out. Some of these companies even offer joint acquisition schemes. Typically, when renting a yacht, the owner of the yacht receives about half of the rental income. The company takes over Maintenance, parking, insurance and other expenses.

According to Mikhail Kosolapov, FirstByFirst project manager, a yacht owner can earn a profit of 3-5% if the vessel is loaded at least 22-24 weeks a year. Only large charter companies can provide this. Small enterprises do not guarantee the flow of customers, in addition, there is a high probability of shifting risks onto the shoulders of the owner - for example, in case of major accidents.

Currently, the largest operators of the charter fleet in the Mediterranean are Navigare Yachting, Croatia Yachting (Croatia), Istion Yachting, Nomicos (Greece), Sailing Race Service (Italy), Alboran Charter (Spain). A big advantage for a charter company is the presence of a base not only in the Mediterranean, but also, for example, in the Canary Islands or the Caribbean. Thus, the Spanish Alboran Charter offers yachts for rent in Tenerife, Cape Verde and Cuba.

plot a course

The ideal region for commercial yachting is the Mediterranean. Southeast Asia, the Caribbean Sea cannot bring stable profits due to complex logistics. The most popular countries, combining good infrastructure and transport accessibility, are Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Spain.

It is important that the basing conditions allow you to do what is defined in the business plan. For example, it is difficult to teach navigation along a monotonous coastline - only a complex water area is suitable for this purpose, where there are many harbors, islands, and ship traffic. If the owner of the yacht initially planned to deal mainly with regattas, then it is necessary to be based on the islands in the Mediterranean Sea (for example, in Mallorca) so that you can easily get to the race venue.

Previously, Turkish waters were very popular, but the events of recent years have seriously damaged the charter industry in this water area. Tensions with Russia have contributed, but the exodus of German tourists has had a far greater effect. This happened after several high-profile terrorist attacks, including an explosion in Istanbul, when 12 German citizens were killed. According to Atlas expert Viktor Martyshov, about half of the charter yachts based in Turkey changed their moorings after this incident.

One of the main problems for the owner of the vessel is the extension of the season. Even in the comfortable conditions of the Mediterranean, it is difficult to provide a yacht with work for more than 6 months, usually tourists come from May to October. In this regard, many owners of yachts and yacht companies are trying to bring their ships to the Atlantic in autumn and winter. The Kabestan company, for example, moves its fleet to the Caribbean, where it continues the season. Atlas organizes amateur regattas every autumn. Several yachts sail the route through the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, Madeira and on to Cuba. As a result, the vessels bring profit to the owners for about 10 months a year.

Find clients

Other important issue is the ship's occupancy. As experience shows, it is very difficult to endlessly attract new customers. The owner of the Mana Mana catamaran, Marat Nasyrov, warns that the presence of one or more boats does not guarantee a flow of customers, especially in such a saturated market. Moreover, there are many small companies that seek not so much to make a profit as to earn at least some money to compensate for their expenses.

Loyal customers are the main source of income, but in order to get them, the owner of the yacht must show some flexibility. “The industry is cyclical, there is a fashion for events: now everyone goes to learn yachting, then to the Caribbean regattas, then the Rolex Middle Sea Race is sold in 10 minutes,” says Yuri Fadeev.

Renat Batyrov, the owner of the Hundred Captains company, adds that he constantly comes up with something new for clients: “Now we offer walks, a yachting school, and participation in regattas. When we built a sales system, we began to make a profit.”

According to Fadeev, the most difficult projects are regattas. In order for them to start bringing in money, you will need an event for 10 yachts or more. This is a very serious logistics. “A lot of people enter this market without understanding what is happening, because from the outside everything looks simple - people arrived, settled on yachts, money was paid and spent on luxurious life organizers. Usually such approaches are limited to one regatta, no one else comes,” the expert sums up.

Victor Martyshov notes that in order to attract customers, one has to work hard at sea, on land, and in virtual space. “Now it is difficult to imagine a company without its blog, website, without a community of people who went to sea together. All this is very interesting, but also very difficult. But only this approach brings profit,” he says.

To get the maximum profit, you should heed the advice of experts:

Have the project managed from the start, or handle it personally. Few manage to combine their main job or business with commercial yachting. “In this industry, like in any other startup, you need a good team, and this is very difficult. If you find people who can work hard, have great technical skills, and can be at sea all the time, away from their families, the industry is yours. If not, then it is better to invest in real estate: in any case, it will not sink and will not ask for thousands of investments annually, ”Yuri Fadeev from Kabestan shares his experience;

Register a company in the home country of the yacht. In most cases, this is much easier than in Russia, but each jurisdiction has its own nuances. The owner of Morozov Yachts, Alexander Morozov, notes that despite the differences in taxation of companies in the EU countries, the burden on ship owners is approximately the same everywhere. Yuri Fadeev adds that in some states there are tax breaks for companies engaged in charter flights, for example, in Croatia and Malta, which allows you to reduce VAT to 13-15%. good option It may also be the registration of an offshore company. In this case, you will have to spend several thousand euros on clearance services, but then you can save on taxes and VAT when buying a yacht. If such a scheme is not suitable, then the lowest VAT rate in Cyprus is 15%;

Put all possible expenses in the business plan. For example, Renat Batyrov, the owner of the Hundred Captains company, says that if a yacht is rented out for cruises, then about 5% of the original cost per year is required - this is only for Maintenance and minor repairs. If participation in regattas is expected, then these costs will be twice as high;

Think ahead about the risks of expanding your business. “Scaling up to a second yacht is like having a second child: things get not two times, but four times more difficult. It is necessary to expand only if you are 200% sure that everything is ready for this. It is at this stage that many companies lose any prospects for profitability,” Yury Fadeev shares his observations.

Carefully develop a customer acquisition strategy. Even for one yacht, there must be a sufficiently developed promotion system. Many companies use social media, promotion in search engines, corporate sales.

“Can you imagine, 120 meters of laid concrete in the water?” - Admiral General Director Mikhail Gusak asks admiringly. It's hard to imagine. As well as the fact that the cost of a ship lift, which has no analogues in that Russia, which is “beyond Moscow”, is about four hundred thousand euros. But it becomes clear the volume of investments that have already been made in the yacht club at the Krasnoyarsk reservoir. And that's not all - now they are implementing a project to create a marina (yacht parking) of the European level.

More expensive than in Europe

Since there is a reservoir in Krasnoyarsk, which is entrenched in the public mind under the name "sea", there should be yachting. The yacht club "Admiral" appeared in the late 70s of the last century. Then there were five small boats and two hangars. In 2005, a group of investors decided to open a private yacht club "Aurora". Soon there was a merger between Aurora and Admiral. And a large and costly construction began.

“If you saw this shore in 2005 and now, these are two different shores,” emphasizes Mr. Husak. - Business came here with a specific purpose - people bought yachts and saw that there were no conditions here. There was no infrastructure as such, and at first they made it for themselves. Invested funds. Then a new circle of people appeared who said: we now have the opportunity to afford to buy a yacht, because there is where to stand, where to store, where to service. Now "Admiral" has more than 50 members, ship owners different categories- from 20 to 70 feet with a displacement and up to 50 tons. There are 13 large-scale, exclusive yachts. Probably, there could be more. But yachting in Russia in general and in Krasnoyarsk in particular is an expensive hobby with too many difficulties.

“Short season, very expensive import of equipment - not everyone wants to spend an amount much larger than that in Europe. And the maintenance of the vessel there, in general, is cheaper: the season is long, and the expense on the water is less than the cost of storing a yacht in the winter, ”Mikhail Gusak lists. The vessel, made of expensive plastic, chrome-plated metal, with a teak deck, precious woods in the finish, must be stored in conditions with a certain temperature regime. It is not designed for extreme cold. Therefore, large boathouses (hangars) were built in the Admiral, significant investments were also directed to this. The cost of maintenance is individual for each yacht.

“For a year you can spend 3-10% of the price of the vessel. It all depends on how you exploit yourself and what you want, Mr. Husak argues. - If you want to redo everything on the ship, of course, it will be expensive. Although I don't understand why? It's better to buy a new one. And there is an ascetic kind of content. The main costs are technical control. And fuel - how often do you operate.

Every year is different

The Krasnoyarsk reservoir has very significant water drops, such is its specificity. This adds to the Admiral's management a headache.

“In the spring the water mark was 230 m. Now it is 241 m. The water has risen by 11 meters. What is good in Moscow - there is a maximum of 2-3 m, and during the season - 1.5 m, ”says Mikhail Gusak. An impressive drop must be matched by a pontoon system that can rise and fall depending on the water level.

“Last year there was little water - some members of the yacht club did not even “drop”, there was not enough draft. Including our fault. Now we have made it so that in any case everyone can go sailing. We finalized the slip, ”the head of the Admiral notes. But there is a blessing in disguise: because of this feature of the reservoir, its nature is different every year.

“Coming to the same bay, you always discover something new. We have one client who left for three and a half seasons and says about our sea and nature: “I haven’t been everywhere yet, I haven’t seen everything here.” But no matter how externally the Krasnoyarsk reservoir changes, the yacht club must constantly invest in coastal facilities. Their destruction is continuous, water is an aggressive medium. It's only in the pictures that everything is easy and spectacular - yachts, sails, blondes on deck, martini glasses. In life, everything is much more prosaic - for example, every month the yacht club takes water samples, cleans the water area from garbage brought in, etc.

This year, the yacht club has launched a new major investment project - the arrangement of a full-fledged marina according to the European classification with separate vessels, each of which will have its own individual place. In total, about 100 yachts of various sizes can be accommodated there. In the bay where the “admiral's” yachts are now standing, ships of other organizations, including state ones, are adjacent to them. And at low water, they sometimes even come into contact with the sides. “Therefore, we decided to purchase land that was not exploited. The project is designed for three years. Now we are at the approval stage,” says the director of the yacht club.

sign of stability

Mikhail Gusak compares the "Admiral" with a puzzle. The new marina is another important element of it. The details already available are the services of captains (mostly people who came from the Yenisei River Shipping Company), sailors and technical support. The idea is that club members receive the full range of services, and after buying a yacht they have one concern - how to find time to go sailing:

“Wealthy people now have the opportunity to relax on the weekends here, 45 km from Krasnoyarsk. I arrived, boarded the yacht, which was already refueled, the technical regulations were carried out, everything was checked, the sailors will help to moor, if necessary - there is a captain. At the start, we provided only services of a pier, slipway and minimal technical service. And today all this has already grown, is supported, and will only continue to expand.”

At the same time, according to Mr. Husak, price policy"Admiral" stopped at the level of 2006-2008. But new directions are emerging: “Earlier, we did not consider a small fleet for ourselves, but this year we are creating a technical base for it, opening a room, training personnel. People do not want to take their broken scooter to Krasnoyarsk, it is more convenient for them to fix it on the spot. This service is in demand, we provide it.”

In March 2013 the yacht club "Admiral" became the official representative federal company"Aquatechnika", engaged in the sale of motor boats and yachts. Her portfolio includes brands such as Monterey, Beneteau and Azymut, new to the local market. The Moscow company itself approached the Krasnoyarsk yacht club with a proposal for cooperation.

By the way, it is not enough to buy a good yacht - it is important to bring it. Mikhail Gusak notes that the club has worked out a delivery scheme:

“This is not our business, but there is a system of contracts. Can you imagine how to transport a ship weighing 30 tons, 17 meters long, 5 meters wide? We use a boat. The cargo travels at a height of 15-20 cm above the road, and in some places, on slopes - up to 5 cm. This is a very complicated process, it takes from 10 days to two weeks - from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk. Another option is delivery by the Northern Sea Route. There are big cargo ships. They are loaded in European ports, where the ship comes under its own power. They go to Dudinka, and then along the Yenisei the ship rises to the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station and passes through the ship lift to us.

According to Mr. Gusak, there are enough of those who renew their yacht fleet in the club - about 40% of the original membership.

“This is commensurate with the growth of the gross domestic product in the region. You can treat such purchases in different ways. But this is not a credit card that I put in my pocket, got on a plane and flew out of the country. The yacht needs to be protected, stored, and it is here. This is our stability. When such people buy such voluminous things that are cheaper to keep in Europe, and still keep them here, this indicates that they want to live in Krasnoyarsk land, ”summarizes the head of the Admiral.

Yachting is a modern hobby for active, dynamic people who appreciate new experiences, a healthy lifestyle, comfort and quality. Dmitry Solopov, the founder of TABI, spoke about his love for sailing, the specifics of the development of the yacht business, plans and prospects for Thirst.

History of the project

As Dmitry Solopov recalls, love for yachts and sailing accompanied him all his life. It all started from early childhood. Dmitry's parents met in Odessa, and, naturally, the family often visited the sea in Odessa. Both the father and all the relatives of the Solopovs are sailors. Any sailor in Odessa is a yachtsman, but Dmitry's father, Andrei, was an avid yachtsman. And, of course, he passed on his passion to his son.

Dmitry was 6 or 7 years old when his father first brought him to the Odessa Yacht Club. They got on a boat, 8 meters long, and went to sea. It was the beginning of the 80s. The boat was old, most likely received by indemnity after the war - a completely wooden classic Bermuda sloop. Dmitry climbed into the bow compartment, opened the anchor cover and watched, without climbing out onto the deck, how the bow of the yacht broke the waves on the sidewind with foam. These impressions, according to him, Solopov will never forget. He was completely infected by the sea - a reference book young man became "Overboard involuntarily" by Alain Bombara.

Probably, Dmitry would have become a sailor - but the choice of further life path brought him to Moscow, where he continued his education and became first a philologist, then a journalist, and then a media manager. But the passion for yachts remained, and after a while Dmitry returned to his childhood and youthful passion. 10 years ago at the Moscow yachting school, he received a skipper's license and since then regularly, two or three times a year, took boats for charter. The first years he really liked to just go in for yachting, periodically go sailing. But gradually he began to see the shortcomings of the existing charter companies - the realization came that a youthful dream could be transformed into a promising business idea. With an experienced eye, the future founder of TABI found more and more opportunities to improve the quality of boat rental service, expanding the range of services offered to customers.

Getting Started, Investments, First Difficulties

TABI is a relatively young business project, but it already has a certain financial base. Naturally, in order to start efficient work required significant investment.

Yachts are a capital intensive business. If we talk about yachts from 55 feet in size, it is almost 20 meters - they are not worth less than 700 thousand euros. In addition, the process of technical and service support for such a boat is not cheap - in order to be in a decent, competitive condition, the vessel requires constant care and professional supervision. However, when proper organization business and marketing, its profitability can reach 20 percent per annum.

Dmitry Solopov: “We passed the last 2016 in test mode. Then we operated only one boat. Now we have several of them. In fact, initially there were two people in the team - me and Lev Rodshtein, the current CEO of our company. This season we were joined by Alisa Neladus, Commercial Director TABI, and Alena Roman, Executive Director, which is responsible for the internal comfort on boats. We pay special attention to this."

Work with clients

TABI is a brand that is being developed on the basis of the concept of improving the quality indicators of cooperation with customers and the formation of a loyal customer audience. The reputation of the company is a professional service, well-maintained yachts, a benevolent atmosphere. The company appreciates each client, and tries to do everything to provide him with a comfortable, pleasant stay, maximally focused on the implementation of a specific request.

Dmitry Solopov: “Today we have dozens of clients, and the main thing is that today we have a 100% return. That is, everyone who traveled with TABI last year returned this season as well. It's just wonderful! average cost weeks of travel ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 euros, if we are talking about the base model of the 2017 season - the Beneteau 55 yacht. Not so much for a summer season in the Mediterranean or for a winter season in the Caribbean, considering that the yacht comfortably accommodates three couples! Just compare that to the cost of a five star hotel. But to compare it in terms of impressions is impossible!

Effective management and teamwork

TABI is a young company and the team working here is also young and energetic. The people who came to the project clearly understand the goals and priorities of the company, are result-oriented and have high level professionalism.

Dmitry Solopov, as a leader, believes in the principles of effective distribution of obligations and functions, loyal modern management and good relations within the team. Strict control and supervision cannot achieve effective results if employees do not have the right motivation. And it is impossible to create it without understanding the importance of each employee, without corporate solidarity, mutual respect and tolerance. Great importance has the initiative of employees, the ability to generate ideas and the willingness to implement them.

TABI practices daily communication of the whole team for creativity and brainstorming, joint development of story routes. This allows you not to fall into everyday routine work. Also here with great pleasure they hold working meetings outside the office, each time in a new place where you can drink / eat something new and thereby catch good mood and inspiration.

Dmitry Solopov: “It is important that all employees understand perfectly what exactly they are selling, as they are personally familiar with the product and have tried it on themselves. We arrange special trips for the team so that they are saturated with the spirit of sailing adventures, they understand what the thrill is. Also important point is the embodiment of leadership in the life of the ideas of employees. For example, this is how we created an “adventure into the unknown”, when a person goes on a trip and does not know what places he will have a route to, what country he will sail to, what exactly awaits him on the shore. This adds even more piquancy – to look from the sea to the shore, to try to guess what kind of place it is, what language is spoken here, what is the name of the city.”

Integration into the competitive space

TABI's competitors are charter companies that provide clients with yachts for recreation and travel. However, the company boldly competes with any type of marine holiday, as it tries to convince customers that the best pastime is sailing. In addition, much attention is paid to ensuring the comfort and safety of movement on a yacht, developing interesting routes, and finding additional opportunities for organizing interesting and quality pastime for clients.

Dmitry Solopov: “While our prices are not below the market, we offer a number of advantages that a regular charter campaign does not have. First, the journey does not end where it begins, but at any point that the client desires. This makes it possible to see fundamentally more places and get more impressions than in the "loopback" route.

Secondly, we do not just rent a boat, but develop routes. We are studying which bay is more interesting to go for a swim, where it is better to stay for the night, which restaurant is a must-see. We reserve a table in this restaurant for our clients. We book places in marinas along the route of the yacht and at the same time we can book any marina at the first request of our travelers. We have a constantly working call center where the client can call at any time. Rest on a yacht is a luxury story, a luxury experience. And if you want a box of Moet champagne by the time you arrive at the marina, we will do our best to fulfill this desire.”

Achievements and plans

TABI is a project that is developing actively and dynamically, constantly expanding the range of services provided and increasing its financial potential.

The main achievement of the company is the formation of a professional, friendly team and a loyal client audience with a 100% return. The core value is professional knowledge yachts, seas, ocean. Here they are responsible for the lives of people, guarantee their safety. Without a deep knowledge of the topic, even the management of the company, and not just the skippers, it is impossible to build a productive dialogue, set constructive and feasible tasks. Each TABI employee is deeply immersed and understands the topic.

The company plans further promotion in the selected market segment, expanding the geography of its activities.

Dmitry Solopov: “This year we entered the Russian market, from the next we have plans to enter the European one. We also plan to increase our fleet with larger yachts.”

TABI in facts and figures

Year of foundation

Starting investments

Purchase of 1 yacht of 55 feet, worth about 700 thousand euros.

Profitability

Basic model of the season 2017

Yacht Beneteau 55.

Average weekly travel cost