Yacht co-ownership, the math

Last summer I stood on the swim platform of a Wajer 55 in Biscayne Bay watching the sun drop behind Key Biscayne, and the owner, who'd had the boat for two years, said something I've heard from every yacht owner: "It's a great boat. I just don't use it as much as I thought I would."

He'd planned for 50 days a year. He was on track for 22.

Solo yacht ownership is a bet on usage that almost no buyer wins. Here's the math, broken out the way we'd talk to a member at the kitchen table.

What a 55-foot yacht actually costs to keep

Take a $1.95M Wajer 55 S as the base case. Annual carrying:

Slip + dockage: $40K–$60K depending on marina (Miami Beach Marina, Island Gardens, Sunset Harbour). Year-round contracts run materially higher than transient.

Captain (full-time, dedicated): $120K–$160K all-in. A single dedicated captain on a single hull is the model most owners default to. Shared captain across multiple owners is theoretically cheaper but practically miserable to coordinate.

Fuel (typical use): $25K–$45K. Outboard motors and IPS pod drives both run real fuel; long-range Bimini runs are not free.

Insurance: $20K–$28K. Marine insurance for a $2M-class hull from an A-rated carrier (BoatU.S./Markel/Travelers).

Hurricane prep + haul-out (Miami): $15K–$25K. Two named-storm haul-outs in a season is not unusual.

Spring commission + fall lay-up: $12K–$20K.

Maintenance reserve (engines, anodes, bottom paint, electronics): $20K–$30K.

Total: $250K–$360K a year. Call it $300K as a midpoint.

What 32 days of usage actually costs you, solo

$300K ÷ 32 days = $9,375/day effective. That's before fuel for the day's trip and before any provisioning.

What a 1/10 RYDA share looks like on the same boat

$195K share + $32K/yr ops, on a 32-day annual entitlement, over a 3-year hold. The math:

Total cash out: $195K + ($32K × 3) = $291K

Modeled sale at exit (85% of buy-in): −$166K

Net cost over 3 years: $125K

Per-day effective cost (96 days × 3 yrs): $1,000/day in steady-state ops; ~$3,031/day all-in including the buy-in spread across years one through three. Drops to ~$700/day if you charter your unused days.

Where co-ownership stops working

If you'd actually drive 100+ days a year on the same hull, co-ownership is the wrong product. You'd be paying for 32 days of access against a fleet that up to 4 other co-owners are also booking, peak windows would feel constrained.

Most buyers don't actually drive 100+ days. They drive 22, then feel guilty, then sell at year three with a depreciation hit that erases more than they'd have spent on a co-ownership share. We've watched the cycle.

What we built RYDA Boats for

The 30–60 day buyer who wants their actual day on the actual hull, not a club rotation. Single-purpose LLC per hull, member-managed governance, and a 3-year hold sized to the boats depreciation curve. Operating model is slip + crew + hurricane prep, fully professionally run.

Miami launches Q3 2026. Create your account to browse the fleet and claim a share when the first hulls go live.