Yachtcouncil.com

The sale of a boat which is not sold as a whole is considered a fractional sale. The fractions are referred to as "shares". Unlike timeshare, which is only a right-of-use, each fractional owner has equity in the yacht.

The difference between a normal partnership between individuals, and a true fractional program, is management. Without a formal management company overseeing the crew, daily operations, scheduling, and maintenance, it is simply shared ownership.

The main advantage of a fractional program is that it substantially decreases the cost of ownership and operations. A secondary, but equally beneficial advantage, is the ease with which an owner can exit the program. With fractional ownership, there is no need to find an individual who gets along with the other owners. In a fully-managed fractional program, the owners never interface with each other, so resale is simply a matter of selling shares.

Fractional yachts can be divided into as many shares as the managing fractional company chooses. Generally there are between four and ten shares per boat. The number of shares dictates the number of weeks of use per owner. Since each program is different, you should consider your personal goals in yacht ownership to determine which is best for you.