SailTime Group signs deal with Boatbound

September 14, 2015 (Annapolis, MD) SailTime Group, the world’s largest boat membership company, today announced an industry-first partnership with the nation’s fastest growing peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace, Boatbound, which will expand their Captain Charters offerings and ASA Sailing lessons in select markets nationwide.

This partnership continues the two parties’ joint mission of growing the sport of sailing by making it both more affordable, as boats can now be chartered by the day with USCG certified captains, enabling new boaters to experience sailing without requiring that they have any prior experience. It is the shared belief of SailTime and Boatbound that exposing more first-time boaters to the benefits of sailing through these “gateway” experiences will translate into creating lifelong boaters.

For SailTime franchise owners, partnering with Boatbound is a way to leverage the benefits of the sharing economy to better utilize unsold available memberships for Boatbound members to book and/or enabling franchise owners to list available fraction dates until they are sold. In addition, the Boatbound community will now have access to an even greater selection of quality captained sailboats.

“Partnering with Boatbound is a natural fit for SailTime” said SailTime’s CEO, Todd Hess. “The Boatbound platform is an excellent channel for expanding our ASA Sailing School and Captained Charter product lines. We feel the customer profile of the clients we acquire through Boatbound will also be very receptive to our fractional membership offering.”

SailTime will begin listing half day and full day captained charters with Boatbound in the San Francisco, Miami, Tampa Bay, Annapolis and Houston markets starting in January 2016. With the partnership kickoff, Boatbound will also be promoting SailTime’s network of over twenty ASA Sailing Schools to its more than 20,000 subscribers as the school of choice for boating education needs.

“We believe strongly in the importance of providing boaters of every experience level with the best educational and safety resources available and that is why we are proud to bring SailTime’s ASA Sailing Schools to the Boatbound community. As we continue to pursue our common goal of making boating more affordable and accessible to the masses, safety is and will always continue to be at the forefront,” said Boatbound Founder, Aaron Hall.

SailTime has always been an innovator in the boating community, using an online calendar system for shared usage of vessels. The SailTime membership program began as a way to get more sailors out on the water and to offer an alternative to boat ownership. For every boat in the fleet, there are six to eight members sharing one vessel. Many members are relatively new to activity of sailing and have chosen SailTime as the ideal way to learn and acquire experience.

About SailTime:
SailTime members share the use of a professionally managed boat, through the use of an online scheduling system. A monthly membership fee covers the slip fees, maintenance, insurance and operating costs. These memberships offer an attractive alternative to boat ownership. SailTime also offers a generous Owner Member Program where the owner receives a monthly income, as well as the benefits of membership. Now celebrating its 14th Anniversary, the company has over twenty-eight bases in North America and seven bases in Australia. A unique feature of the program is SailTime PLUS, where members can go sailing at base locations around the world for a significantly lower cost than traditional bareboat charter fees. SailTime also has a significant network of sailing schools, via bases that are certified American Sailing Association (ASA) and Royal Yachting Association (RYA) affiliates. The instruction provided at these locations has been a key component in providing a pathway for members to achieve their goals and dreams for the sport of sailing. For more information, please visit www.sailtime.com.

About Boatbound:
Boatbound, the nation’s leading boat rental marketplace, gives the over 13 million registered boat owners a way to offset their ownership costs by renting their boat to prescreened, qualified renters. Boatbound allows you to find the perfect boat at any price, across the US. Boatbound is free to join and has no monthly or membership fees. Visit Boatbound.co for more information.