One of the biggest questions we always get on the docks at a boat show regarding fractional ownership or fractional sharing of a sailboat is "what if we get a messy partner?". And the answer is right in our systems that we have built. The iBoat Scheduling and Management system incorporates a handheld PDA that resides on the sailboat. It asks the owner upon boarding about 30 questions. About one third of the questions are about safety of the yacht, one third are maintenance items that may need to be attended to and the remaining one third are cleanliness items from the last owner who used the boat. If anything is astray the PDA sends an email to the appropriate person. For example, if the sink wasn't left clean and the arriving owner marked this - then the last user would get an email from the system indicating so. If the winch handle was missing then there is a clear datestamp of when it went missing and we know who lost it.If maintenance items are required - for example a cotter pin is missing from a turn buckle on the shroud line then the email is sent to the service department automatically.
When checking off the boat, the owner goes through a similar check list which ensures the boat is put up and cleaned properly.
In using a system as such, there is created a standard whereby all owners adhere to. And ultimately the history data is stored and can be reviewed later for consistent failures. In the owner's agreement there is a fine system for repeat offenders. Any fine money goes into a pool for maintenance.
Once this system is explained, there is usually very little concern regarding the other partners, and experience has shown that this system works very well.
