Architect Lord Foster Launches Super-Yachts Timeshare

Now the credit crunch is going offshore. Holidaymakers unable to afford their own luxury boats are being offered the chance to buy £2m timeshare breaks on a fleet of new “super-yachts”.

Impulsive ocean-going breaks may prove difficult, however, as the participants in the scheme will have to call a concierge to make sure one of the yachts is free – and in roughly the right part of the world – before setting sail.

The luxury yachts are designed by the architect Lord Foster. The first vessel is set to be delivered by the Rodriquez Cantieri Navali yard in Italy this September. Nine more will be built over the next three years.

The “fractional ownership” scheme could become a model that others follow as would-be yacht owners are forced to surrender total ownership in order to avoid the steep costs of year-round crews, fuel, insurance and mooring.

So far 20 financiers, chairmen and entrepreneurs have joined the YachtPlus scheme, including Lord Foster himself, the chairman of the department store Debenhams, John Lovering, and Mike Balfour, the founding partner of the gym chain Fitness First.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk