Share the costs and sail off into the sunset: Spreading the expense can bring a boat within reach of those who are not awash with money, writes Mary Wilson

The cost of owning and running a boat can be prohibitive for anyone who is not awash with money. But Belinda Stannage, 27, a public relations officer for the Royal Yachting Association in Southampton, has an answer - share one.

'It is very expensive mooring a boat on the south coast, and anyway, there are very few people who actually want to use their boat every weekend. So from that point as well, boat sharing is sensible.

'Mooring fees vary hugely depending on whether the boat is kept in a marina or not. You could pay up to pounds 100 per foot per year in a large marina and down to pounds 25 per foot per year on a swinging mooring. But if you take it out of the water during the winter you will have to pay extra rent to the boatyard or to wherever it is kept.

'I share a boat with four other people. We bought a 24-foot sailing boat two years ago for pounds 5,600, and we each have an equal share in the boat. We each have one weekend a month and we split all the bills. It costs me pounds 500 a year to run the boat, winter it, all the mooring fees and upkeep.

'We have a joint boat account, in the name of the boat, and each pays in a certain amount every month. Cheques have to be signed by two members of the syndicate, so no one can run off with the money.' The four owners signed a syndicate agreement, which the RYA provides*. This covers how the money will be handled, management responsibilities and termination of the agreement. It also covers what happens if there is a serious difference of opinion on upkeep. For example, if all reason fails the dispute can be referred to an arbitrator appointed by the secretary-general of the RYA.

Sharing makes no difference to the cost of insurance premiums, and there should be no complications as long as the owners have similar sailing experience and past claims records. If one has limited experience, then he or she could be restricted, for example, to coastal sailing only.

The key to successful boat sharing is flexibility. It would never work if one of the owners was very pernickety and expected every halyard and sail bag to be in exactly the same position as it was when he or she left it. People that turn into dragons as soon as they step on board are also unlikely to make good sharing partners.

'We have two books on board,' explains Ms Stannage. 'One is a log, which has become a diary and where we record where we have been, and visitors sign and make comment too. The other book is a working book, where we write down what has happened to the boat when we had it, if anything has gone amiss or been mended.

'If something goes wrong because of general wear and tear, then we all dip in. But if it is someone's fault that something has broken, then it is up to them to pay for it. Every now and again, one of us will renew something the others think is unnecessary, but on the whole it works very well.

'Most problems occur in the winter, when work has to be done on the boat. We all do our share, but sometimes one partner is more zealous than the other and then there are arguments over how much or little is to be done. The basic problem is that there are four people with ideas of what work should be done to the boat while it is out of the water.'

Another advantage of owning a boat in a syndicate is that if you like sailing abroad for holidays you can go further. One owner could take it over the Channel, and the next one pick it up in France and sail on further. Ms Stannage says: 'It means you don't have to do two Channel crossings, which is good news.

She only remembers one major row.

'I was not involved, but one weekend the three other owners decided to sail over to the Isle of Wight together for supper. They got stuck on a landbank afterwards.

'They all had different ways of how to get the boat off, and I think there was a serious case of sense-of-humour-failure. Six hours later, in the early hours of the morning, they arrived back at their mooring. It was a case of too many skippers.'

Bill Anderson of the RYA says there are two types of boat sharing. Those who own and sail a boat together, and those who share but never climb aboard at the same time. 'It is the younger people,' he says, 'who share in bigger syndicates, often of a racing boat, because there is no way they can afford it on their own.

'It makes tremendous sense to operate a share. The only problems you get are basic living-together problems. There's always quite a lot of work to do on a boat, as well, so if you can share that too, why not?'

* Royal Yachting Association 0703 629962.

(Photograph omitted)