Author Topic: Occasional renting: has anyone ever had experience with YupSail?  (Read 5935 times)

The Old Man and the Sea

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Hello Guys!

I've a Bavaria 44, and I'd like to rent it!
I found a website, and it's looks cheap and interesting for my needs!
https://www.yupsail.com/en/sailboat-rental.html

...But I'm not very familiar whit online rent! has anyone ever had experience with YupSail?
Can you help me?
Thanks a lot

Salty

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In regard to YupSail, I have no experience with that particular firm, but a couple of things I'd be very very wary about.
1. While most other parts of their website is written in English, their terms and conditions are not. Instead they are written in Italian which if you don't understand, it puts you at an immediate disadvantage because you don't know what you are letting yourself in for. In a worst scenario, this is your boat, your investment, and your pride and joy. Responsible charterers will look after your boat, others may do so, and an irresponsibly large proportion of them won't give a dam about your boat.
2. What you need to know is how the charter firm will look after your investment, and how exactly you will be reimbursed for any damage done.
3. You need to know who will be responsible for ensuring that periodic surveys are carried out on time, who will pay for those surveys, how you will be notified when a survey becomes due, when and by who the survey will be carried out, and a cast iron guarantee that your boat will not go out if any survey is either not carried out or is not passed satisfactorily.
4. You need to know that on any charter agreement, that your name is included on that agreement as the person who owns the boat and with whom the charterers have a direct responsibility in regard to payment of any outstanding fees, and for any damage incurred which occurs as a result of any action taken by the charterer or crew which is not in strict accordance with the charter agreement, or is as a result of their negligence or through non compliance with any internationally recognised procedure or regulation such as, for example "The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea," or from failure to comply with any river, or harbour authority regulation, laws or bye laws, and that they will take full financial responsibility for any misdemeanour which may result in your vessel being impounded by any competent authority legally allowed to do so.

I have had experience of chartering out my boat through a firm located within the United Kingdom, where that firm failed to ensure that charterers took care of my investment, failed to maintain the surveys up to date, failed to advise me that they had ignored two separate notifications that a survey was due, failed to pay me the monies due from several previous charters, did not include my name as an interested party within the charter agreement such that when a collision occurred I could not take legal action against the skipper of the boat, the charter firm failed to go after the skipper of the boat for reparations, and did go bankrupt making it uneconomic to pursue the charter firm. I did however employ a debt collection agency who were able to collect the outstanding monies from the various charters up to and including that where the collision occurred, and no, the insurer did not cover the cost of repairs, because the survey referred to above had not been done, thereby giving them a get out.

My advice to you is that if you really desperately want to charter your boat out, only do it through a large and reputable charter firm, get everything in writing in regard to responsibilities, and get out at the moment you think the charter firm is not levelling with you. Better still, don't do it at all, and definitely not if you don't live near enough to where your boat will be based to enable you to check it out after every return from charter.

Sorry if that all sounds very negative, but there are sharks out there that will take you for every penny they can, and then leave you to count the cost. Undoubtedly there are some reputable firms, but their services have to be paid for, and it's not cheap. In addition there are skippers out there who blatantly lie about their sailing qualifications, as did the skipper (an Actuary for a well known accounting firm in Edinburgh) who caused my boat to collide with another, and who claimed to have a yacht masters equivalent certificate gained from a week's day sailing holiday at a large sea school. Naturally he blamed the boat for the collision with just so much bowllocks about it not turning fast enough, and his mate on the other boat made no attempt at all to avoid the collision. The parties on both boats were a large group of friends having a stag party, alcohol was involved, but no one was checked for it, and by the time I was informed of the collision (some eighteen hours later, plus another seven hours to get there), the boats had been cleaned leaving no trace of the alcohol consumed and both skippers and their crews had packed up and gone home. Statements were only taken from the two skippers with no mention of the hooliganism involved that day. That only became apparent when talking to other people who had seen the event, but who did not volunteer their information in time for it to make a difference.

patprice

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You might be better of selling your nice B44 and chartering a similar yacht yourself.

Said tongue in cheek, cheekily, but seriously.

landes_h

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...if you want it in writing, don't get it....
Greetings
Horst
Bavaria 38 / 2003 berth Portoroz, Slowenia

The Old Man and the Sea

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i intend to spend this summer in italy with my boat (and my wife also...) which lucky me she has italian origins. i'll be all the time on my boat and i think it will be a nice experience to share with other people and in the meanwhile earning some money through the rent. i know it's possible in italy

Salty

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Well, good luck, and I hope it works out for you.
Don't forget to learn about all of the regulations involved in using a boat for commercial purposes, because if you don't then your on your way to getting your backside bitten. Don't get suckered in by someone with a charming smooth talking manner full of promises about all of the money you think you will make, as invariably there are down sides to every silver lining, not least of which are taxes, corruption and greed.
If you think it will be all straightforward with no downsides, and the charming person I referred to earlier has managed to allay all of your fears, then you are already well on your way to being fleeced and taken for the most expensive ride of your life.
I have visited Italy on very many occasions over an extensive period of time, and I have met many lovely, friendly and charming people, but have also seen for myself the way that if anyone does something for you to ease your way through negotiations, that they want something substantial in return, and then there's the Mafia who would love to protect you from your money, and they are only the obvious criminals.
As I said, I hope it all works out for you, but if you don't think what I've said in the two postings I've made on this subject can happen to you, then you might just as well give all you own to charity, and that way your money should at least go to a deserving cause rather than some crook.

The Old Man and the Sea

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Thank you for your concerns, I looked up about the italian laws of chartering and also about the tax regulations and it also seems fine.
I've made a research on google and there are different website for renting boat, not just in Italy, but also in other Countries, but I know the market in Italy is very attractive compared to the rest of the Mediterranean and that website is the most trasparent of all.
Mind that to start with this activity you don't have to sustain any costs but just to pay  50 euros only when they sell the holiday for you.

Salty

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Looks like you have already swallowed the bait............ :sick