Seeking to make superyacht charters more cost effective and simple to book, an Australian superyacht owner has created a new club.
The Ahoy Club is a revolutionary concept created for the benefit of yacht owners and charterers alike. The new platform seeks to enhance the booking process saving time, effort and money.
In the open pages of its new Web site, it claims to do so without any loss in revenues to owners or Central Agents yet elsewhere the wording reveals: “Significantly reduced commissions, Ahoy Club brings yacht owners and charters together seamlessly for mutual benefit.”
Yacht owning members of the club remain in full control of their Yachts availability, scheduling, pricing, yacht rules, and how they interact with guests.
It allows owners to determine their own calendar and post their own specials at will to maximise their yachts utilisation.
Charterers have the ability to access and update their booking information at the touch of a finger.
The Ahoy Club claims to offer “Yachts at the best available charter rates, saving you up to 20% or even more when you also consider the VAT savings. So the negotiation is already done for you, so you can spend your time enjoying the experience of choosing the yacht you want without confrontation.”
The club was concived by Sydney businessman Ian Malouf, who made his fortune cleaning up industrial waste with his Dial A Dump business which rents out skips and cleans up industrial waste.
But Malouf has clearly upset the yacht broking industry around the world who routinely earn 20% commission on every charter sold
Speaking from his own superyacht Mischief, moored at Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera between Nice and Monaco Mr Malouf told Simon Evans a reporter with AFR Weekend magazine, that his transparent pricing policy charging just 4% commission has been welcomed by owners.”It’s a brawl with the brokers, we’re not popular.” He added, “Nobody likes getting ripped off by 20-plus per cent. This move has probably been very overdue,”.