What do Captains Think of Multiple Yacht Ownership?

Multiple yacht ownership is a growing trend in the past few years. Sometimes, owners buy several vessels that travel in a fleet.

In other cases, a large yacht tows a smaller tender or sportfish, both of which have to be managed and maintained. Or an owner may have more than one vessel because one is for sale.

But whatever the situation, one captain is often asked to oversee multiple vessels at one time.

How are the captains and crew finding success in multiple yacht ownership situations? The Triton recently looked into the situation when editor Lucy Chabot Reed posted Triton Survey: Captains Manage with Multiple Vessels. In the article, Reed describes how captains were queried about the challenges of overseeing multiple vessels.

The article states that, “More than 80 captains responded (to the survey) and most manage the responsibilities of more than one vessel, whether it be a large tender or sportfish towed behind the mother ship, or two or more vessels that operate in their own right.”

What the survey asked.

One of the questions The Triton asked was, “How is/was it, taking care of more than one yacht?” According to Reed, “the largest group (40 percent) said it was a challenge to keep everything to the owner’s (and their own) standards.” As one captain of an 80-100 foot yacht that tows a large Intrepid commented in Reed’s article, “It was tough to keep everything working at 100 percent. Boats will be boats, and things break in the marine world.”

Another question asked by the survey was, “Does managing more than one vessel mean more work for you?” According to the article, “Ninety-seven percent of our responding captains said yes, half of them noting that it wasn’t just more work for the captain but for the entire crew.”

My thoughts about multiple yacht ownership, maintenance and management.

The rest of the article describes compensation and job satisfaction for captains who are responsible for multiple vessels at one time. But when I read it, my mind was stuck on the actual management tools necessary to do the job well.

We all know how many jobs and details one must keep track of to keep one vessel and its crew running smoothly and efficiently. But adding additional vessels and people can make a difficult management situation impossible.  

Frankly, I don’t know how you can keep abreast of all the tasks, documents, lists, etc. necessary to oversee multiple vessels without a really good yacht management software program.

Luckily a well-designed yacht management program can easily incorporate maintenance, inventory, crew, and document data for multiple vessels. A truly comprehensive, expandable program has the following features:

• Maintenance logs, schedules and proactive maintenance alerts
• Customizable work lists
• Crew and guest profiles, including health alerts and passport information
• Inventories for all departments, including location information for all items
• Purchase orders and purchase order histories
• Captain’s security access
• Customizable reports, such as crew hours of rest and other MLC 2006-related documents
• A document library, allowing you to access vessel manuals, drawings, licenses, and other important documents with a few quick click

Some programs even have additional features, like:
Multi-currency accounting between departments
App for tracking hours of work and rest on a crew member’s smartphone

Want to know more about how yacht management software can help you?

If you are in a multiple yacht management situation, or if you just want to get a handle on all the pieces that go in to managing and maintaining your vessel in the coming year, yacht management software might be for you.

Here are some more blog posts on the subject to get you started on your investigation:

Yacht Management Software: How Much Does It Cost?

New Web App for Crew Hours of Work and Rest

3 Ways to Comply with MLC 2006 Rules Using Yacht Management Software

Why We Love Yacht Management Software (And You Should, Too!)

But even if you don't manage multiple vessels, yacht management software might be a great way for you to organize the business of your yacht. 

If the possibility of streamlining your worklists, having all documents immediately accessible, and being notified when registrations, licenses, training certificates and other key documents are up for renewal sounds good to you, you might be ready to implement a comprehensive yacht management program.

Triton Administrator yacht management software from Great Circle Systems is a program specifically designed to manage vessels. Triton Administrator performs all the tasks listed above, and more.