Cutlass owners, Nick driving and Alex, thumbs up, winning the 2009 Ida Lewis Race on PHRF
Owen Clarke’s goal in running this service is not to become a charter agency. We are yacht designers not yacht charterers and our preference would be for owners to make their own arrangements and use us and our resources primarily as an initial point of contact. This allows us to get on with the job we love, designing boats. However we do have a good deal of experience in the class having been involved in its development since the beginning both as designers and sailors. We’re passionate about the boats and we want to see more people sailing them for the benefit of the class, our existing clients and of course eventually our own design business. It costs nothing to ask a few questions, but promoting a service dealing with the kind of emails this will generate requires time and because we have a business to run, that we have to charge for.
In summary then we are offering a service as facilitators, linking existing owners to sailors who either do not have sufficient funding in place to own their own boat or who wish to try a Class 40 for the first time. We are therefore looking for owners worldwide who are willing to charter their boats out for the following: Day sails
Weekend sailing
Inshore regattas
Offshore races
Trans-Atlantic/Pacific races
The 2011 Portimao Global Ocean Race
1. Charter conditions Day sails and weekend sailing may be accompanied by an experienced sailor rather than being a bare boat charter. Depending on the experience level of the charterer any of the other charter periods will either be bare boat or may involve a crew member for some degree of introductory sailing, race training or involve a third party acting as crew/co-skipper on a race itself. Where an owner is unable to fulfil these requirements OCD will endeavour to find a suitable experienced replacement agreeable to both parties. In all cases Owen Clarke Design will require prospective charterers to provide a sailing CV for themselves and their primary crew as well as any information they have regarding their own history of having held yacht insurance, if any. This information will be supplied to the yacht’s owner. It is up to the owner in each case to judge the suitability of the charterer and ensure that suitable insurance is in place before commencing the charter. 2. Insurance The yacht normally continues to be insured through the owner and they should check before agreeing to charter the boat that their policy allows them to charter or if their insurance company will provide a replacement policy if it does not. Insurance is normally paid in addition to the charter fee, on a pro-rata daily/monthly basis with any additional premiums arising from special circumstances (single-handed or double-handed racing, racing outside the exisiting insurance limits) being paid by the charterer to the owner. We advise that a security deposit at least to the minimum deductable of the yacht’s insurance is taken and lodged in an Escrow account. This deposit to be returned when the yacht is taken back by the client, the inventory and the vessel’s condition is checked. 3. Local regulations
Owners should check with their national sailing bodies, RYA, FFV or bodies such as the US Coastguard, the minimum safety standards and equipment, along with any inspections/certificates that may be required prior to entering into an agreement to charter their yacht. 4. Charter fees
Charter fees are agreed and paid directly by the charterer to the owner. The owner is invited to discuss and provide a scale of fees for the different levels of charter to Owen Clarke Design. We will make potential clients aware of these fees after their initial enquiry. Owners are free to impose their own fee level depending on their expectations, location, specification, sail inventory etc and history of the yacht. Owen Clarke Design are happy to advise if required. 5. Contracts It is the client’s responsibility to contract with the charterers, Owen Clarke’s role is one of facilitator. We will supply a sample contract to owners who sign up with our service which they can decide to adapted and/or translate for their own use. We advise that before any final draft contract is issued that it be checked by the owner’s own legal representative. 6. Owen Clarke services and fees 6.1 Standard service: This covers access to our database, advertising on the web page and communication with prospective charterers. For this service OCD charge 5% of the agreed charter rate. Payable on signing the charter contract. 6.2 Yacht management service: For clients who do not wish or are unable to manage the charter themselves Owen Clarke Design will carry out the following works: Checking the inventory and briefing the client on the yacht prior to the charter commencing and re-checking the inventory and condition of the yacht on return. All communications on behalf of the owner with the charterer. For this service OCD charge an additional 15% of the agreed charter rate. 10% payable on signing the charter contract and 5% on completion of the charter. On short term and/or charters outside Europe we withhold the right to decline to offer this service, sub-contract to a mutually agreed supplier or adjust the fee/include travelling expenses if necessary. Note: The client remains responsible for providing the charter contract and ensuring that the vessel is in all ways ready for charter including but not limited to insurance cover, adherance with the rules of local regulatory bodies, class rules and safety regulations. 6.3 Crew management service: Owners may of course act as skipper or provide their own crew where necessary for non bare boat charters. Otherwise, where crew or co-skippers are required Owen Clarke Design can suggest experienced sailors at various levels to help in everything from introducing newcomers to these boats to trans-oceanic race co-skippers. Owners are expected to charge on these services (including expenses) to the charterers in addition to the basic charter fee. For this service OCD charge a 5% commission based of the crew/skipper salary. Payable on signing the charter contract.
Finally, we recognise that chartering out your boat is a big commitment financially and probably emotionally. We make this point in our notes to prospective charterers. However, you should also consider that for the considerable sum of money the charterer will have paid either by daily, monthly or as an event rate, they deserve to have a boat that is in good condition, has all the safety equipment that is required for her class/local regulations and if racing is ready to pass scrutineering, has a valid class certificate and rating certificate if advertised. If this is not going to be the case or you will have difficulty in satisfying these requirements in time for a charter then it is best not to commit to advertising on this site until you are ready to do so.
Existing owners of Class 40’s who are interested in using our service please fill in as much of our owner and boat details form as possible after downloading it here. We look forward to hearing from you.
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