Investing in a Catamaran to Charter It: How Charter Management Works

Charter management means handing over a new or used catamaran to an operator that charters it out to third-party guests during the weeks the owner is not sailing it. In exchange, a share of the charter income helps finance all or part of the purchase, and the operator typically covers maintenance, insurance and the berth. This is neither free nor a passive investment: the owner’s own use stays governed by contract, and the wear from chartering is real.

What does catamaran charter management actually mean?

Putting a catamaran into charter management means handing it over to an operator that charters it out to third-party clients outside the weeks reserved for the owner, in exchange for a share of the charter income. It is one of the common ways to invest in a catamaran without running the operation alone.

The process unfolds in three steps. The owner first finances the purchase in cash, on credit, or through a lease-purchase agreement (called LOA in France, a lease with an option to buy). The boat then joins the fleet run by the operator, as part of the owner programme. It is finally chartered to the operator’s clients during the periods the owner has not booked, whether the boat is a new catamaran or a used catamaran.

In most charter management contracts seen on the market, the operator handles bookings, guest check-in and boat maintenance. In return, the owner receives a share of the charter income, along with sailing weeks reserved every year.

What are the most common charter management schemes?

Charter management contracts seen on the market are generally built around two logics: a fixed guaranteed income, or a variable share of the actual charter revenue. The choice between the two often depends on the owner’s profile and the catamaran considered among our catamarans for sale.

Guaranteed income

The owner receives a fixed amount, independent of the boat’s actual occupancy rate. The advantage is predictability: expected income is known in advance, regardless of how the season actually performs. The trade-off is a generally more modest return than with revenue sharing, since the operator carries the commercial risk of the charter business.

Revenue sharing

The owner receives a share of the income actually generated by chartering the catamaran. At Sailoé, this share is 65% of the value of the charter contracts, with other arrangements possible depending on the project and destination. The advantage is a higher earning potential during high season, when demand is strong. The trade-off is greater variability: income depends directly on occupancy and on the seasonality of the destination.

Deferred-sale schemes also exist, where the owner becomes full owner of the catamaran at the end of the contract, in exchange for a discount on the purchase price rather than regular charter income. At Sailoé, the charter management scheme runs on an annual contract, renewable every year: the owner is never locked into several years without visibility, unlike what a deferred-sale scheme can sometimes imply.

Scheme	Logic	What varies
Guaranteed income	Fixed amount	Predictability, more modest return
Revenue sharing	Share of actual income	Higher potential, varies with the season

How do owner weeks work?

Owner weeks are the periods when the owner sails the boat themselves, outside the charter periods. Their number is not set by a single fixed scale: the flexibility of the arrangement is what lets the owner keep control over the private use of the catamaran, coordinated with the operator according to the destination and the charter programme.

This is not unlimited availability, though: private use is coordinated with the boat’s charter calendar, often favouring off-peak periods. To get a concrete sense of what a week of sailing looks like, from a bareboat catamaran to a fully crewed organised cruise, our charter options detail the different ways to sail.

What tax rules apply to a catamaran in charter management?

In France, VAT on a pleasure catamaran stays at the standard 20% rate whether the boat is bought outright or placed into charter management, and charter income falls under the BIC regime (industrial and commercial profits), not property income.

On pleasure boat taxation, a VAT exemption does exist under French law, but according to the Bulletin officiel des finances publiques (BOFIP, the French tax authority’s official reference), it is reserved for commercial vessels used in professional deep-sea operations. Pleasure vessels are explicitly excluded, even when chartered commercially.

Charter income falls under the BIC regime (industrial and commercial profits), not property income. The reason lies in the nature of the asset: a catamaran is movable property, whereas property income concerns the letting of real estate.

The question of reclaiming VAT on the purchase comes up often. The general principle is that it requires genuine, not merely nominal, commercial operation, and the ownership structure chosen (personal name, company, LOA) affects what is possible. This point, like the whole tax section, should be worked out with a chartered accountant or tax adviser before any commitment: no general rule replaces an analysis of the specific case.

Why choose an operator that runs its own fleet rather than a broker?

Sailoé runs its own fleet of catamarans, mostly Lagoon models, across 5 physical bases in Brittany, the Seychelles, Guadeloupe, Corsica and French Polynesia, with its own technicians on site.

A fleet operator that runs its own catamarans has different interests from a broker that places the boat with a third party. Maintenance, reliability and resale value are managed in-house, by teams who know the boat and its base, rather than delegated to an outside provider.

In practice, Sailoé provides the owner with a berth for the whole duration of the partnership and covers all the marketing costs: communication, boat shows, office administration, bookings, checks and cleaning between charters, inventory, handover, and guest follow-up. Losses or damage attributable to guests are handled by the operator through the owner’s insurance, and every boat has invoices and statements available at any time from a personal account, with year-round monitoring.

Sailoé is the exclusive Lagoon dealer for Brittany and Corsica. Becoming the owner of a new catamaran through our range of new Lagoon catamarans makes it possible to fold the charter management scheme into the same point of contact, from the quote to running the boat. That is the point of our exclusive dealer commitment: supporting the project over the long term, not just at the point of sale.

To find out the precise terms suited to a specific project, catamaran model, operating base, and chosen programme, speaking with a Sailoé advisor remains the best next step.

Who is charter management for, and who should avoid it?

Charter management suits owners who only sail a few weeks a year and want to reduce the cost of owning their catamaran; it does not suit those looking for full-time availability of the boat or a purely financial investment.

It is aimed primarily at owners who would only use their catamaran a few weeks a year anyway, and who want to make it pay for itself without becoming an amateur fleet manager. It suits anyone who wants to sail without handling bookings, maintenance and insurance themselves, and who accepts sharing use of the catamaran with other sailors for the rest of the year.

It does not suit anyone looking for unlimited, immediate availability: private use of the boat is coordinated with the operator and the charter calendar, often outside high season. Nor does it suit anyone chiefly targeting maximum financial return; more liquid investments exist for a purely financial goal. Finally, it means accepting the wear that comes from other sailors using the boat.

For a specific project, talking with a Sailoé advisor makes it possible to assess whether charter management fits the sailing programme envisioned.