Having grown up spending his summers on the French Riviera, Matty Zadnikar has always had an infatuation for the sea. After seeing boats – both big and small – each summer, he saved up and bought himself a 16-foot Zodiac. After years of upgrading his boats, Zadnikar eventually made the ultimate upgrade to buy a superyacht. In May 2012, he bought a Benetti Delfino 93, now named Mister Z, and discovered the true joys of yacht ownership. However, this is not a story of Zadnikar’s love affair with yacht ownership, it is a story of how his experiences of being an owner led him to establish SeaNet Europe, most notable for its yacht co-ownership model.
Throughout his first two years of yacht ownership, receiving his Benetti superyacht in 2014, he discovered both the ups and downs of being an owner. While liaising with fellow owners between Mediterranean ports, Zadnikar found that three common themes emerged in the oftentimes cathartic conversations about the positives and perils of ownership. The first was the ‘love-hate’ relationship with ownership. He explained, “You love it when you’re with your friends and family in Saint Tropez, truly nothing is better! But, then the technical side of things emerges. You get a call from your captain about all of the maintenance you must do, which obviously comes at a cost.” He continued, “For owners, it’s not about the money, but it is out of humility that it seems wrong for us to have the feeling of ‘burning’ money in relation to how often I am onboard.”
The second theme that emerged in his discussions with other owners is that time on board is often spent taking care of logistics. “When you finally see your head stewardess or captain, it is the perfect – or shall I say imperfect – opportunity to discuss the logistics of the yacht. Though I am there for holiday, I find myself having to take care of managing the yacht.” The third theme is crew management. When you spend much of your time on board, your yacht becomes a home away from home, where you should feel comfortable. For him, finding and keeping the right crew to make life on board easy, was an essential yet difficult task, of which the burden oftentimes fell on the owner.
Traditionally, the yachting sector has viewed its customer base as two separate groups: owners and charterers. However, this has been a drastic oversimplification according to Zadnikar, in the wake of these formative conversations, Zadnikar knew that the yachting industry was missing an entire third group of clients who fall in between those who want to be sole owners and those who want to occasionally charter. This group wants to reap the benefits of ownership while minimising operational costs. On sabbatical following the sale of his company and itching to do something new, Zadnikar had a eureka moment: why not combine his love for yachting with his entrepreneurial spirit. For him, the solution was superyacht co-ownership.
Thinking that there must have already been a solution to this problem in place, Zadnikar’s search was empty. Realising that no one in Europe offered co-ownership for superyachts – though such ownership models exist for planes (NetJets), villas and even super cars like Lamborghinis – he knew that it was time to combine his lifelong love of yachting with his entrepreneurial spirit and establish SeaNet Europe in 2016.
Essential to SeaNet Europe is its unique co-ownership model, which enables owners to purchase a certain percent share of ownership. This not only substantially reduces the upfront cost of purchase, but also reduces yearly operational costs. Time on board is guaranteed during peak season (the Mediterranean summer), in the preseason and offseason (the Mediterranean spring and fall), as well as guaranteed within the winter season (in the Caribbean).
Because co-ownership allows owners to split operational costs, superyachts in the SeaNet fleet are double season yachts as they are transported to the Caribbean for the winter season. Also, due to SeaNet’s model, they provide a rotational crew to ensure that you don’t have to deal with the all-too-common occurrence of high crew turnovers.
SeaNet provides an array of logistical solutions, which have been developed personally by Zadnikar and his team of experts and consultants. SeaNet has a delegated budget to ensure that there are never unexpected costs and that maintenance is always taken care of to the fullest extent necessary.
Currently, the SeaNet fleet has completed 16 share deals, with four superyachts in the fleet, with three additional share deals currently in the pipeline. The company recently sold all shares of a 28.95-metre Benetti Delfino, hull 111. Zadnikar hopes to complete three deals currently in the pipeline so that SeaNet can firmly establish itself as a serious contender in the industry with five yachts in five years. Though many have been receptive to the SeaNet solution, Zadnikar understands that co-ownership is not for everyone. “Some people just want to own their own yacht. I don’t say that people should not buy their own yacht. I simply explain to them what the advantages of co-ownership are. Ownership is to be enjoyed whether it’s sole or co-ownership!”
Having had many tell him that such a concept would never succeed because of people’s apprehension, Zadnikar doesn’t bat an eye. With the backing of SeaNet by a major industry player, Benetti, who has supplied each of the yachts in the fleet, confidence in the brand is apparent across the board. When dealing with apprehension, Zadnikar lets the numbers speak for themselves. “When I get the chance to put people in a room and explain our concept to them, it’s financially a no brainer to them.” He continued, “One of the first hurdles is ensuring people that it isn’t a timeshare. When you timeshare, you buy time. When the company who owns the asset goes bankrupt, your timeshare is gone. What we do is very simple: we sell a share and you get an ownership title in an owning company, which is entirely yours.”
For Zadnikar and SeaNet, one thing is certain: When the cost of purchasing and maintaining a superyacht outweighs the time spent on board and the extent to which you can enjoy it – often due to the logistics of ownership – considering co-ownership can put fun and simplicity into ownership. “When you’re on board, it has to be full holiday, full enjoyment mode.”
For more information about SeaNet’s innovative co-ownership model as well as the other yacht services they also provide, please use the contact information below.