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What does everyone think of fractional boat ownership?

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I would rather charter than go the fractional route. At least with a charter, you pay once and are done, less risk and what happens when you are not on board cannot hurt you.
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I went from owning my own boat in Florida which I sailed to the Bahamas frequently and occasionally chartering to owning a boat that is in charter with one of the major chartering companies.   Although this is a bit different from fractional ownership, many of the economics, advantages and disadvantages are similar.

I made the decision based on simple economics.   I never used my boat evenings or weekend sails, but rather for cruising 4-8 weeks per year.    That's about the same amount of time I use my current charter boat now, only instead of sitting unused and aging, it is being chartered and generating income.    I have more invested in the boat, but I also have no maintenance fees, not insurance fees, no storage fees and best of all, the boat is always ready to go when I show up.

Sure chartering gives you more flexibility and is less committing, but then I sail much more often because I can do it for about 1/3 the cost of chartering.

Like everything else however, I think you need to look at your own circumstances:   Do you really want to commit a large amount of money to sailing vacations for several years?    Does having access for the time offered work with your desires and time off?   Are you able to deal with terms at the contract end?   These are some of the things you need to consider in making this decision.

However, I think there is no denying the economics of sharing the costs instead of having a boat sit and age while paying storage in a boat yard.
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