Boat rental
The new holiday normal
A postcard that is repeated every summer by the Mediterranean Sea: Lionel Messi with his family on a luxury yacht.
The proposal is in itself tempting: spend the day sailing, visit inaccessible landscapes and enjoy the sunset over the water. It guarantees tranquility, privacy and, now, a key factor in times of pandemic: social distancing.
The yacht charter business is a success in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. But since the outbreak of the pandemic there has been an increase in the demand for this service that certifies a “safe” vacation.
Santiago Dasso and his partner Ignacio Peluffo, both 35, created a rental platform to break with the idea that this proposal is only for the “rich”.
The begining of everything
Dasso studied economics and continued his training with a graduate degree in business. “I immersed myself in the telecommunications world, I worked, I gained the tools and one day I knew that that was not my path.” He said he wanted to have his own project and gave up the stability he had experienced for almost a decade. “I put an end to that stage, and with savings I decided to follow my intuition,” he recalled. As a family, this young entrepreneur used to visit exotic places on catamarans and sailboats. “I always liked tourism and life on the water even more. Embarked as a family for the golden wedding anniversary on a trip to the Virgin Islands, unlike anything else. That resonated in my head. I knew that sooner or later I would decide to create a project related to this universe ”, he said.
This year, in the midst of the pandemic, his life turned around. After a decade of research and deep knowledge of the industry, he managed to develop, together with his partner Ignacio, a career lawyer, passionate about nautical and new technologies, a boat rental platform that has more than 13,000 boats in line: MyyachtCompany
Nothing was easy for these two friends. First the task of undertaking, then changing one’s own mindset, but also that of clients who associated navigation with luxury and inaccessible. “I wanted people to be able to enjoy destinations from the same place that people with greater resources did. This experience is accessible to the vast majority of tourists who visit the beaches of Europe and the Caribbean every year ”, he acknowledged. He described it as the largest yacht charter offering for the Latin American market.
The first voyage on the high seas
Although for Dasso the experience on board with his grandparents, cousins and uncles was what drove him. Something similar happened to Ignacio. “In 2010 we took a catamaran and sails trip with friends to the Virgin Islands and I was fascinated. At that time he was still working as a lawyer, but only a few years later, when he told me about the project, I did not hesitate and left everything to accompany him ”, said Ignacio Peluffo.
The boom in pandemic
The public is turning more and more to these types of excursions: perhaps not on large luxury yachts but on comfortable catamarans that do their job perfectly. Yacht charter allows you to visit the most isolated beaches, the most beautiful coves and the most glamorous marinas: you are ready to adapt to the “new normal”.
The concept is not to visit a hotel, but to live the experience of sailing at sea, enjoying a night in the moonlight, in an idyllic bay with the best company. You can hire nautical activities such as paddleboarding, kayaking, diving or wakeboarding to do with your group in the best bays, guaranteeing fun and contact with nature.
A boat vacation means freedom to sail, visit islands, coves and beaches in the region, choose spots without tourists in sight or enjoy the top beaches from the comfort of your boat. Choose the quality of drinks and food they want at the price of the local supplier is another benefit of these vacations. “In places like Mallorca, you can enjoy the best Spanish wine and a first-class Iberian ham sitting on the bow of your boat, sheltered by a magnificent cove. In the Virgin Islands you can snorkel with the widest variety of fish right from the boat with no tourists in sight.
In the context of a pandemic -where the traveler prioritizes social distancing-, Dasso highlighted the unusual growth of this service: “Customers who consume all-inclusive hotels and prefer to avoid crowds will opt for a ship that offers this service to a similar price with the possibility of knowing more places during your stay and avoiding people outside your group ”.
For Ignacio Peluffo, it is a style of vacation that is here to stay, as it can be adapted to most travelers who spend the summer abroad and in the south of the country. “It can be adapted to different budgets due to the wide offer that exists in different parts of the planet”
In this area, you can find unmanned services for the most nautical or you can choose to enjoy your vacation to the fullest with the help of a captain or a full crew who take care of everything. Prices are varied, there are options from $ 20 per night per person on an unmanned sailboat up to $ 500 per night per person on luxury catamarans in the Caribbean with full crew and all inclusive service.
