Pulling Up Anchor on the Luxury Boating Scene
From the Greek isles to the Hudson River harbor, one startup makes seamless watercraft rental a reality.
Words: Christopher Ross
Images: Colin Clark
Sailo
Founded 2014
Headquarters Midtown Manhattan
# of watercraft currently online 1,600+
Largest rental craft 152-foot megayacht in Miami
# of Americans to hit the water this year 87 million+
There are few things as pleasurable — and forebodingly expensive — as skidding across an ocean bay on a first-rate yacht or sailboat. Luckily, the onset of the sharing economy has introduced an age in which spending a night in a penthouse or summoning a private driver is no longer a novelty. And now, thanks to Sailo, the barriers to entry that once surrounded a nautical lifestyle are falling as well. Seeking to modernize and democratize the largely arcane boat rental industry, this online peer-to-peer service connects captains and vessel owners with prospective mariners with the click of a mouse.
Founded by four boat-loving friends (two of whom graduated from Columbia’s School of Business), the company makes registered yachts, catamarans, speedboats, and skiffs available to rent in waterfront destinations along the Atlantic (New York City, Hamptons, Miami) and abroad (Greece and the Virgin Islands) via a simple interface.
The Sailo team first vets the insurance info, client reviews, and credentials of its boat owners and captains to ensure quality control, encouraging owners to post photos and descriptions that highlight what’s unique about their crafts, as Airbnb users do with their homes. The platform then facilitates what can be a time-consuming process, allowing prospective boaters to compare prices and features. Choose how long to rent (from a few hours to a week or more) and from what port, decide between captained or unattended vessels, and you’re ready to book.
“The exhilaration of being out on the water — there’s just nothing else like it,” says cofounder Delphine Braas, who grew up chartering boats with her family in the Mediterranean. “We want to make that experience more accessible to more people.”
Most of the Sailo staff members also have strong connections to the life aquatic. Cofounder and CEO Adrian Gradinaru developed a passion for cruising the waters of San Francisco while working there as an engineer, while Graham Mellen, head of business development and partnerships, rents his own sailboat through the site (a sleek pocket cruiser from New England’s heritage boatmaker Sparkman & Stephens).
Unlike more disruptive startups, Sailo benefits preexisting members of its industry rather than posing a threat; it brings new business to captains rather than diverting clients away. And as the team plans to expand with additional ports along the Mediterranean and a mobile app, it is well-aligned with a new concept of luxury that places a premium on experience over material — a perfect trade-off when it comes to boats, which are famously underused assets.
“You can go out on a top-notch sailboat at sunset for less than $100 a person,” says Braas. “People spend that in a restaurant. Instead they could be lounging on the bow, sipping rosé with the skyline as their backdrop.”
Discover how today’s most innovative companies — our kindred spirits — are redefining luxury at compass.com/quarterly.
