Smart Boat Ownership: Agapi Boat Club’s new approach to owning an Axopar

Buying a boat can often feel like a dizzying prospect. With a record number of new launches to consider, compiling a shortlist can take quite some time.

Unlike buying a car, for example, boats are an entirely different prospect.

More modular in design than ever before with flexible layout options and opportunities to personalise and customise the experience, the industry attempts to offer customers a more exact match to suit each customer’s needs. Buyers often consider range, speed, fuel consumption, numbers of berths, sun lounging, water sports activities, onboard entertaining and even the type of engines to be fitted.

This is the more pleasant stage of buying a boat. What can be slightly more mundane is selecting the berthing, winterisation, maintenance and insurance, as well as ensuring the boat is secure when it is not being used. This part of boating can be irksome at the best of times, especially for those new to boat ownership.

Sensing an emerging trend, where outright ownership is not as imperative as it used to be, boat clubs (shared membership clubs) have ‘taken up the slack’ by becoming more prevalent in key boating areas across the world, most notably in the USA and Europe.

A boat club is a membership-based service and an alternative to outright ownership.

Unlike chartering a boat, joining a membership club is a more immersive, more long-term proposition whereby boats owned by the club are used regularly by members in a way that closely resembles what it’s like to own a boat but without the headaches.

Added benefits, such as participation in social activities, attending club organised training courses, or simply being part of a like-minded community, differentiate what a membership boat club is all about.

Boat clubs are thriving, as they usually offer access to a fleet of boats across several locations while removing the overhead of maintenance, insurance, depreciation and storage charges which quickly mount up for private owners.

Agapi Boat Club, founded in 2017, is a membership-based boating club operating across 17 countries and 37 locations worldwide and along with its business partner, the successful Finnish adventure boat manufacturer, Axopar Boats, it quickly saw an opportunity to capitalise on the club trend with the objective of getting more people to go boating by making the process simpler in the places where Agapi operates.

Having said this, not all boaters fancy the switch to being ‘clubbers’ and whilst Agapi already offers very comprehensive membership schemes, none of them involve owning a boat. With an ear to the ground, they have ‘moved the dial’ to introduce a brand new concept in boat ownership.

Enter the Smart Boat Ownership programme, an evolution launched this year in 2026 and a unique addition to Agapi’s portfolio.

This is where you own the Axopar outright, you control it but Agapi offers complete peace of mind by running the boat through one of their three separate schemes. The schemes are categorised as ‘Private or Corporate’, ‘Co-ownership’ and the ‘Micro Club’.

In all cases, you decide how much you want to use your boat and how much you want to allow your boat to be used, while Agapi manages operation, maintenance, supervision, storage and administration around this. Obviously, the more you use the boat the less chance they have of offsetting costs, but this is where Agapi individualises the arrangement they have with you, so both sides’ expectations are managed from the start. The motorhome industry has been running these type of ownership schemes for many years.

Taking a look at each individually, the Private/Corporate scheme, as the name suggests, offers individuals or company directors who have purchased the boat, a compelling proposition as Agapi supports you ‘behind the scenes’. The priority is your usage with an offset of incoming revenue from controlled member usage.

Meanwhile, the Co-ownership scheme is designed for families, friends or strategic partners who wish to share ownership but want to keep the running costs down. It is similar to the Private or Corporate scheme.

Both these schemes are based around the locations where Agapi currently operates, which are pretty extensive across 17 countries, 37 locations (and counting), stretching from Bahamas to Canada, the UK, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and through to the Middle East.

The Micro Club is different when compared with the two other schemes because it’s more centred around you. You buy a new boat or boats, build a small boat club around it and Agapi supports access and usage to cover ownership costs. It invites boat enthusiasts, that fancy starting a business from their own location not Agapi’s.

You would still become part of the Agapi Club and rely on their tried and tested business practices. However, it requires that you purchase a boat or boats under the Smart Boat Ownership scheme, which uses the highly proven Axopar range at preferential partnership prices. Agapi then provides the full operational platform, booking app and online publicity platform.

In most cases Micro Club owners build their club around their own network, for example a circle of friends, a waterfront neighbourhood community or a compatible business. For those with the initiative, network and drive, it becomes a contemporary way to own a new boat.

Q: What is the difference between joining Agapi Boat Club as a member and owning a boat through Smart Boat Ownership?

A: As a standard Agapi Boat Club member, you pay a membership fee to access a shared fleet of Axopar boats without owning one. Smart Boat Ownership is a separate programme where you purchase an Axopar outright, retain full control of the boat and decide when it is used, while Agapi manages all operations, maintenance and administration on your behalf.

Q: Could the Smart Boat Ownership scheme help offset the costs of owning an Axopar?

A: Yes. Under the Smart Boat Ownership programme, Agapi can generate income from your Axopar through controlled use by other members when you are not using it. The more the boat is used, the greater the potential to offset ownership costs including maintenance, storage and administration. Agapi individualises the arrangement with each owner so that expectations on both sides are managed from the start.

Q: What are the three Smart Boat Ownership schemes offered by Agapi Boat Club?

A: Agapi Boat Club offers three Smart Boat Ownership schemes. The Private or Corporate scheme suits individuals or company directors who own the boat and want Agapi to manage it while keeping their usage as the priority. Co-ownership is designed for families, friends or partners who want to share an Axopar and split the running costs. The Micro Club scheme allows buyers to purchase one or more Axopars and build their own small boat club, supported by Agapi’s full operational platform.

Q: Who is the Agapi Boat Club Micro Club scheme aimed at?

A: The Micro Club scheme is aimed at individuals with the initiative and network to start their own small boat club. Owners purchase one or more Axopars under the Smart Boat Ownership programme and build their club around their own community, such as a circle of friends, a waterfront neighbourhood or a compatible business, with Agapi providing the operational platform, booking app and publicity support.

Q: Is Smart Boat Ownership a way to make owning an Axopar more affordable?

A: Smart Boat Ownership is designed so that the costs of owning an Axopar can be offset through managed use of the boat by other Agapi members when the owner is not using it. As co-owner Alejandra Levinas Asplund explains, the result is a boat ownership arrangement that could finance itself.