Buying a boat with three others is decided quickly. The decisions that have to carry the arrangement for years are usually made in passing — and years later they can only be corrected with difficulty. Four of them are worth an hour before anyone signs.
1. The legal form is not a formality
In Germany there are two routes, and they differ in what counts when it matters. Outside Germany the forms have different names — the questions behind them are the same, the statutes are not.
| Co-ownership by shares | Partnership | |
|---|---|---|
| Basis | §§ 741 ff. BGB | §§ 705 ff. BGB |
| Who owns the boat | each owns their share | the partnership as a whole |
| Selling a share | possible in principle | governed by the agreement |
| Effort | low | higher, but more can be regulated |
For four people who simply want to sail together, co-ownership by shares is the usual route. As soon as the boat is to be chartered out or larger sums are involved, the partnership is worth a look. This is the point where legal advice pays off most — everything else you can settle yourselves.
2. Shares: equal, or according to what each put in?
Both occur. Equal shares are simpler and fit when everyone pays in the same amount and sails about as much. Unequal shares fit when someone brings in an existing boat or pays considerably more.
Count in per mille, not in per cent. Between three people 33.3 % does not add up — 333 ‰ / 333 ‰ / 334 ‰ does. The difference sounds pedantic until the first annual statement is a few cents out and someone asks why.
3. Use: the high season is the whole question
Nobody argues about the shoulder season. The question is who sails in August. What works is a round of wishes with a rotating order: everyone names the weeks they want, allocation follows a fixed order, and that order moves on by one place every year. Whoever picked first this year picks last next year.
Also put down what happens when someone does not use their week: does it lapse, may they swap, or does it go back into the pool?
4. Costs: two pots, not one
Separate what arises regardless of use from what someone consumes:
- By share: berth, insurance, winter storage, lift-out, servicing — they arise whether anyone sails or not.
- By use: diesel, harbour dues along the way, consumables.
This separation spares you the most common argument: whoever sails little still pays the fixed costs — because the berth costs money even while the boat sits in it.
In short. Settle the legal form, count shares in per mille, agree a rotating round of wishes for the high season, and separate fixed costs from consumption. Everything else can be adjusted later.