Renting a wakeboard boat???

Has anyone ever heard of, or rented, a nice wakeboard boat? If you finance a $35,000 boat thats about $350 a month 4200 a year for 15 years. Would it be cost effective to rent a boat during the summer a week here a weekend there ect.. and not have to deal with the other issues that goes along with ownership! They lease and rent out cars why not boats.

They do, but they are old, DD, with no stereo. You also aren't supposed to put ballast in them. ... You can get a used boat cheaper than $35K.

If rental is an option, then top of the line is not a requirement. ... Storage may be an issue to consider though.

So what would stop a guy/girl from starting a buisiness that rents out a nicer boat. maybe even send a driver with for the day. wouldn't that appeal to alot of people out there that love the sport but don't want to spend the cash for a nice boat.

Having rented myself and also seeing alot of rentals at the marinas were I go to I have noticed that rentals boats are generally beat pretty badly. Running full throttle when cold and all day. Running up on the rocks things of that nature. It would seems hard to keep a "nice" boat nice that way. Just my opinion.

So what would stop a guy/girl from starting a buisiness that rents out a nicer boat. maybe even send a driver with for the day. wouldn't that appeal to alot of people out there that love the sport but don't want to spend the cash for a nice boat.

Just curious where you rented and what it cost for the day?

Hmm,

Let’s see here, to start your own business renting wakeboard boats…..

First I would think it wouldn’t be cost effective,
You would at least need a couple of wakeboard boats, 30k each = 60k (used)
Insurance would be a killer…
Maintenance and clean up hmm I wouldn’t or couldn’t even imagine,
The risk of some idiot that thinks he knows the boating rules causes a major problem with other boats,

Last but least how would you ever get a head in this type business?, Profit?

If you want to just go out every once in a while and not have to deal with what comes with having a boat, then just pay for lessons with a pro instructor. You can get deals when you book a number of lessons through a wakeboard camp/school, you can go for a week if you would like, the boats are top notch and you get pro instruction.

How much would you pay for a full day of wakeboarding? $30$50,$75 ?? Lets say you are on rent out spots on your boat and you have a 23' boat. 13 spots if you fill 10 spots you could take in $500 in a day. Take out gas and you drive your own boat or hire a driver for the day. The driver makes sure it's taken care of and you could potentially make some cash. Am I missing something? That's only one day and if you are on a popular lake??

Good Idea Jeff, but I live in Grants Pass Oregon not many pro's in the area. Or is there? Anyone know?

I rented out of New Melones marina (CA) $550.00 for the day plus $750.00 damage waiver plus gas on a busy weekend for a 98 malibu DD that was beat and dirty with no frills. Think about 10 avid wakeboarders riding all day that could amount to around $300.00 in gas with gas prices these days. I know i have no problem burning $120.00 a day for three riders (with full ballast) and a little cruising. $75.00 at least a head to make a little cash and then you still dont know what kind of j-asses are going with you.

Good info big rich would it really burn that much in gas? is that marina gas prices? I agree about those going with you you never know who you will get. But you might also get the hot babe on ocasion.

The Hot babe is not going to be on a rental boat, they are going to be on a pimped out X-Star, why? because they are hot and they can. HAHA

What would the insurance cost on a newer boat?

If you are interested in renting a boat we offer a "rental" program with instructors as someone said.

Check out www.deltawakeboardcamp.com

Tim,
The insurance on a boat is cheap. If you are going to rent it out, the insurance is not affordable. That is the number 1 reason you don't see nice wakeboard boats for rent. You can ask all the what if's you want on this site, but you will need to make some calls to get real answers.

Also, the $500 a day (maybe on Sat and Sun between mem day and labor day) throw in some weekdays and it still is not much. Like Ken said, "Where is the profit"?

I think the only people who would profit from this, is an owner of a resort or camp, where this is just another profit center adding to the big picture. like all other advice you'll get on this forum, take it all with a grain of salt because it wil be all over the board.

Amen Troy

The hot babes wont be on any rental. they're all on my boat (riding for free LOL)

If you only wanted the boat a couple of weekends a year it would be good to rent.

If you wanted to be able to ride a couple weekends a month then renting would be a real pain.

With your own boat, you get ready the night before, drive to the lake, launch and you are riding a few minutes later.

To rent a boat, you would have to go to the rental office, wait in line, get the paperwork filled out, etc. etc. I doubt that you would be riding within two hours of arriving at the lake.

Here you go:

http://www.toyshare.com/index.php

Bullards has a few 22' MB dd's for rent. They're quite noticeably used, but for $350 a day during the peak season, it's not to bad. And from what I saw, the rider was taking full advantage of the smallish wake, but riding none the less.
They do require a $1000 deposit.

I will rent my MC for 65k

Tim if you ever want to come to Florida with some friends I could help you get set up some where, then you can use my boat, me included of course. I have some people coming down from Maryland who are going to spend a weekend in Nov. riding behind my boat. I'll be with them but at least they know they have a boat.

With a season at lake powell resorts, I might have some insight, probably not. We(they, cause I got fired for having a dog), rent three centurion avalanches(or is it avalanchi?). one is in much better shape then the others. They all have internal ballast, stereos, biminis and towers of course. All are v drives. The nicer has about 600 hours on it, the others I dont know. They are expensive to rent, like 5bills a day. They do offer "lessons" by the hour. this is more a boat and a uscg captain with equipment than a lesson. bout 80 an hour. The bulk of that pays the captain. it is required that any vessels on the lake that are for hire must be piloted by a captain. might by a company rule, might be fedral. sorry to ramble, but this is my first post in eight months!

Thanks for the invite Duffy, Oregon is a long way fro,b Florida But I will keep you in mind if I plan a vacation.

No problem I'm always around..

Hi Tim

The wakeboard and ski boat rental concept is actually pretty common in Europe and Asia. A friend of mine lives in Geneva, Switzerland and does exactly that. They pay about $150 an hour for an 2005 X-star and that includes fuel, driver, and equipment. There are usually 2-3 of them that go at the same time to split the cost.

It seems expensive, but compared to actual boat ownership and fuel costs where he is at, it is quite reasonable. He said the boat costs almost twice as much there as it does in the US due to import taxes and fees, not to mention fuel is 2-3 times as much there compared to here.

I have another business acquaintance who lives in Singapore and he says they have the same there as well, but we never discussed the cost.

I think it is a viable idea for the US, but it would have to be somewhere with lots of tourist who would drop a few hundred bucks for a couple of hours just for the experience. You would definitely want to include the driver in the rental fee as it would be the only way to keep the boat in any kind of decent condition.

Steve