Co-founded in 2014 by Jérémy Bismuth and Edouard Gorioux, Click&Boat has grown rapidly. In just ten years, the platform, initially designed to connect boat owners with renters, has become the European leader in online boat rentals, offering over 55,000 boats (including 17,000 sailboats) in more than 60 countries.
“At the beginning, 100% of our boats were listed by private owners. That has changed significantly, as today, 85% of our business relies on professional charter companies, to whom we offer real business acceleration,” explains Jérémy Bismuth. “This approach allows them to increase their visibility, optimise their occupancy rates, and reach a new customer base.”
This is confirmed by Dominique Devaux, who has been running Activoile, a yacht charter company in La Trinité-sur-Mer, since 1992. “I rent directly through my own business, but also through Click&Boat,” says Devaux, who raced in the Transquadra in 2011-2012. “It brings me new clients and allows me to diversify my customer base. Some come for racing – like the Spi Ouest-France, the Tour de Belle-Ile, or student regattas – with my boats including a Grand Surprise, a Sun Odyssey 36 Performance, and a Pogo 12.50, while others are more focused on cruising.”
It’s exactly this diversity in use that Click&Boat aims to highlight with its sailboat offer. “We cater to people who may not be experienced sailors and want to enjoy a relaxed cruise with a skipper, as well as to more demanding customers who might want to test a boat before buying or participate in a regatta,” adds Jérémy Bismuth. “For example, we are often contacted by students looking for boats to race in events like the Spi Dauphine or the Edhec Sailing Cup, as well as by businesses organising internal regattas. We provide them with tailored offers based on their specific needs.”
To support this diversity, the platform is further optimising its search engine, which already includes multiple filters (boat type, manufacturer, etc.), by allowing users to select their desired experience (race training, regatta, cruise, etc.). Click&Boat is also looking to offer more unique vessels, like the former Groupama 1, which will soon be available for half-day or full-day charters in Marseille, with a professional skipper, Grégory Paulin, on board.
“We recently posted a listing to kick-start our charter business, and Click&Boat reached out to us, proposing a sort of partnership to feature the boat on their platform,” confirms Paulin, who can take up to ten guests on board, along with himself and a co-skipper. Among the first to sail on the Orma trimaran, originally launched by Franck Cammas in 1998, will be the two winners – along with two randomly selected participants – of the Marseille Express, a virtual race organised by Click&Boat and Virtual Regatta, which ran from Porto to Marseille and concluded last weekend. It’s a unique way to blend the virtual and real worlds for a truly memorable experience.
Photo : Steven Floc’hlay
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