Peer-To-Peer Boat Rental Service Gathering Momentum

While high-performance powerboat rentals currently are few and far between, they may have moved one step closer to being a more-common reality with this week’s announcement Dominion Marine Media, the owner of boats.com, Yachtworld.com and BoatTrader.com. Based in Norfolk, Va., with a sales office Seattle, Dominion has announced exclusive partnership with peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace Boatbound, which is headquartered in San Francisco. The partnership will introduce Boatbound to the nearly 5 million unique monthly visitors of Dominion Marine Media owned properties, the most popular U.S. websites connecting boat buyers with boat sellers according to a press release from Dominion.

“We have been watching the emergence of the sharing economy in boating and are excited to see the concept gaining traction through Boatbound,” said Ian Atkins, senior vice president and general manager of Dominion Marine Media. “We are impressed by Boatbound’s business approach and we are keen to support their drive to grow the boating audience in general. Not only is it in the best interests of all our customers, we also enjoy seeing more people than ever getting excited about the boating lifestyle.”

According to the press release, the partnership comes fresh on the heels of Boatbound’s recent announcement that the company received $2.5 million in a new financing round led by Brunswick Corporation, the owner of popular boat brands like Sea Ray, Bayliner, Boston Whaler, and Mercury Marine, the largest manufacturer of recreational boat engines.

“For many would-be boat owners, purchasing a boat is just out of their reach financially,” said Aaron Hall, the chief executive officer and founder of Boatbound. “By giving these non-traditional boat owners the ability to offset a percentage (or all) of the monthly boat payment by renting it through Boatbound, boat ownership can become a reality.”

(Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.)