The Helsinki firm now boasts a fleet of 180 boats in 40 marinas across the globe, including New Zealand.
A Finnish shared-use boat rental company has made inroads to the New Zealand market following its launch just two years ago, aided in large part by the Covid-19 pandemic. Skipperi New Zealand (SNZ) launched in December of 2021 in Auckland with just one boat and today boasts more than 200 subscribers, many of whom have swapped boat ownership for a more affordable boating model. Members pay between NZ$600 and NZ$3000 annually, depending on the level of access to the fleet a subscriber desires. “In the first year we couldn’t get boats fast enough, we were oversubscribed, and we actually had a waiting list. Aucklanders as of today have done 15,000 hours of boating in our vessels since we launched,” SNZ director Alexander Rosenthal says.
Within six months, the fleet had grown to 15 boats, with closed boarders and a lack of travel due to COVID saw many Kiwis with additional money in the bank, time on their hands and a desire to fill that time with new hobbies. “We do have a lot of data from over the years from six countries, and we can see a slightly higher usage in New Zealand. People here love their boating,” Rosenthal said.
New Zealand is the first Skipperi market outside of the EU, following its launch at Helsinki five years ago. That market now boasts a fleet of 180 boats in 40 marinas. The company also operates in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Canada. Skipperi has Australia on tap for later this year and eventually the US. New Zealand needs more boat sharing companies to grow the circular economy as a way to cut down on the number of boats in the water and cut CO² emissions and environmental pollution,” said Rosenthal.
