New Wind

Aeolian, a 28-metre sloop by Hoek Design and built by Holland Jachtbouw in 1998, has now been renamed Whirlwind as part of a refit “refresher” project by Andrew Winch Design (visit SuperyachtDesign.com for the full story). The project, which took less than four weeks to complete, was carried out and installed by the interior design team and crew. Jointly owned by Otto de Jager and Paul Lister, son of Noel Lister (co-founder of the MFI furniture group), SuperyachtDesign went to see the newly completed project and to find out more about the fractional ownership arrangement.


Jager explained that the success of the purchasing process and planned usage of the yacht is due to the close and long-term friendship he has with Lister. Both owners will get four weeks a year onboard and charter her like any other client. “Paul and I met 15 years ago,” explained Jager as we sat in the cockpit. “In fact he was one of my clients at the time and we have been friends ever since. At the age of 53 we decided we wanted to buy a sailing yacht, as we aren’t getting any younger. I started sailing from a young age, but have never owned a yacht before, so this is all new to me. So far everything has been OK!”

Jager went on to explain that this investment was for the love of sailing and a chance to spend more time with his family in a relaxing environment. “Hopefully chartering Whirlwind will cover her costs but we don’t expect to get anything back on the investment through it,” Jager commented. 

To ensure that the yacht is used equally between her owners and chartered regularly, the yacht will be managed by Ocean Independence broker, Barbara Muller, and chartered around the western Mediterranean. “Whirlwind will be based around Corsica, Italy or southern France during the summer before going to the Caribbean for the winter season,” explained Muller.

Fractional ownership is a relatively new phenomenon in the yachting world and derives from the private jet industry. The YachtPlus project, which was announced at Monaco in 2006 (see The Yacht Report, issue 110), is a recent example of superyachts that have been built for the purposes of shared ownership—although the exercise has not been as commercially successful as was hoped.

This style of ownership has worked well for Jager so far and is something he would recommend to those who want to sail for a few weeks a year, but wish to retain the freedom of deciding when to sail—and save money in maintenance costs. Unfortunately, Lister was not there to comment on the partnership nor the interior finish, but Jager expressed great satisfaction with the work carried out by the Andrew Winch Design team.

Related Links:
Andrew Winch Design - company profile | company website
Ocean Independence - company profile | company website

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