We are building this because of our love for boating, and for the need we saw for improving the float plan process. Float plans are a super important safety tool that are too frequently underutilized because they are viewed as a necessary evil - non-standardized, paper-based, and tedious to fill out with much the same information every time.
@mijustin You can think of a float plan like a flight plan (but on water, of course!). These will include a description of the vessel, trip itinerary, crew info and emergency data... its a safety tool that can be used in the event a vessel is lost in order to narrow the search criteria and radius, and also for crew members to address on-board emergencies with other crew members. Here is an example: http://bit.ly/1HFjJXG
@gregoiregilbert The product is purposefully built to operate cross-platform, so skippers and their crew can collaborate anywhere - including on a boat! We also have included a trip log where the crew can share information and discuss the trip, upload photos on their journey, check into marinas and other boat locations, and log their coordinates using their devices own location services. A specific request from the boating schools was the ability to share documents, which normally they would print out (like safety procedures, meal-plans, provisioning lists for shopping, and other related learning documents).
@gregoiregilbert One other group that we have been working with in defining this first iteration was Yacht Clubs. They also have a vital interest in raising awareness about float plans with their members. It helps them manage their fleet and docks better, and the safety aspect is of course equally important.
I'm super happy to post this!
The team at YC9 has been working hard since the past few months to craft this great product.
@sarahcassady can you please tell us about the market? Why are you building this? What's the background story?
@gregoiregilbert Our backgrounds are pretty diverse. Sarah has been coding and managing software development teams for many years, Colin is managing one of the largest charter fleets in the Pacific North West, and my background is largely in operational management in games and interactive entertainment . We came together through our passion for sailing and boats, and the shared vision to deliver better software for businesses and boaters out there.
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Very interesting! Are you focused on the Charter Boat market or do you also cater (or plan to) to the high end luxury Yacht market as well? The approach may be a bit different for that audience, but everyone appreciates an extra safety layer.
@fatfullstacks Thanks for this great feedback Gabe; who doesn’t like Superyachts? :) For this release we are primarily focused on the boaters, be it people that charter, have their own boat(s), or join crews. We believe that this segment represents the largest group of people of the overall boating market, and we know this one best. The benefits for charter companies are definitely something we had in mind right from the start, since we did a 360-degree research across the whole industry, and we will be expanding our offering of solutions there and in other B2B areas. The luxury and charter markets are very interesting, and since Colin is involved in those high value segments, we are actively looking at that too. Starting off just now, we want to build reach quickly, and the tool we released should be useful across a lot of market segments.
@gregoiregilbert, thanks! We're excited to finally release v1 to the boating crowd. Our market is currently leisure boaters who own their own boat, charter, or enjoy crewing with friends or other skippers. With a focus on safety, this has also been quite attractive to boating schools who are looking to standardize their float plan processes.
@mbesto we've checked out The Yacht Week, and these guys look like a ton of fun - definitely some complimentary services going on there too :) We're exploring opportunities across the global boating community, so thanks for bringing this up. Which features of YachtCloud9 do you think would be particularly interesting to see working with online boat charters?
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