Start A Marine Business
Become a SailTime Australia Base Owner
SailTime Australia Base Owner Opportunity
SailTime Australia is seeking passionate, business-minded individuals to open new bases across Australia. We currently have bases in Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, Pittwater and Port Stephens - and we're actively looking to expand into Manly/Moreton Bay, Scarborough, Perth, Adelaide, Mornington, and Geelong.
If you've always wanted to turn your love of the water into a business, this is a genuinely rare opportunity - a proven model, an established brand, and a growing market of Australians who want to sail without the cost of owning a boat.
SailTime has also proven to be an excellent add-on to an existing Marina business.
How SailTime Australia began
I'm Graham Raspass, Managing Director of SailTime Australia. After a career in senior executive roles and running my own consulting business for over 16 years, I was looking for something that combined my business background with my passion for the water. I discovered SailTime in 2007 - a concept that had started in the United States in 2001 and was already operating in Europe by 2004.
I launched SailTime Australia in April 2009 with a single boat at Newport on Pittwater. Today we have four bases across NSW, a fleet of quality sailing yachts and a Swift Trawler, and we're part of a global network of 30+ bases across North America and Europe.
The model works. Members love it, owners benefit from it, and there is genuine demand in Australian waterways that we haven't yet been able to reach. That's where new base owners come in.
Why open a SailTime base?
Proven business model - SailTime has been operating for over 20 years globally. You're not starting from scratch; you're building on a model that has been refined across four continents.
Established brand - SailTime is a recognised name in sailing memberships. Your marketing starts from a position of credibility, not anonymity.
Proprietary technology - you'll have access to SailTime's scheduling software and member management platform, which handles bookings, maintenance tracking and financial reporting.
Full support - from initial training and an operations manual through to marketing materials, legal agreements and ongoing operational guidance, SailTime provides the framework. You provide the local knowledge, the relationships and the drive.
Low overhead model - a SailTime base can be run from a home office. There are no long-term commercial leases, no large staff requirements and no major inventory expenses beyond the boats themselves.
Global network - your members automatically get access to 30+ bases worldwide through SailTimePLUS. That's a product no independent sailing business can match.
Is this the right business opportunity for you?
A SailTime base is not a quick-return venture. It's a lifestyle business that rewards people who are genuinely passionate about sailing and committed to building something meaningful in their local waterway. If you can answer yes to most of these questions, you may be the right fit:
Do you have a vision for building a successful sailing business in your local area?
Are you passionate about sailing and the lifestyle that goes with it?
Do you have the entrepreneurial drive, sales skills and marketing ability to build a business in your location from the start-up?
Do you have the time and flexibility to focus on launching and growing a new base?
Do you have access to start-up capital for operational and marketing budgets?
Do you have sufficient credit to finance her first boat into your fleet?
A background in sailing is valuable but not essential. A genuine love of the water and the drive to share it with others are the most important qualifications.
New base locations we're targeting
We are actively looking for base owners in the following locations:
Queensland - Manly/Moreton Bay, Scarborough
Victoria - Mornington, Geelong
South Australia - Adelaide
Western Australia - Perth
Marine Business Opportunity
How to apply to become a SailTime Base Owner
If you believe the SailTime Base Owner opportunity could be right for you, complete our enquiry form below. Once we've received your application, we'll ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement so we can share detailed financial and operational information with you.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Graham Raspass Managing Director, SailTime Australia & New Zealand
You can read our Base Owner FAQ’s here