There are pros and cons from the perspective of the leasor and the lessee. I'd like to explore them because I see virtually no lease business in our arena. But imagine leasing one for a season. Summers in the North, Winters in the South. Let's start with the leasor:

Pros:
High monthly recurring income

Cons:
Lessee beats the heck out of the boat (how to reconcile this?)
Lessee beats the heck out of the engine (how to reconcile this?)
New boat depreciates quickly
Insurance?


As for the lessee:

Pros:
No long term commitment to payments and potential residual loss when boat comes to term. (when you go to sell your boat 2 or 3 years later it will have depreciated greatly and you could lose a lot).

Cons:
You lease a boat that may or may not have good service support should it need repairs

Lease used boats w/ stock power.
How about insuring those boats... whoa!

Honestly, I don't see any good coming of it.

First of all, I can't imagine any insurance company writing a policy for leasing purposes(it's hard enough for the owner to get insurance).

Secondly, performance boats are so particular with their requirements for handling and maintenance I would be terrified letting someone else motor off into the distance with a performance boat.

As far as realizing the value of the boat, I think that only the true owner could ever appreciate it.

Simple damages or negligence can cost tens of thousands of dollars on boats like ours, not to mention routine maintenance -- I can't imagine ever making that back on a seasonal or monthly basis.

A buddy of mine was part of a boat club, where you pay a monthly fee and get to take out these little 20' deckboats with outboards. The average lifespan of a boat there was like a year. It's unimaginable the damage some of these people can do to boats.

I have an idea what it costs but would never want to really work the numbers and figure out what my boat costs me per month. If I did I would probably sell it.
As for writing monthly check

Do the quick math (I won't), what do you think a lease payment would be on a 150K boat?

Without going into it too deeply, suppose you are able to power a new 30' boat with a 496 magnum. Put a givernor on the engine, etc. Divide the year into 2 seasons: end of May until mid September, boat is in the North at a prescribed boat yard, stored high and dry. Second season is South, from mid October until end of March, same scenario. This way the owner can keep tabs on the boat. Charge something like 2,000 to 2,500 a month, plus insurance. Again, this is for illustrative purposes because I have not worked out every factor in the cost.

Oh yeah, I forgot, the boat cost about 55k with power.

Let's see how Captain 18'Bayliner can handle those six footers?

My guess for insurance? ... In the millions.

This was tried several years ago and I believe there are a couple of threads on the subject. Bottoom line is that it never moved forward. Try a search.

Lease's are write offs

Insurance would be know different then a leased car

Leasing company would have a low residual rate to make all the money upfront

The right people could make this work

Actually, you're on to something.
Buy this 30ft Superboat. $55,000.
Lease it @ $2300/mo for all 12months... either up north or down south.
At the end of 3yrs you get a 3yr old used boat and take in an extra $27,800.