SailTime Anniversary Celebrations

The Idea at Sea

The sun was slipping into the Mediterranean, that hour when everything turns to gold — water, sky, even the bottle of red passed around the cockpit table. A few friends were on a charter sail, the kind of trip where conversation meanders as lazily as the wind. Between laughter and the slap of halyards against the mast, someone said it out loud: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could have a boat like this… without actually owning it?”

That single sentence, tossed into the air like a paper airplane, would eventually reshape modern boating.

When George Bonelli, a project manager from New Jersey with a knack for systems and a restless curiosity, returned home to Austin, Texas, he couldn’t shake the idea. “You spend a week living aboard this beautiful, well-kept yacht,” he recalled, “then you go home to your friend’s beat-up old boat and think — there has to be a better way.”

By 2001, that spark had a name: SailTime. The goal wasn’t to build another charter business. It was to reimagine ownership; to give people the experience of owning a yacht, minus the burden that usually came with it. It was radical, almost heretical, in a boating world still anchored in tradition.

Bonelli started small: one boat on a lake in central Texas, four members willing to try something unproven, and a real-time online scheduling system that felt futuristic at the time. The first memberships sold out in weeks. Then came the second boat and the same story repeated.

And then came doubt. The first sailboat arrived just weeks after 9/11. The country was reeling, luxury purchases seemed out of touch, and the idea of shared access felt foreign. “We honestly didn’t know if anyone would sign up,” Bonelli said. “But they did. They kept coming.”

That was the moment SailTime stopped being an idea and became a movement — a quiet rebellion against the limits of ownership, and a new way to chase freedom on the water.

Today, as SailTime celebrates its 25th anniversary, that same spirit — a mix of curiosity, courage, and good wine — still flows through its fleet. From one boat on a Texas lake to 30 bases worldwide, the company has grown into one of the most trusted names in fractional sailing. But for everyone who’s ever taken the helm, it’s still about that same feeling: the horizon ahead, the hum of the wind, and the freedom to just sail.

The article below was included about “SailTime down under” as a part of the SailTime 25th anniversary celebrations.

The Australian Connection

For nearly two decades, SailTime Australia has been — purposefully and confidently— reshaping the way Australians access life on the water. As the business marks 17 years of continuous operation, the milestone stands as a testament to vision, resilience, and a deep belief that sailing and boating should be accessible to more people than traditional ownership has ever allowed.

Founded in 2009, long before the “shared economy” became part of everyday language in Australia, SailTime Australia emerged with a model that was both simple and radical: premium boats, shared access, professional management, and a strong sense of community. Seventeen years later, that model has not only endured—it has flourished.

A Lifestyle Business Born from a Late-in-Life Passion

For co-founders, Graham Raspass and his wife Angela, SailTime Australia began as both a professional pivot and a personal journey. After a successful 17-year corporate career with News Corporation in the UK, Graham made the bold decision to change course—seeking a lifestyle business that would combine his marketing and business expertise with a growing passion for sailing.

“I took up sailing later in life,” Graham explains, “and I was looking for something that would keep me engaged with the marine industry, while also allowing my wife Angela and I to apply our business experience. When I discovered SailTime’s shared boating membership program, it immediately stood out as the perfect fit for us.”

At the time, there was no equivalent shared boating concept operating in Australia. What appealed most was not just the business opportunity, but the idea of opening access to the water to people who, like Graham himself, had once believed sailing was out of reach.

Launching Before the ‘Shared Economy’ Had a Name

When SailTime Australia launched its first base on Pittwater in April 2009, the idea of fractional access to boats was unfamiliar to the local market. There were no templates to follow, no comparable programs to point to, and strict operational requirements that demanded innovation at every step.

In order to operate, SailTime Australia had to pioneer new approaches to vessel usage, safety compliance, and survey standards—effectively helping to define how shared boating could function responsibly within Australian regulations. These early challenges shaped a culture of adaptability that would become one of the business’s greatest strengths.

Seventeen years on, SailTime Australia is widely regarded as a trusted and established presence in the boating community, having proven that shared access is not a passing trend, but a sustainable and highly relevant solution.