Original prospectus, written at launch of scheme in 2005 The trouble is that keeping a fully equipped luxury cruiser the size and quality of a Bon Viveur in France and then using her for just a few weeks a year scarcely makes economic sense. On the other hand, the cost of chartering a boat in France is becoming ever more expensive year by year. Happily, joining a co-ownership syndicate offers an attractive alternative at a fraction of normal charter rates. To that end, we have created a unique and very successful two-centre program which enables our members to cruise the French inland waterways for a couple of weeks (or three, or four, or ten) every year in a Bon Viveur through their ownership of shares in one of our syndicates. Each share confers actual ownership of 1/36 of the boat (1/34 in the case of Bon Viveur II) and entitles the shareholder to a week's cruising every year for the life of the boat. The price of a share generally varies from £3,750 to £5,950, according to where in the season the cruising weeks occur. Cruising weeks do not have to be consecutive and shares can be sold or exchanged at any time. One popular approach is to have a week in Burgundy in the summer and another week on the Midi in spring or autumn. The boat can, however, be sold after ten years and the net proceeds distributed proportionately among shareholders. Syndicate members also contribute proportionately to the Bon Viveur's running costs (estimated at around £350 per share per year and covering such things as insurance, licences, moorings, servicing, transport and craneage). Given that it could cost upwards of £2,400 just to charter a boat of this quality for a week (for example, Burgundy Cruisers' EuroClassic 149), you can see that you don't have to keep your shares for very long before the unique pleasures of boating in France become more and more affordable. Furthermore, since the life of the Bon Viveur is conservatively predicted to be over 30 years and since charter rates will inevitably rise during that period, the value of your shares should actually be quite stable in the medium to long term.