6 August 2025

Neil Chapman, founder and CEO of Boatshed.com tells us about the Boatshed Coalition.

There’s an old joke in the marine industry: “If you want to get something done, do it yourself. If you want it done slowly, form a partnership.”

Like all good jokes, it’s funny because it’s mostly true.

We’ve all seen collaboration go sideways. Joint ventures with more decks than hull. Committees with agendas longer than minutes. Don’t even mention the WhatsApp group chats. So when someone suggested we build a “coalition” of marine professionals, my first reaction was somewhere between “not again” and “hard pass.”

But here's the twist: it actually worked.

The Accidental Structure

This wasn’t your usual “strategic alliance” (read: endless coffee chats). It was more like a builder’s merchant with a self-checkout: tools, systems, and workflows you could use without needing a PhD in meetings.

You brought your bit, maybe you knew a boat for sale, maybe you were a whizz at local handovers, or maybe you were just brilliant at tracking paperwork across time zones. Whatever your skillset, there was a place for it. And you got paid your slice, no drama, no gatekeeping.

It was modular. Transparent. Low-ego. Basically everything collaboration usually isn’t.

A Coalition, Not a Cult

We didn’t all fly the same flag. Some people just turned up, did Process 1 or 2 (find the boat, do the viewings), got paid, and moved on. Others went all in and used the whole system, contracts, client funds, full platform access.

No pressure. No lock-in. But what emerged was surprising: a functional, decentralised marine coalition. Not by brand. By process.

And somehow, weirdly, it had rules, but not red tape.

What We Learned

• People don’t mind splitting commissions if they know who’s doing what.
• Trust isn’t built on logos. It’s built on workflow visibility.
• Ego kills deals faster than barnacles.
• You don’t need a franchise to collaborate. You just need a fair system.

So, What Now?

We’re not saying this is the future. We’re just saying it worked better than expected.

The Coalition model isn’t about everyone joining hands in a circle. It’s about creating a loose, transparent operating system for doing deals across the marine world. And yes, you can still hate meetings and love this.

So if you're a boatyard, a part-time broker, a shipping agent, or just a sailor who always knows who’s selling what, maybe it’s time to stop going solo.

Or don’t. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.

PS: We’re not trying to pitch anything. But if you want to borrow the system, use parts of it, or laugh at the mistakes we made building it, drop us a line. This coalition has space for more reluctant collaborators.