A 48-foot-long deluxe yacht is expected, for example, to cost about 5 million yuan ($813,000), without considering the about 1 million yuan needed to pay the salaries of a skipper and crew member, dock charges and maintenance costs, said Zhou Juan, general manager of the Shanghai Double Happiness Yacht Co Ltd.

Enjoying life on the ocean wave

Setting sail into uncharted waters

"It is quite often the case that a consumer will not risk the pastime, because he feels it impossible to spend the whole year on the yacht," Zhou said.

The company tried a timeshare model by selling shares of two yachts to 20 shareholders, who share ownership and days of use.

Use of the two yachts, managed by professional skippers and sailors, are allocated to users by a service platform provided by the company, she said.

"The practice has proved it is a good solution to both fully use the boat and reduce the financial burden on each purchaser," she added.

Zhou said the service platform can also help yacht owners transfer their shares.

Shanghai, a metropolis that has expended great effort building itself into an economic, financial and shipping center, lags far behind other coastal cities in the country in developing the yacht business, experts said.

Statistics show that the city had only about 50 registered yachts last year, a small portion of the country's more than 1,000.

"The city is studying ways of letting yachts cruise on the Huangpu River by setting up an approved sailing zone. It will be considered a key measure to push forward the local yacht business," said Bi Tao, director of the Shanghai Huangpu maritime affairs bureau.