Sparta, a 220-foot-long Heesen superyacht uses Voly software to manage a wide variety of essential tasks

Voly

I’m always grateful when I get invited onboard one of the world’s largest and most expensive superyachts because experiencing the quality, craftmanship, art, imagination and over-the-topness they embody—and yes, occasionally taking a dip in the pool on deck—is obviously pretty special. But, my interest in, and respect for the entire superyacht ecosystem goes much deeper than simply taking a dip in the pool.

In fact, I’m just a regular guy who happens to work in the superyacht industry. And you might find this hard to believe but, I take my job seriously because these amazing yachts provide jobs for lots of smart, creative and talented people. And the stories they tell deserve to be shared.

Take Ian Flanagan for instance. He was a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour before founding Voly Yachting to help superyacht captains, crew, yacht managers and owners easily allocate and track the significant expenses that come with running the superyachts I get to visit from time to time.

And while I’ll be the first to admit that any form of accounting literally terrifies me. I’m told running superyachts with a multi-million dollar budget requires robust accounting tools to make sure everyone from the owner, captain, crew, shipyards, and assorted vendors get what they need when they need it.

“After my tennis career was over, a mate at the time suggested I should invest in a financial services company that had a prepaid MasterCard. As a result of that, I was soon meeting superyacht captains who said: ‘The card helps. But we really need something to deal with these budgets. The card alone isn’t enough.’

“Then I had an idea to build a platform that would integrate our prepaid card with all the necessary banking and accounting systems a superyacht captain and crew could use in an all-in-one platform, whilst still providing the owners’ offices with the data they need. We spent a lot of time listening to some of the biggest names in the industry, from superyacht captains to management companies, and these insights have shaped all our products. Most recently, we’ve taken feedback from leading management company Y.co, amongst others, on crew payroll and used this to create Voly Crew – an industry-leading payroll platform designed specifically for superyachts. ”

It obviously worked. Since 2021, Voly has grown to 200 people and the company’s accounting software, operations, management and planning tools are now being used on over 2,000 yachts world-wide.

“The more we build, you would think we'd run out of options,” he continues as we chat during a break at the recent Palm Beach Boat Show. “But the crazy thing is, the more functionality we build into the platform, the more opportunities we create. Voly is becoming a much more of an ecosystem.

“We started with software to streamline and integrate pure financial accounting, which spread into charter APA and refit management. Since inception, our customers’ feedback has provided a clear vision, and following three strategic company acquisitions, the product we’re now most excited by is our end-to-end payroll solution that allows captains and crew to have an easy-to-manage payroll system that’s integrated with all our other products. Contracts, leave, bank details, etc. are all in one place. It's the only true end-to-end superyacht management technology solution.”

The sky seems to be the limit for Ian, who is adamant that Voly is not yet complete and will continue to grow over the coming years. “There is a precise set of products coming in our road map, and then others, such as planned maintance, ISM or even navigation, that we may add to the platform at some point. Our aim is to give the captain and crew all they need to run the yacht seamlessly whilst providing accurate, real-time data to those professionals supporting the owner to make his experience first class” responds Flanagan when quizzed on what’s next for Voly.

And if superyacht management solutions aren’t sexy enough. Voly also provides a similar integrated accounting software solution for artists, tv and film in the music and entertainment industry.

Stay tuned for more superyacht insider stories like this one.