Is THIS the life of a Yacht Broker?

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What comes to mind when you think of the yachting industry?

Instagram paints a picture of bikini clad girls dancing on decks, young people jumping off the bow of a superyacht into crystal clear water, and folk speeding around on all kinds of water toys having fun.

These images are very attractive. Yacht Shows have become full of “influencers” wanting to post an image on a superyacht, and social media is full of attention seekers doing anything they possibly can to get views and likes. This morning I even saw an Instagram video of a lunatic young Captain manoeuvring his 80’ yacht into a tight berth whilst blindfolded!

With this newsletter I want to assure you that yachting IS fun. It really is. As a yacht broker I have swam with sharks in the Bahamas, partied with Billionaires in Berlin, tasted some of the finest food at Michelin star restaurants all over the world and enjoyed being a guest on board some truly sensational superyachts, including one on which we partied in the on board swimming pool until the early hours of most mornings.

It IS fun. But if you want to enjoy that fun for the long term you have to know when to work, and when to play. You have to understand why you have been invited to enjoy these remarkable experiences, and value both the asset that you are on board and also the relationships that you have built.

A yacht Captain showing off his skill on Instagram by berthing a vessel while blindfolded can create significant problems for the owner of the yacht and his insurance company, not to mention potentially harm other people. A recent cautionary tale from the world of YouTube shows what happens when yacht crew get drunk and then try to drive a tender back to the mothership… the result of the Motor Yacht “Loone” fiasco is believed to have led to the owner losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in charter revenue. (Something worth researching if you are not already familiar with the story).

Yacht Brokers should be fun people. This is a fun industry. But a successful broker should always be aware that brokerage is a BUSINESS, and there are lines that should not be crossed.

I spend about as much time covering this kind of topic in the Yacht Broker Master Class as I do reviewing the sales process. If you get the sales process right you can make a lot of money as a broker, but to have longevity as a broker - to keep on having fun for many years…the ability to work as hard as you play (actually even harder) is an essential skill to acquire.