Michael Verdon
03/01/2007
When Tom Sharp hired a professional captain for his new 62-foot Pershing, an Italian express yacht, he was impressed by the veteran skipper’s accomplished nautical pedigree. “He had a lot of experience and had captained a number of big boats, so I figured I was in good hands,” says Sharp, an Atlanta businessman.
But on the yacht’s maiden voyage in May 2005 from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Harbour Island in the Bahamas, Sharp’s new captain declined the services of local pilots who routinely guide yachts through the shallow and often unmarked waters. “He was cocky and figured he could do it all by himself,” Sharp says. The captain struck a reef and damaged the yacht.
The ensuing six-figure repair bill prompted Sharp to dismiss that captain and search for a new one. Sharp contacted several crew agencies for a shortlist of candidates, and eventually interviewed about 10. “Some were too quiet and some were too loud,” he says. “I could see right away that I would butt heads with the verbose ones.”
In January 2006, Sharp met with Shane Ray, 31, who was seeking his first captain’s job. “He’s the perfect fit. He’s young, serious about his work and wants this to be an avocation rather than just a year off from a corporate job,” Sharp says. “I’ve never seen him take a drink on the boat, but he’s a fun guy with guests, and can adapt to different situations. I trust him implicitly.”
"The reality is that we have more truly unqualified licensed captains than we’ve ever had before." |
“It can be tough finding the right crew,” says Amy Williams, president of Crew Unlimited, a Fort Lauderdale maritime staffing agency. “But if an owner goes through a logical search, and uses the right channels, like an agency, to match crews to their yachts, then it certainly can be a very achievable goal. We do it every day.”
Sailor Shortage
The recent explosive growth in yacht production has caused a shortage of qualified crewmembers. According to Worth’s sister magazine, ShowBoats International, 777 yachts of more than 80 feet will be under construction in 2007. ShowBoats’ Annual Order Book estimates that 6,993 crewmembers will be needed to man these yachts. Some analysts estimate the shortages could amount to thousands of employees. “There are already 10,000 yachts over 80 feet now on the water,” says Mark Fry, president of International Yachtmaster Training, a Fort Lauderdale–based school for yacht captains, with subsidiaries in 23 countries. “Doing the math, you’ll see when next year’s builds are complete, you’ll need approximately another 6,200 captains, mates, engineers, stewardesses and deckhands. The shortage is across the board.”
The dearth, says A.J. Anderson, managing director of Wright Maritime, a Fort Lauderdale yacht management firm and a yacht owner himself, is not only one of head count, but also of quality. “We had very professional crews 25 years ago, but naturally there were fewer of them. Everybody’s talking about how professional they are now, but the reality is that we have more truly unqualified licensed captains than we’ve ever had before.”
Anderson says some accreditation programs deliver certification with a minimal amount of sea time. The UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) certifies the majority of yachts and crew around the world, in part because owners enjoy tax incentives for registering their vessels in British protectorates such as the Grand Caymans (where 87 percent of yachts over 80 feet are registered), but also because the MCA actually specifies crew and charter requirements for more commercial yachts than private vessels.
While Fry and no doubt others who train crewmembers may
disagree on this point, Anderson believes MCA standards are too lax on the
amount of sea time—the number of hours spent in command of a vessel—required for
its Y-class yacht license. Apart from verifying a skipper’s credentials, an
owner should ask himself if the individual has the integrity, life experience
and maturity to perform the job duties day in and day out, and to lead and
mentor a crew. “In 12 months, a 26-year-old could earn a Y-designated MCA
license to operate a 280-foot yacht, with 24 or so crew,” Anderson says. “Just
because a teenager has a driver’s license doesn’t mean that you want him
driving your children around.”
| TOP VIEW With millions of dollars invested in a yacht and the safety of passengers at stake, a yacht owner’s first priority must be hiring skilled and reliable crew-members. Yet, in a tight labor market where desirable staff members are increasingly hard to find, yacht owners must be clear about the licenses, training and experience that define exceptional candidates. By working with crew placement agencies and networking with other yacht owners, those new to the maritime world can ultimately find the qualified captains and crew they seek. |
For a crewmember to hold a U.S. Coast Guard license, he must be a U.S. citizen. Yet many in the boating industry, and virtually everyone interviewed for this article, concur that Americans are the least-preferred crewmembers for private yachts. “Americans tend not to like to serve, and have the fastest burnout rates,” says one owner, who asked not to be named. “There is also the perception that they will litigate against owners more than other nationalities.”
Whether or not this perception is true, yacht staffing agencies report that owners of smaller, U.S.-flagged vessels are more likely to hire U.S. crewmembers, while owners of yachts registered in foreign countries are more apt to employ those with B1/B2 visas (business visas that allow easy entry into the U.S.). Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans are most in demand as crew, with a recent trend toward hiring Croatians, Bulgarians and Filipinos.
Sea Students
Despite the emergence of yacht staffing agencies, word of mouth remains the preferred method for finding a captain, the most important decision a yacht owner might ever make. In 1990, former Avis chairman Joe Vittoria went through four different captains for his new build, the 131-foot Mirabella I, before finding one that stayed five years. “The first two captains realized they couldn’t handle the size of the boat, and the third was a crusty ex-British Navy sailor whose skills were outstanding, but he was too tough on guests,” Vittoria says. “We just happened to luck into our fourth captain by word of mouth.”
Brokers, charter services and, most importantly, other owners can often recommend qualified candidates. When looking for a captain, Anderson says that because that person is responsible for managing the yacht—which can run like a small company—as well as selecting crew, he sends memoranda of understanding about specific duties. He requests oral references from previous yacht owners, as well as contractors and boatyards because the captain is typically in charge of boat maintenance and repairs.
“I want to find out how he was as a businessman, and how he generally treated people,” Anderson says. His firm also performs background checks for criminal activity, both with U.S. authorities and, if the candidate is not a U.S. citizen, through his or her embassy. Anderson gives the most weight to résumés that show a natural progression to progressively larger boats. “I want to see about two years on each boat,” he says. “Not because it takes him two years to master it, but it shows he is loyal to the owner.”
While an owner has veto power over
crewmember choices, the captain is ultimately responsible for crew hirings.
Jeffrey C. Poole is the captain of the 105-foot sailing yacht Whitehawk, based
in Newport, R.I. Like two other captains interviewed for this article, Poole
uses staffing agencies when peer contacts with other captains fail. Crew
Unlimited is accustomed to getting last-minute calls from captains seeking help.
“We already know many of the captains’ preferences for crewmembers, so we can
usually find them a match,” Williams says. “The captain of a large charter
yacht will be looking for a very different skill set than a private owner
looking for a husband-and-wife team.”
A number of specialty agencies and
schools have developed courses for training crewmembers. The American Yacht
Institute offers a five-day crash course that teaches everything from tying a
bowline to choosing a silver service, as well as advanced courses for stewards.
“We teach them to have a professional presence, and that they must take the high
road no matter what,” says director Kristen Cavallini-Soothill. “It is all about
extreme customer service.” (Click image to enlarge)
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Culinary Fusion, another specialty agency,
matches chefs with yacht owners. “Next to the captain, the chef has more contact
with the owner than any other crewmember,” says Beverly Grant, the firm’s
president. “Sometimes it’s even more contact, with the wide-open galleys where
guests and owners often hang out. The personality is just as important as
cooking abilities.” Grant, who watches candidates prepare meals to gauge their
skill level and ability to work under pressure, routinely visits culinary
institutes to recruit talent. “Being a chef on a yacht requires working in
tighter quarters, with a special knowledge of provisioning,” Grant says. “You
can’t just send someone to the grocery store when you’re off at
sea.”
Michael Verdon is a regular contributor to Worth.