If you’re a regular reader of this blog and/or my articles for Power & Motoryacht, then you’ve seen the following statement before: Crew can make or break the ownership experience. Without a qualified crew, and without those crewmembers feeling their efforts are appreciated, the yacht, with all her high-tech engineering and beautiful woodwork, isn’t leaving the dock.
Given the unwavering demand for megayachts worldwide, ever-increasing efforts are being made to attract and train good crew. In most cases so far, individual companies are establishing recruiting departments, and thankfully they’re making an impact. So imagine the potential impact the newly organized Superyacht Skills Foundation will have, given the bold-faced names behind it: Burgess, Fraser Yachts, Camper & Nicholsons, Edmiston, Boat International magazine, and Flagship Superyacht Academy, the training firm I wrote about recently.
In a nutshell, the Superyacht Skills Foundation was created to inform young men and women worldwide of the career opportunities aboard yachts. Anyone between the ages of 18 and 23 is invited to participate in the internship-like program, which kicks off later this spring. It involves learning about the care and maintenance of the vessels as well as the care and attention the owners and guests should get. The foundation will then place stellar students aboard yachts as junior crewmembers for a season, to put their newfound skills into real-world practice. Through its connections with yacht managers, captains, and even owners, the foundation will continue to help the students when it comes time to find a permanent job, either aboard the yacht which hosted them during their internship or with another yacht.
When you consider that Burgess, Fraser Yachts, Camper & Nicholsons, and Edmiston are competitors (fierce competitors, at that) in the management of new-construction yachts, brokerage yachts, and charter yachts, it’s all the more impressive that they’ve banded together for this most worthy cause.
Leave a Reply