Great news for Invisible Crew as the niche of 50ft to 100ft luxury yachts is on the rise. (60 is the new 50 by the way) Unfortunately it seems to become harder and harder to find those crew that have the knowledge, experience and passion to run these type of yachts. We are always looking for the full package. Especially for sail yachts, the variety of skills and knowledge required is vast. The captain of a 70ft luxury charter sail yacht has got to be (in no specific order of priority) a good navigator, boat handler, engineer, people’s person, communicator, negotiator, accountant, doctor, waiter, water sports instructor, safety officer, sailing instructor, dishwasher and more… He’s got to have the energy to get up before the guests to chamois the deck, serve breakfast, prepare the water toys, take the guests snorkelling, check the engine, raise the anchor, hoist the main, plot a course, drive the boat, (or even more tiring, assist the guests while they are helming), drop anchor, shake cocktails, take the kids on the ringo or kneeboard, set the dinner table, unblock the toilet, serve dinner, lower the ensign, do the dishes, wait for the guests to go to bed and finally sleep with one eye open and repeat the following day. Then there’s the captain’s crew member, often the girlfriend or wife. Well, just the fact that nobody is sure wether her title is Stewardess, Cook, Cook/Stew or Stew/Cook or first mate… In any case… she is all three. The captain usually refers to her as the boss. If they are indeed a couple, it can be a real relationship tester. Living in a small space while under workload, receiving orders from one another. Also, there is not much time for romance as long as guests are on board. It takes a lot of passion for the job to do this kind of work with a continuous big smile on your face. As I just described, the different jobs are not divided in different departments so it is pretty full on. There is the lure of higher pay on bigger yachts with more crew sharing the work load. This is what causes the brain drain from the 50ft to 100ft niche. But there are a number of crew out there who have made these yachts their speciality. They enjoy the versatility of the job. They enjoy the type of owners and guests it attracts, often using the yacht in a family minded atmosphere. Less formal and more personal than on the larger yachts. At Invisible Crew we are constantly brain storming about how we can train and support these type of crew to become those all-rounders and to maintain their enthusiasm and passion for the job. One of the ways we do this is by providing knowledgeable but objective input in the communication between owner and crew. Making both parties understand each other’s point of view creates longevity. In recent months we have been thinking of setting up apprenticeship programs to allow newcomers to gain experience. We are not convinced that a 3 day course would do the job. The passionate reactions to a post about this subject on Facebook have shown that the opinions about working-to-gain-experience rather than a salary are divided. So we keep thinking about something that could work and we welcome all suggestions.Great news for Invisible Crew as the niche of 50ft to 100ft luxury yachts is on the rise. (60 is the new 50 by the way) Unfortunately it seems to become harder and harder to find those crew that have the knowledge, experience and passion to run these type of yachts. We are always looking for the full package. Especially for sail yachts, the variety of skills and knowledge required is vast. The captain of a 70ft luxury charter sail yacht has got to be (in no specific order of priority) a good navigator, boat handler, engineer, people’s person, communicator, negotiator, accountant, doctor, waiter, water sports instructor, safety officer, sailing instructor, dishwasher and more… He’s got to have the energy to get up before the guests to chamois the deck, serve breakfast, prepare the water toys, take the guests snorkelling, check the engine, raise the anchor, hoist the main, plot a course, drive the boat, (or even more tiring, assist the guests while they are helming), drop anchor, shake cocktails, take the kids on the ringo or kneeboard, set the dinner table, unblock the toilet, serve dinner, lower the ensign, do the dishes, wait for the guests to go to bed and finally sleep with one eye open and repeat the following day. Then there’s the captain’s crew member, often the girlfriend or wife. Well, just the fact that nobody is sure wether her title is Stewardess, Cook, Cook/Stew or Stew/Cook or first mate… In any case… she is all three. The captain usually refers to her as the boss. If they are indeed a couple, it can be a real relationship tester. Living in a small space while under workload, receiving orders from one another. Also, there is not much time for romance as long as guests are on board. It takes a lot of passion for the job to do this kind of work with a continuous big smile on your face. As I just described, the different jobs are not divided in different departments so it is pretty full on. There is the lure of higher pay on bigger yachts with more crew sharing the work load. This is what causes the brain drain from the 50ft to 100ft niche. But there are a number of crew out there who have made these yachts their speciality. They enjoy the versatility of the job. They enjoy the type of owners and guests it attracts, often using the yacht in a family minded atmosphere. Less formal and more personal than on the larger yachts. At Invisible Crew we are constantly brain storming about how we can train and support these type of crew to become those all-rounders and to maintain their enthusiasm and passion for the job. One of the ways we do this is by providing knowledgeable but objective input in the communication between owner and crew. Making both parties understand each other’s point of view creates longevity. In recent months we have been thinking of setting up apprenticeship programs to allow newcomers to gain experience. We are not convinced that a 3 day course would do the job. The passionate reactions to a post about this subject on Facebook have shown that the opinions about working-to-gain-experience rather than a salary are divided. So we keep thinking about something that could work and we welcome all suggestions.