the yacht owner - Liveras Yachts

T
the yacht owner
his first ‘Owner’ profile gave us the
opportunity to talk to a man who is
larger than life, a man who began with
nothing and now, through his own endeavour,
owns a growing modern charter fleet of
extreme yachts. We talk to him about his past,
his first yachts, his failures, and above all his
successes that have now made him one of the
most respected and liked personalities in this
business we call yachting.
Andreas, I have flown a long way to be with you today
in your fabulous apartment overlooking Monaco harbour,
to have a talk about your business life, your beginnings in
Cyprus and your charter business. Can we begin with you
as a young man?
RIGHT
The ‘Boss’ and
Annaliesse
I grew up in Cyprus, I was educated in Cyprus and I
was a farmer’s son. When you look up at your father
you want to follow in his footsteps. I bought the first
ever combine harvester in Cyprus to cut the wheat in
our fields and those of our neighbours. I mortgaged my
house to raise the money, in fact I put everything I had
into this venture. I was 22. I did not have enough money
to spend on insurance, it wasn’t like now when you have
to have insurance. I thought being the only one who
would drive the combine I wouldn’t need insurance.
Then one day I was driving along a mountain road,
my brother sitting on the back, when a lorry following
us to pick up the wheat hits us in the rear. I tried to
break but lost control of it! The combine went over
the edge as I shouted at my brother to jump. Luckily
we both got off and clung to bushes to stop our fall.
The machine rolled over and over to end up 300 metres
below us. The only good thing was that my brother and
I were still alive. To this day the wreck is still laying in
that same spot.
I thought my life was ruined. I was married, I
had three children at the time, I have four now, I had
nothing. I had to leave my homeland in search of
money and arrived in England and found myself a job at
the Fleur de Lys Patisseries. I often think about the old
saying, ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. It certainly did
in my case and I could not have possibly dreamt of what
lay before me.
I started as a driver and after about three years with
the company my first big break came. The owner was
Greek orthodox and also the accountant of a Greek
tycoon. In 1972 the tycoon asked if he would transfer
to South Africa and he (his wife!) found this irresistible
and put his business up for sale. The factory was situated
in the basement of No.13 Gloucester Road, London.
I wanted it but I didn’t have the money so he said
let’s agree a price, we agreed £2500 and believe it or not
we did not bother with a contract. I used the basement
with three people making cakes and one van, which we
had to push to start. I drove it around the restaurants,
particularly Italian restaurants, delivering Danish pastry,
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
the yacht owner
Andreas Liveras
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
AAAA-T
the yacht owner
croissant, apple strudel and stuff. I used to send him an
envelope every Saturday with postal orders for £10, £20
or even £30 until I had paid the £2500 that I owed. It
took a little time to pay, but it got paid, and we never
had any conflict. The business was expanding rapidly
and we needed a bigger factory. We went to Newark
in Nottinghamshire and the Council welcomed us with
an agreement to loan us a factory with an option to buy
including 15 acres of land, as long as we promised to
employ up to 150 people within the next three years.
I had signed the agreement on the 13th October
1974. The number 13 has become my lucky number
since. First No. 13 Gloucester Road, I signed the
contract on the 13th October, and every good thing
that has happened to me since has happened on the
13th. I always wear a gold 13 around my neck, my Rolls
Royce in later years was numbered AL13 (for Andreas
Liveras 13) and my aeroplane now carries the number
LY13N (Liveras Yachts 13).
Cutting a long story short within 3 years we were
employing 450 people. We were occupying most of the
labour in Newark. By then we had a unique patisseries
factory with the EEC specification.
We were then expanding on our patisserie range
and we prepared the first Black Forest gateaux. Birds
Eye tested one during their research for new products
and came to see us. They were excited visiting a factory
that at that time had laboratories and quality control
management.
We arranged a meeting in September 1976 and
they asked me if I could produce 25 tons of Black
Forest for Christmas. I had never thought in tons. I was
thinking in numbers of Black Forest. I said of course I
can produce it.
I came downstairs thinking ‘Oh my god’. I couldn’t
believe the numbers! We couldn’t make them all but we
made most of them, they were very happy. They started
to sell the gateaux everywhere and one day in 1984,
when Thatcher was bombed in Brighton, during that
month we had an interview with the BBC. They asked
why I had 1400 people and why we were not unionised.
But it was just around the corner. The Bakers Union
came to see us and we said to them, you are free to
speak to our people. Other unions came in but nobody
wanted to take us on.
I worked with the people I employed so we created
a works committee within the company. I used to meet
with them every Monday night. They would work, go
home, have something to eat then come back again.
We had our books open, it used to play an important
role for everybody on commission from production. If
they had a problem with a product there would be no
commission but if the product was good there would
be a bonus. They were getting plenty of money, much
more than anyone else in our trade. Not because there
was no union, but we liked it that way, it worked for
us. In fact, if you had read the papers only the other
month, you would see that my son Dion, who worked
with me in the factory, has just sold one he built up for
£160,000,000. In ten years! I gave him £6,000,000 to
start, he paid that back and now he has made good, he
is 43. I had also started a car factory at that stage.
What happened to the bakery, how do you go from a bakery
to cars?
RIGHT
andreas dressed
for the big
occasion
FAr right
a fleur de lys
van in operation
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
While we became the ‘Gateaux Tycoons’ (that’s how
we were known in our Industry) and in particular being
the DADDY of the Black Forest gateaux, I was driving
to London one Sunday morning and I noticed an old
style van that was absolutely new driving along the
A1. I slowed down to look at it and then made the van
stop. I asked the driver how old it was and he said 3
months. He explained that his boss built the vans in
Poole, Dorset.
I wanted to buy one and use it for my Company to
carry our logo. The next day I arrived at the factory only
to be told that if I order one today it would take three
the yacht owner
years to be produced. I asked why? The explanation
was that this it was a totally hand built car and he only
had eight people working in his garage. I could not wait
for three years, but he was not prepared to increase the
staff because with more staff he could run the danger of
having to bring in a union.
I was not happy with that and I stayed there that
night, took the man to dinner and bought the company.
I moved the equipment, and Len Terry a retired
designer from F1, and had the idea of designing a copy
of a 1921 Rolls Royce. Our production base was next
to my patisserie factory. I called the van FLEUR DE
LYS – NEWARK and used all the available engineers in
Newark and started building.
We sold these vans in England, we produced
the modern HARRODS vans for them, we sold them
in Japan, Prince Rainier of Monaco bought two with
windows and seating for 10 for transferring guests from
the airport to Monaco, we sold some in Greece and
Italy, but the bulk were sold in Germany. My son-inlaw who was the Managing Director became very keen
on expanding the business and we ended up buying a
factory where they produced a two seater sports car
called the EVANTE. It was then that the Japanese
MX5 was produced at a much lower price of £17,000
each where the EVANTE was selling at £27,000. The
competition then forced us to stop production. One
door closes and another opens.
Do you know sitting here, I honestly thought you were
about 58. Well done, can I have some of your pills!
That’s amazing.
I decided to retire, well I certainly had enough money
now. When it came to my accountants they said to me
you are a Cypriot domicile you need not pay tax if you
can go out of the country and come back in six months
time. That’s exactly what I did. I bought my first large
boat off Jonathan Beckett, it was a 27 m Benetti and we
renamed it Princess Natasha after my first granddaughter.
I wanted to go around the world at the end of the year, I
still have never done that, when I realised in November,
after a long Greek summer, that it was too late to start
planning. I had my young niece, Sophia, on board at
the time. She turned round to me ‘Uncle you have to
go to work again’. I said ‘Why is that’. She said ‘You do
not stop, you are fidgety. You wake in the morning at
five o’ clock before anyone else and you start washing
the boat! The crew are still asleep, it is not fair to them,
and what everybody is seeing is you washing the boat
– what is this?
Just think! You may have had ten combines by now and
you would still be in Cyprus, the biggest man in combines
in Cyprus!
RIGHT
andreas and
the evante
Absolutely! With my boots on! I sold the cake business
in 1984 about 12 years later, for £40,000,000 to an
American company, Dairy Express. We used to buy our
cream from them, the cream we bought in those days
was unbelievable, we had 1400 people working then,
we used to use 3000 gallons of cream a day, I have not
eaten a cake since! People used to stop to watch those
lorries full of cream and I had to taste the cakes every
day. I have never touched one again. I decided to retire.
I was 50. I was very lucky.
FAr right
andreas
and sophia
If you don’t mind me asking how old are you now?
I am now 71.
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
I realised I was fidgety because all my life I had
been up at five to be at the factory turning the ovens on.
I was always first in the factory and last to go. This was
my philosophy and one that my son carried on, having
realised I could not go around the world, I was fidgety and
fed up. The yacht moored next to me was up for auction
and so I thought, as I was there, I would have a look at
it. I bought it and called it Princess Sophia. I named it
after my niece. I set about renovating and preparing it
for charter, to turn my hobby into a business. At the
same time I had brochures made for Princess Natasha
and even though I didn’t know anybody in the industry
my days of knocking on doors to sell cakes stood me in
the yacht owner
good stead. I decided to do it again to see what would
happen. We filled the boot of the car up with brochures
and I came, with Sophia, to Monaco where I found a
directory in a telephone box which I took to my hotel
room, sat on the floor and called people in the charter
business.
Nobody really wanted to talk to me but I said to
Sophia don’t worry we have the addresses so I went first
to Cannes. Sylvie Romain was running the Camper &
Nicholson office there, so I said to Sylvie I have a boat
to charter if you are interested. She said to me ‘I am in a
hurry no, no, no. I’m going to Antigua for the boat show.’
As I left I dropped one of the brochures on her desk. I
said ‘Not to worry but take a look if you are interested
in our business after the boat show and contact me.’
By the time I got into the car she called me back. She
looked at the brochure and she saw this beautiful boat.
I don’t know what she thought but she called me back,
she said she wanted to discuss something.
She became my best contact, and later my best
friend, my best customer, and we started from there.
Jonathan Beckett was working for Nigel Burgess down
here in Monaco, and I met him as well and I got to
know everybody and that’s how I started the business.
below
m.y. albacora
10
What year was this?
That would have been 1985.
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
Your next step?
I bought the Albacora. The great Sidney Smith was my
captain. The boat had been owned by one of the train
robbers who had disappeared to Hong Kong and she
needed to be sold.
The great train robbery?
Yes, I remember Jonathan picked me up and took me to
see the boat. When I got there the boat was completely
different from the boat on the brochure, in those days
things were not as professional as today. They wanted
$750,000. I walked around the boat and we were offered
lunch, just a sandwich and a glass of wine, which was
perfect. I said Jonathan, I’ll buy it for $400,000. He
said ooh! I said look I shall buy it right now. I shall
go to the bank tomorrow morning and I shall put the
money into your account. I bought it for $425,000 and
after two years of good chartering I sold it to one of
my customers for $1,280,000! That was my first big
break into the industry. I kept buying and selling, like
Rosenkavalier, which I bought for $1,250,000 and sold
for $8,500,000 through Peter Insull. I have been very
lucky with boats.
If you are buying something for cash, and you can find
people who want to sell, can you dictate the price within
reason?
the yacht owner
Yes. I always bought boats well and I
always sold them for more. I always
made money. I have never lost on boats.
Never. I was always on the biggest
boats, because I always knew that the
biggest were always the busiest boats in
the industry. Always, for 20 years now,
it has always been that way. Look at the
other yachts that I also owned, Princess
Krita, Princess Tanya, Princess Lauren
and Altair, they were big charter yachts
just a few years back, I owned these all at
the same time including Rosenkavalier.
They were quite old boats, they were
beautifully maintained but they were quite
old boats. Do you not feel that the cost of
maintaining them was extremely high or
didn’t you worry?
Well let me tell you this, I have never
had a survey on any of my boats when I
bought them. I would walk in, get a gut
feeling and say OK let’s buy it, or not.
So it’s a gut feeling?
I take my decisions from my own
experience. I never worried about a survey,
I always bought every boat as I saw it.
You had to calculate your deals standing on
your feet, when you saw these boats could
you in your mind work out the potential
charter fee within a few thousand dollars?
Yes, I looked very closely at what was
being chartered, if two boats are the
same and one is a higher rate, that’s the
one that will give the best charter. On
a charter the more you are charged the
better experience you get. You get what
you pay for. We now have the most
expensive boats in the world that can
work out at over $800,000 a week.
You sold your fleet of older yachts after the
first of the new yachts was completed.
Yes, we decided to build four new ones. So
far we have had two built of 85 m each,
they are both running and chartering well
now. We have finished the plans for a
110 m and the fourth one 120 m is still in
the planning stages.
Are they all built, or to be built in Greece?
Yes, we build them in Greece, that is where our Naval
Architect Nikos Dafnias from Alpha Marine Designs,
who have been working with us since 1991, is based.
They were awarded best refitted yacht in 1993 for their
from top
m.y. princess tanya
m.y. princess lauren
m.y. rosenkavalier
m.y. altair
work on Princess Tanya. He was actually employed by
the Neorion Yard to build the first two boats because
they had never built a boat like it before, a luxury yacht.
We wanted Nikos to build a big luxury yacht, we gave
him the order and the time and he built the boat with
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
11
the yacht owner
all the units and skills that he had available to him, he
built a beautiful boat. The next two boats that we are
building will have our architect taking care of them. He
again is looking for a yard, a crane and a dry dock, that’s
all he needs.
Will he organise it all himself?
Yes.
That’s an ambitious project.
Above & Inset
m.y. annaliesse
right
andreas at
genoa 2006
12
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
That is the difference because when I use a shipyard I
pay the shipyard so much money, and they pay the boat
builders to build the boat for them. They all make good
money. Now we will build and organise it all ourselves.
Logically, I guess, once you have the hull built you simply
have to fit it out, have you thought of having one built
outside of Greece?
the yacht owner
Oh yes, that has crossed our minds. It is possible that
we go to go to Bulgaria, Romania or Poland for the hull,
we haven’t decided what to do yet but we are looking
for a shipyard that we can use to do that. We still need a
place to finish the boat off. We have something in mind
in northern Greece.
The big boats that you have built, and the two that you are
about to build, you also sell shares in them?
One of them yes, we have a prince from Saudi Arabia,
he’s a very good partner, who owns two shares in
Annaliesse, but we will not sell any more shares, we are
not really interested. It was a good investment for him
and within three years he will have received his money
back through charters on board.
So how many guests can each boat take?
36 plus crew.
The two boats, will they cruise in different areas?
Last winter for the very first time we didn’t go to the
Caribbean. This year, the Prince wanted to go to Sharm
el Sheikh in October and so we decided not to go to
the Caribbean. The Alysia was not finished until late in
2005 and we could not really get her to the Caribbean.
We decided to bring Annaliesse back from Sharm
el Shiekh and we did winter work on her here. This
year one boat will go to the Caribbean and the other
boat will go to Southeast Asia for charter. Everybody
laughed when I took Albacora to the Caribbean they
thought I was mad. The Caribbean was for sail yachts
nobody will want to charter a 43 m motor yacht! Now
every big boat is there, they have fallen in love with the
area. Now we are going to Southeast Asia, we already
have charters in the Maldives in October and we are
just about to sign a charter there for Christmas.
Now a lot of boats in the industry are heading that
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
13
the yacht owner
way! What I believe is that the industry grows where there
are a lot of boats, not just one boat. I believe competition
is healthy, even if we drop our prices down a little but get
more people coming and I believe the business is about
the boat not the boat being about the business.
If you have several boats in one location, people have a
choice.
Yes!
Also a choice in what they pay. Because everybody is
competing the standard has to be kept up and you also end
up with a good service infrastructure in the area.
Colin, I have been going to the Caribbean for twenty
years now and I have had good times, but after September
11th the Americans who used to be 55 – 60 per cent of
our business are now down to 7 – 8 per cent. The 40 – 50
per cent are now Russians. In Asia we are close to them
and also the Arab countries, again our clients.
So to Asia!
I have two boats, I shall not send two boats at the same
time. I shall send one this year and the second one next
year. One shall be stationed in the Maldives the other
in Malaysia. East Asia is a magic place.
When I look back to my yachting days I remember turning
up in Antigua, English Harbour, in 1978 and it was very
quiet. Cruising then in the Caribbean was an adventure. You
can cruise the coast of France but it is hardly an adventure.
No and France is full of rules and regulations. So was
Greece in the past, no foreign boats could charter the
waters there. The government has simply passed on all
the business to Turkey.
themselves. I don’t want suppliers there pumping people
for business. Everybody enjoys a good party, we always
do a good party, even if there are two parties going on
people will go to the other party then to our party and
stay. Every year we have had them in Antigua. This
December Alysia will be the venue.
Do you spend much time aboard your yachts?
Every time the boats are free I love to be on board, and
of course it is my job to see the captain, the crew and
the condition of the boat and talk about the cruises.
When you have people stay on the boat do you go and
welcome them?
Every time that is possible I will meet them when they
arrive and leave. We hear from them how the charter
went which is very important. I actually bought a
small plane to enable me to visit yachts when they
were separated and I had to see the guests on the same
day. I fly myself, that is my hobby, it has been for the
past 20 years. I have a Beach Craft 200, which I am
about to replace with a new one. When it comes to
my aeroplanes I own them from new because up there,
and I’m not a mechanical minded person, I don’t want
anything to go wrong!
Tell me about your acclaimed brokers parties.
above right
andreas,
kelly smitten &
peter insull at
genoa 2006
Sometimes there is more pleasure in giving than
receiving. I started these parties with the Albacora,
and the first year when I started I was 50 and wanted
to make it a birthday party. I invited all the agents I
knew in the south of France to come on board. But I
didn’t like it, it was so quiet, they wouldn’t talk to each
other, I couldn’t believe it! I thought what’s going on?
I kept having these parties and then luckily the whole
industry took off and changed. The parties are purely
brokers events. Nobody else. It’s a chance for brokers
to meet each other, sort their differences out and enjoy
right
breaking down
the barriers –
jonathan beckett
& michael white
at genoa 2006
14
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
Do you have a work ethic?
I enjoy my work, I really enjoy what I’m doing and I’m
not going to retire yet. I thought it was a mistake to
retire the first time. I really see no reason for a man
to retire when he is happy at his work. I love the sea,
I love my boats, I love my Monaco office and I love
meeting people, I would be lost without it. Last week
we had a king on board, a king of a State for four days.
I meet princes and princesses, film stars and many other
personalities. I enjoy meeting them all. I like to see what
they are like, it’s a different class of people, we are not
selling cakes anymore and I really enjoy it. Many people
also say to me how can you enjoy it, how can you enjoy
building a boat, but I do and I shall build more.
Do you have advice to people coming into this industry,
people buying and wanting to charter boats?
There are two kinds of charter owners, the owners who
need to charter their boats and the other is the owner
who owns the world and charters his boat for only a
few weeks to cover some of his costs. For those people
the yacht owner
it shall always be the same. For a new owner who buys
a boat to charter, my advice is to run it himself, or just
don’t get involved at all. If you leave it to your captain
you have lost, I have no doubt of that.
So you wouldn’t advise a management company?
Never unless you have to, we run it hands on. I have
three people in the office here, I have Sophia in Greece
and my son-in-law Kyri who works from London.
With my people I run the boats, I run everything. The
captain’s responsibility is to drive the boat, he doesn’t
even interview crew. He doesn’t do any of that, I do it
myself. I go everywhere to interview people, I prepare
and I go. The captain cannot decide where to buy fuel
from, he will tell us if he needs fuel and we shall tell
him to pick it up and so on .The chefs will not buy the
food, we will order it for them. We run the business, it
is good economy too. It is costing us about half of what
another owner would expect to pay to run and keep a
similar boat to our standards. If you are not hands on I
would say don’t do it.
Can you give me a rough figure to fill the boats with diesel?
We now get, because we were built to SOLAS for
charter, fuel free of tax and there are 280 tons of fuel
on each boat. That would work out to about 140,000
– 150,000 Euros to fill a boat.
Where are the boats registered?
They are both in Malta.
Why Malta?
Malta is easier. In Greece there are so many regulations.
Malta is a good flag, you can have anybody working on
board, there are no restrictions as in Greece for example.
We don’t even have Maltese working on board. We like
it like that, it is very convenient.
Any funny stories going back over your years of
chartering?
below
m.y. alysia
16
One or two! I remember, and I can tell you this because
it is not a secret with us anymore, we had a very rich
figurehead on board. The captain had said to me that
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
he could not understand how people could eat Beluga
caviar at US$5–6,000 a kilo! Milo my captain then
nearly dies whenever he tells this story! The guest
bought his sister and her little dog on board. The dog
would have Beluga every lunchtime, in the evening he
would have meat or something but for lunch it was
always the caviar. This went on for two or three week’s
of charter. Well we are talking about $1400 per small
tin for the dog to eat. Milo, who should have known
better, decided to find some cheap caviar for the dog,
who was to know! So they are all sitting round the table
eating. There was the sister and her little dog with its
plate of caviar they had bought. So the little dog sniff,
sniff, sniffs at his bowl and then he ran away! The sister
called the dog ‘What’s the matter baby! You must be ill.’
She looked at the dog, looked at the plate then looked
at the dog again, what’s wrong! So she calls the captain
over, ‘Captain, that is Beluga isn’t it?’
‘No I am sorry it’s not we couldn’t get any, my apologies’ the
captain said.
‘Oh my baby! Oh no, oh my poor baby. It’s is not right, oh
no!’ she said wailing!
‘Captain never ever change the caviar for my baby – he eats
Beluga every day!’
My god I can’t believe that, Beluga for a dog!
Another caviar story is when we had Linda Evans on
board Princess Tania with her boyfriend. She had asked
us to get the Beluga, three kilos in all, again what we
had to pay! They arrived on board and the champagne
came out and the yacht sailed for Portofino. It was just
beautiful. The film star, her boyfriend and a lovely
setting. The chef cooked the lobster and prepared
everything for the evening meal, including the caviar.
They then decided to eat ashore in a restaurant she had
always wanted to visit. The next day all they wanted
to eat was fruit because of a special diet. Anyway at
the end of the cruise, 10 days, there was so much food,
caviar and Dom Perignon left that the guests decided
on the last night that the captain and crew could sit at
the table and they would serve them. Linda served the
caviar and he was serving the Dom Perignon. Most of
the crew were Filipinos and unfortunately they just hate
caviar. I just wish I had been able to watch their faces as
they tried to be polite and force down some of the most
expensive food in the world!
What is your favourite place in the world? Where do you
like to be, your specific spot?
Luxury goods for the tabletop – Turnkey Delivery
Yachts & Private Jets – Designers – Residential
If I tell you that Capri is my most favourite island in the
world would you believe me?
Yes of course I would
Well it is there. I go there often, I love the island and I
love the people there. That’s my favourite spot and if I
ever decide to retire again that is where I would settle
down.
Where is your favourite place to eat?
Well my favourite restaurant is, you will not believe it,
the grill at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco. I have never
found anywhere so good with the service etc.
CORPORATE WORLDWIDE AGENT FOR
ERCuIs RAyNAuD - Silverware and fine china
‘haute couture’
www.ercuis-raynaud.com
Favourite wine?
Anything to do with vin de Pauillac. If you go to my
cellar now that is what you will find.
Andreas, how do you view brokers, you know a few!
I admire brokers. I don’t have any recent experiences
when they have not been honest with me. In the past,
when charters were going for $20,000 a day and people
were finding it hard to afford that, a broker would try to
get money back for the guests for any little problem that
may have cropped up. The customer is the customer
and at the end of the day we all have to look after them.
On our big boats guests leave such large tips as they
cannot fault their stay. The customer can never find a
fault in the service, anything. I tell you and I can say
this, when our prince charters the yacht for five weeks
in July/August, he leaves five hundred thousand dollars
for the crew!
sPECIAL ORDERs FOR CRysTALWARE
BACCARAT CRysTAL - Feast your eyes
www.baccarat.com
LALIquE
VETRERIE DI EmPOL - Innovative stemware
www.vetreriediempoli.it
sPECIAL ORDERs FOR LINEN
LINTEA mARE
- Tailor made dream linen
for superyachts
www.linteamare.com
ThG
- JCD accessories for
luxury bathrooms
www.thg.fr
FERmOB
- N°1 manufacturer of metal
outdoor furniture
www.fermob.com
Can I have a job!
I tell you I would like a job there!
As a matter of interest, as some people who will read this
article will be charterers, what would you recommend to leave
as a tip?
OK, we have a minimum tip of 7½%. But they never
leave less than 13%, sometimes 15%. If its Americans it
will be 15%. Some of them don’t, sometimes they are
influenced by the agents. Sometimes the customer will
ask how much is a good tip. I believe that if somebody
has enjoyed their experience, and they want to tip, they
should pay what they feel comfortable with.
But coming back to your question, what is a perfect
broker, you have a lot of perfect brokers and the bigger
the brokerage house they work for the more they have
to protect their reputation. There are some brokers,
who’s names I cannot mention, who I am very weary
the yacht owner / issue one / summer 2006
- Latest products for designers
www.lalique.fr
sPECIAL ORDERs FOR sILVERWARE
ChRIsTOFLE
- Symbol of luxury and elegance
www.christofle.com
ROBBE & BERkING - Silver manufacturers since 1874
www.robbeberking.com
ODIOT
- Silversmith since 1690
www.odiot.com
Contact: serge Brange DANVER sarl
L’Etang 45600-Viglain
Tel 00 33 (0)2 38 37 24 11
mobile +33(0)6 12 94 47 16
Fax +33 (0)2 38 37 29 06
Email [email protected]
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RIGHT
A MAN GOING PLACES
of though. Traditionally the customer pays the broker,
the broker keeps the money and pays 50% when the
boat starts working, but now we have a rule of conduct
whereby the money comes to us, we are the stakeholders
of the contract, we keep the money and the broker
earns the commission. Now we have no problem.
We have had a situation in the past when the client
has arrived on board, the 50% has not been paid to us
by the broker, and we have had to continue with the
charter. We cannot send the client away as we are a
part of the contract. Now he was a bad broker. I never
received my money and lost something like $140,000.
But now we don’t have this problem. The perfect broker
is an enormous one.
You must have seen a lot of changes over the years?
PHOTOGRAPHS
WITH THANKS TO:
THE LIVERAS FAMILY
AND STAFF,
NIGEL BURGESS
BROKERAGE
AND COLIN SQUIRE
PUBLISHING
I think our industry over the last ten years has grown
enormously and will continue to do so. In the old days
the captain and crew used to rule the customer and
the boat, but now we have good captains, not only
ourselves but generally within the industry. I remember
when I bought one of my first yachts, now that’s a story!
I had a captain of the boat who I thought was stealing
fuel and he always used to get his fuel from the same
port, in fact not far from here. One week he wanted to
go to London to see his family and I said to the crew lets
go to refuel and come back, we were in Antibes at the
time. It was not a problem as I always used to drive my
own boats, I loved to.
The fuel man came up and I convinced him that
the old captain and I shared the yacht and he was on
holiday! So we filled up. When I went to pay the bill he
said, ‘Well its so many litres so how many litres do you
want it put down for.’
‘What do you mean how many litres, well how
many did I take.’
He said, ‘You had this many but how many do you
want me to put down, then you can say you need so
much money and keep the rest.’
‘OK’ I said to him, ‘You aren’t ever going to see
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Old school teaching does not exist as it did in this
industry anymore, as the likes of Sidney disappear, and what
teaching it was too, many could not handle it and had to walk
away! Those of us who stayed discovered an amazing depth
of pure sea knowledge from a man who began his career in
Cannes on motor yachts in the fifties! His exceptional man
management skills, as we call them today, often left you feeling
like you had just spent 10 rounds with Joe Frazier! When you
sat and analysed what he had said you knew deep down he
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these two boats again ever – I am the owner.’
But in those days captains even took the boats into the
shipyards to get a 10% commission without having anything
wrong with the boat. It doesn’t happen anymore, its far
more professional now with new captains coming in, they
are younger people, they need valid certificates, licences,
whereas before anybody could come in and say ‘I can drive
a boat’ and they would get a job! The rules have changed
and have changed for the good of the industry. Its far more
organised and I have a great deal of respect for MYBA and
the PYA because it is they who have changed it. They talk
about the problems, they talk about crewing and so on.
Everybody is taking notice and those captains that we don’t
need in the industry are being weeded out,
slowly but surely. Agents now go
to proper meetings at MYBA
and this is healthy for the
industry, the customer is
happier, this is the way
it should be.
All these things have come
together quite quickly.
Yes, in the mid 80’s when
I bought Albacora I had a
captain on board who was
an absolute rock. Sidney
Smith was his name. He
was one of the old school, as
honest as they came. There were
at that time a few good men like
him about but generally it was a
free for all with commissions and
things. It really has changed now.
Thank you Andreas and good luck in the future with your
new fleet.
Contact: [email protected]
was right, and every time. Sidney was tough, very tough, on
board my own commands during the past ten years however
I have subsequently been amazed at how many times in one
day I think, ‘what would Sidney have done here’ and I apply
immediately what comes to mind, it works every time! This is
a result of intense and very subtle teaching methods which he
applied to his work.
There are port captains, agents, line handlers, fuel suppliers,
and cafes in every port around the Mediterraenean who will
be very sad to realise Sidney has not popped in for a chat or a
‘grande crème’, and will never do so again. And could he play the
squeeze box too! His long standing friend and owner of Albacora,
Fulmara, Romara, Royal Navy Captain John Walrock also died,
not long before Sidney. I often wonder if any of us nowadays will
ever be able to carry out our profession as Captain and have the
same impact on those around us – I doubt it.