Each and every year, for what was previously known as the Global Superyacht Forum, I’d rally my cry about why captains and senior crew should attend this event that caters to the top tier of the superyacht industry, focusing on a single session that screamed ‘captains and crew’. This year, my job’s been made a lot easier.

What more needs to be said than the following: one of the major themes running throughout the four-day event (now called The Superyacht Forum) is yacht operations. In other words, this ‘stream’ (as we’re terming the focuses throughout the event), is all about captains and crew. So rather than telling you relevant this event is to captains and senior crew, as has been the case in previous years, we’re showing you.

There are so many captain-only events on the industry calendar, but we don’t believe captains face topics irrelevant to the rest of the industry. We’re confident the problems faced, and the issues that need to be debated, should be done so within the wider context of the superyacht industry – otherwise, who are captains going to work with to solve these issues?

Problems with crew skills? This should be discussed with recruiters and owners’ representatives. Problems with refit planning? This should be discussed with the heads of refit yards. Problems with customs and VAT? This should be discussed with managers and tax experts. Problems with the yacht’s insurance? This should be discussed with the insurance experts. (And it just so happens each of these aforementioned topics are, in fact, sessions taking place at The Superyacht Forum, all of which headed up by a panel of experts specific to their field - to view the programme, click here.)

We’re ensuring the right questions are being asked to the right people. So if you want to be part of the solution, all you need to do is turn up.

Yet I wouldn’t point to these aforementioned sessions as reasons for captains and crew to attend. Of course, each individual Operations session will be of huge value to captains and crew, and I’ll happily go into detail on each and every one, and explain why they’re pertinent to the building of a stronger superyachting future. But I’d suggest looking at the bigger picture; that being that the most intelligent minds and influential industry players will be in one place, for the first time, debating at length, and over multiple days, the pertinent role you play. The people running these superyachts, and living and working on board every single day, are an integral part of every single facet of the superyacht industry. So if we’re having a four-day, best-of-class conference, the people running these superyachts should be there.

And for so long, working in what so many have deemed ‘the crew bubble’ (and exactly the type of segregation we’re trying to tackle), each and every day I get phone calls from captains and crew about problems with the level of crew they’ve had in their latest round of interviews, about the issues they faced when they went for a refit recently, about what more they can do to improve the owner’s experience. And as much as we can put pen to paper, these phone calls and subsequent articles cannot solve these problems alone. These hard-hitting questions need to be put directly to shipyard CEOs, trainers, recruiters, yacht managers, brokers, insurance specialists, lawyers and owners’ representatives. And that’s exactly what we’ll be doing at The Superyacht Forum. We’re ensuring the right questions are being asked to the right people. So if you want to be part of the solution, all you need to do is turn up.

See you in Amsterdam.

Captains and senior crew can apply for a VIP delegate rate to attend The Superyacht Forum, at just €425 for the whole event. Click here to register your place.

To view The Superyacht Forum programme, click here.

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