The Superyacht Consultancy Presenting Excellence In Yachting

Executive Global: How would you compare and contrast the benefits of private yacht charter with yacht ownership? In what ways can Miles Yacht Group assist? 

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Andy Miles: The yachting industry owes much of its very existence to the charter side of the business. Research has shown that 78% of yacht owners began their journey into the yachting lifestyle by chartering first. I recently sold a 32-meter yacht to a young couple who approached me and said, ”My wife and I have been spending between $600,000 and $800,000 US annually for the last four years chartering yachts, and we figured maybe it is time we actually purchased one we can call our own.” I thought to myself: yes, there is your point of crossover, where the economics begin to make sense.
 

The benefits of ownership go well beyond the financial equation. You gain the familiarity of having your own home on the water rather than a different house every time you cruise. More importantly, you choose your crew and can shape the culture and personnel around you during some of your most secluded and valuable downtime. And perhaps the greatest benefit of owning your own yacht is simple: you can use it whenever you want, wherever you want, and for as long as you want.
 

Miles Yacht Group has a specialty charter division led by one of the senior matriarchs in the business, who is a master at matching clients with the right yacht, destination, accommodations, and activities to make their introduction to chartering as enjoyable and satisfying as possible. If you decide the lifestyle is right for you, our team brings more than three decades of experience placing clients in the right yacht for their mission, while also understanding the business side of yachting required to execute the purchase and build a successful ownership program.
 

EG: How are Miles Yacht Group able to connect discerning luxury yacht buyers with the ideal crew members who can maximise productivity?

AM: Placing the right crew is crucial to an owner’s enjoyment, privacy, and peace of mind aboard. We understand the importance of creating a trustworthy, dependable, team-oriented culture that strengthens the owner-crew relationship. That is difficult to accomplish through a crew agency alone without years of personal knowledge of the captain and crew network.
 

Our approach is to refer experienced crew members whose performance and character we have come to know over time, while also carefully vetting younger people who are entering yachting as a career. That distinction is important, because the reality of professional yachting is very different from what is often portrayed on television. Reality shows are designed around drama, and they can give young crew members a false impression of working life aboard a yacht. They can also create misconceptions for prospective owners about what happens aboard when they are not present.
 

Life aboard is not about partying every night or living like royalty. It is a demanding profession built around service, discretion, safety, teamwork, and responsibility. If our industry does not address that misconception directly, it ultimately hurts both owners and the professionals who take yachting seriously.
 

EG: What are the ways in which Miles Yacht Group can help with bespoke custom yacht construction that sets you apart from competitors?

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AM: My multi-decade background as a direct sales subcontractor for Westport, LLC., a Washington State shipyard, enabled us to build relationships with some of the industry’s best vendors, component suppliers, and, most importantly, project managers. A former Westport customer service and project manager with 45 years in the industry, and 10 years of experience firsthand running customer support for the most demanding owners in the world, is now a member of the Miles Yacht Group team and plays a key role in helping our clients achieve the best possible production experience and a dependable finished product at delivery.
 

A new build needs to be overseen by people who understand, operationally, how a yacht should be built from the keel up. Without that depth of knowledge, there is a much higher likelihood that problems will surface later, increasing operating costs and diminishing the ownership experience. Those decisions made during construction can follow the yacht throughout its life, all the way through eventual resale.

EG: What would be the biggest superyacht deal you have ever closed, and what factors ultimately led to your success in this transaction?

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AM: While we have negotiated transactions in the nine-figure range, our true forte is the crewed-vessel market between 24 and 70 meters, where we have completed hundreds of successful transactions with zero litigation, something we are extremely proud of.
 

What contributes most to that success is our team’s deep familiarity with the yachts themselves and, equally important, with the people and professionals required to make a transaction safe, transparent, well-informed, and, frankly- pleasant for the client. A high-value yacht transaction touches many specialised areas, including finance, insurance, maritime law, flag-state requirements, regulatory restrictions, documentation, and closing procedures.
 

Most of our clients are among the very best in their respective industries, but yacht acquisition is not their everyday business. That naturally places them at an informational disadvantage unless they have the right people around them. This is where our experience creates real value. The business side of yachting, and delivering a safe and transparent transaction from beginning to end, is our wheelhouse.

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EG: How did your experience working for Westport Shipyard and Westport, LLC, prepare you to later become a dominant force in the superyacht market? 
 

AM: My 20-year background, and nearly 15 years as a direct sales subcontractor for Westport, LLC. allowed me to build lasting relationships within the community of owners surrounding one of the world’s most prominent superyacht builders. Just as important was the breadth of transactional experience that came with it.
 

Over those years, I learned not only about yacht construction and client support, but also how to work effectively with the respected maritime attorneys who see these complex transactions cross the closing table, as well as the vendors, component suppliers, shipyard personnel, and project managers who are essential to a successful ownership experience. Several members of my current team came through that environment with me.
 

That background taught us how to perform at the level sophisticated buyers and owners expect: with diligence, preparation, accountability, and a commitment to Excellence In Yachting, a phrase we trademarked years ago and continue to treat as the standard for how we conduct our business.

EG: As an authority in the 100-foot plus superyacht sector, how does the length and depth of your experience allow Miles Yacht Group to help clients manage the complexities of maintenance and regulatory compliance? 

AM: Our understanding of how to execute a safe, timely, and enjoyable yacht transaction did not happen overnight. It was built through decades of real-world experience across virtually every scenario imaginable. One example is our in-house lead closing agent, whose experience spans thousands of transactions over several decades.
 

There is no substitute for that kind of experience. Efficient solutions to the roadblocks that arise in maritime transactions cannot simply be learned from a book; they are developed by working through actual challenges in real time over and over. MYG also utilises highly experienced maritime attorneys to ensure our transactions are properly reviewed and finalised across the necessary regulatory areas.
 

The important distinction is that we do not hand an attorney a deal that needs to be rescued, renegotiated, or rewritten. Our experience allows us to structure and prepare each transaction so that legal counsel is reviewing and proofing the work, not repairing it. There is a clear difference.

EG: You have hundreds of repeat and referred clients, which are a testament to quality service. What are the steps you implement to ensure the highest levels of client satisfaction? 

AM: Transparency, first and foremost. And never being afraid to say ”no.” Some of the best deals you do are the ones you do not do. Not every yacht is worth marketing, and not every client is worth representing.
 

My father served on the board of a 4,500-employee software development company and taught me something at an early age that I have carried with me throughout my career: ”If something is not going right, or you cannot completely solve the issue yourself, get in front of your client and be honest and upfront. Never try to hide an important issue. They are business owners, and it is not the first time someone has called them with a problem. They will respect you for it, and the two of you can then decide whether to stay the course or change direction to one you both feel safer traveling.”
 

I have built the culture at MYG around that philosophy. Everyone already knows what is exciting, fun, and appealing about buying a yacht. The industry is full of celebratory advertising. Our responsibility is different: we run ahead of our clients and look for what is not perfect, what is likely to become an issue, and, frankly, what is wrong. We identify and mitigate everything within our power so our clients do not have to absorb unnecessary stress.
 

One of our favourite sayings in the office sums it up well: ”The easy stuff has already been done. Only the hard stuff is left. That is why we are here.”   EG