The Professional Yachting Association will hold its 2026 Sea Changes Forum in Monaco, bringing crew, regulators and training leaders together during Monaco Yacht Show week.
The Professional Yachting Association will hold its 2026 Sea Changes Forum in Monaco on Thursday 24 September, bringing yacht crew, regulators, training providers and industry leaders together during Monaco Yacht Show week. The event will take place at the International Hydrographic Organization at 4 Quai Antoine 1er, with the forum scheduled from 16:00 to 20:00 CET.
The PYA says the forum is intended to examine the developments, challenges and opportunities shaping professional yachting while keeping the voices of people working in the sector part of the discussion. A networking reception begins at 18:00, and the association has confirmed that attendees do not need Monaco Yacht Show entry to take part.
Sea Changes occupies a different position from the yacht launches, brokerage activity and product displays that dominate much of Monaco Yacht Show week. Its emphasis is on the professional infrastructure behind yacht operation, bringing together people responsible for regulation, qualifications, training and the practical realities of working aboard yachts.
The PYA's initial 2026 announcement does not yet publish a detailed speaker or session programme, so individual regulatory subjects should not be assumed before the agenda is released. What is confirmed is a broad focus on developments affecting professional yachting and on discussion between crew, regulators, training organisations and other industry stakeholders.
The 2026 sponsor list reinforces that professional-development focus, with the PYA naming IAMI, MYBA, Bluewater, VSF and Memetti Superyacht among the organisations supporting the event. The mix spans maritime education, professional representation, crew training and recruitment, yacht services and operational support, reflecting the range of organisations involved in the professional side of yachting.
IAMI represents maritime education and training organisations, while Bluewater provides yacht crew training and recruitment alongside its wider yacht-management, charter and brokerage activities. Their involvement places qualifications, career development and professional standards close to the centre of a forum whose stated purpose is to connect people shaping the future of the sector.
The PYA describes Sea Changes as a platform for exchanging knowledge, hearing expert perspectives and ensuring that people working within the industry remain part of the conversation. For crew, that matters because regulatory and training decisions can affect certification, career progression and the practical responsibilities carried by different departments aboard the same yacht.
Bringing working professionals together with regulators and training providers can also expose where formal requirements and onboard realities do not align neatly. The value of the forum therefore lies not only in presenting information but in giving the professional-yachting community a place to question, compare and discuss how change is being experienced in practice.
Holding the forum at the IHO during Monaco Yacht Show week places those operational discussions alongside one of the industry's largest annual commercial gatherings. The PYA has also made the event accessible independently of the show itself by confirming that participants do not need Monaco Yacht Show entry to attend the forum.
The detailed 2026 agenda will determine which specific issues receive the greatest attention, but the date, venue and professional framework are now confirmed. With crew, regulators, training providers and industry leaders invited into the same room, Sea Changes gives the operational and human side of superyachting a dedicated forum during a week otherwise dominated by yachts, deals and product launches.