YachtTalk episode 8: A career in yachting

The eighth episode of Heesen’s YachtTalk circles back to the Dutch studio in Oss to discuss the important issue of recruitment and talent retention in yachting. Host Charlotte Kan caught up with Carla Limatola, a board member of Young Professionals in Yachting (YPY), an international network of over 550 yachting personnel that aims to share knowledge and support its members, and Maike Bonke, who heads up human resources at Heesen Yachts, which has over 500 highly skilled craftspeople on the payroll.

Young professionals Started in 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, YPY began with the aim of uniting land-based yachting professionals between the ages of 21 – 40 to share knowledge within the industry. It has since expanded to other yachting hubs, including Monaco, the UK and the Netherlands, amongst others. Part of the offering is the industry research that it carries out.

“One of our goals is to nurture future yachting talent and industry leaders, so we conducted a case study to better understand our position today compared to when we started out in 2008,” says Limatola. “But what we also saw from the numbers is that two typically shipyard oriented countries, Germany and the Netherlands, are widely represented in a male specific, with 76% and 74% respectively, with just 24% and 26% female members making up the remainder.”

This Superyacht Guide item is an original editorial summary based on the official Heesen Yachts news release.

Image source: Heesen Yachts official news release.