The worst kind of superyacht guests, according to many of those that have worked in the industry, are the nouveau riche. This is because they “don’t know how to be rich” and have much higher expectations than ‘richers for life.’
Superyacht guests are like stink bugs. They look cool and glittery, but sometimes they suck… Though that may be an unfair summation of an entire category of guests, according to many people in the superyacht industry, there may be something to it. Introducing: Greg Newby, director of Superyacht Crew Academy.
Mr. Newby, who worked on superyachts for a good 15 years (before becoming the director of an academy that teaches people how to become top notch superyacht crew), recently shared what it’s really like to work on a superyacht with DMARGE. As well as sharing some of the wildest and most glamourous tales (like the chief stew jumping into bed with a rapper, or getting to see the Athens Olympics for free because the guests never showed up) he also told us what the not-so-glamourous side of superyachting was like.
On the expectations of some guests, Mr. Newby told DMARGE: “There’s only so much a human can do and these yachts, although they are glamorous, the upkeep is huge. The amount it costs just to keep the thing afloat is millions of dollars every year and I don’t think the nouveau riche realise you have to spend millions to keep these things running.”
“If you want the crew, you have to spend millions on them. A lot of them, when they buy, they see a price tag and think well, ‘I’ve got a billion in the bank; this thing is 24 million dollars; I’ll just buy it.’ They don’t really get sold on the whole ‘what it actually costs to run.’ One of the reasons I dislike charter boats is because generally, you’re getting rich people but not the super-rich that are chartering.”
“They just expect right from all day all night it’s a 24 hour operation. It’s 2am, we want pizzas made, 6am I want to go waterskiing; 9pm have a last minute party – we just met people on another boat.”
“It’s just ‘now, now, now.’ Whereas when you work on a private yacht with billionaires, generally it’s a lot more structured – there is definitely a difference between the rich and the super rich.”
Mr. Newby also told us that – painting with a broad brush – the nouveau riche are the worst because “they don’t understand how to be rich” and they “expect everything rather than just trying to chill out.”
There you have it. Read it and weep. And keep the knowledge tucked away in the back of your brain for next time you’re applying for a job on a superyacht…
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