Jean-Philippe Maslin

Associé / Partner, Richemont Del Viso Avocats

Chloe Collet

Captain & Officer Recruitment Specialist

Having grown up in South Africa and completed her university studies in France, Chloe is fully bi-lingual and bi-cultural. She is an outgoing and optimistic person who strives to find the best in each candidate as well as developing opportunities to make the perfect onboard match. 

Chloe has been involved in human resources since 1995 and in yacht crew placement since 1998. Outside the office, she likes to escape to nearby Liguria, embrace the outdoors, sample good food and wine, and immerse herself in the arts.

Fiona Maureso

Senior Charter Broker

Graduating from the University of Bath with a degree in European Studies, Fiona left her native England to explore the world of yachting in the South of France. After a brief stint as a deckhand/stewardess on a 40m motor yacht, she realised life at sea was not for her and moved ashore to work for a yacht brokerage company in Antibes. Thus started a career as a charter broker that now spans over 30 years in four well-respected companies. In January 2013, Fiona joined Northrop & Johnson to help establish the brand’s presence in the South of France.  A long-standing and committed member of MYBA, the Worldwide Yachting Association, she served as President for four years and continues to mentor young brokers and support causes that champion professional excellence throughout the yachting industry.

Onno Ebbens

Managing Director, Acrew

Onno’s expertise lies in the arena of operational & financial excellence and engagement building for teams, markets and clients. After a short period on yachts in the late 1980’s Onno moved to Luxury Hospitality, Training and Consultancy. With this experience, he founded his marketing consultancy firm in 1998 which became a top 5 firm in the Netherlands with over 200 employees. In 2010 he returned to yachting and became a partner in ACREW soon after.  Speaking five languages and with a passion for knowledge sharing, Onno has added great value to ACREW and the superyacht industry over the past 10+ years.

Christophe Bourillon

CEO, Professional Yachting Association (PYA)

Prior to joining the PYA, Christophe was Executive Director of the World Federation of Science Journalists. He offers a 25-year experience in senior management, public affairs and communication at the national and international levels. He founded and led various industry associations, such as Wind Europe and drove other organizations through major transformations such as the World Nuclear Association, the European Biofuels association and the European robotics association. He held senior management positions in larger organisations, such as Pechiney/Alcan (now Constellium) and logen.

He has been active on the international policy-making scene and was an accredited expert to the United Nations. He participated in the negotiations of the UN Convention on climate change for more than fifteen years.

Georgia Allen

Projects and Relationships Manager, ISWAN

Georgia is Project Manager at the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN). She is responsible for the strategic delivery of ISWAN’s diverse range of projects related to seafarer mental and physical health and welfare; including their Yacht Crew Help platform, which provides 24/7 helpline support to superyacht crew in need. She works closely with the ISWAN international teams and a wide range of industry stakeholders, to ensure each project is informed by the latest research and findings.

Vincent McCartney

Client Services Director, IQ-EQ

Vincent heads IQ-EQ’s luxury assets division with a core focus on superyachts.

Having directed licenced corporate service providers in Switzerland, Malta and the Isle of Man, one of which comprised of 10 nationalities within a team of 17 and, after living in 7 countries to date, he has a firm understanding of the importance of cultural differences and diversity when bringing teams together and motivating them.

With over 2 decades of experience in providing services to UHNW individuals and families, Vincent has and continues to assist an array of clients including Monarchs, Celebrities, Stars and lessor known individuals with their structuring and compliance needs around the globe.

As a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Vincent is involved in estate planning and asset protection concerning multiple asset classes and jurisdictions.

When home on the Côte d’Azur (and not visiting clients) Vincent enjoys being at sea with family and friends, on a modest sailing vessel and can often be found on the terraces scattering the French and Italian rivieras.

Christophe Ceard

Managing Director, Dean & Waters

Christophe has been in the marine industry for 23 years, originally in the fast ferry activity and subsequently in the superyacht industry.

Born in France and graduated with an International Business Administration Degree in Paris,

Christophe has been living and managing operations in Spain, Asia, Caribbean, Switzerland and French Riviera.

He has worked for 14 years for same Hong Kong UHNWI family office, managing superyachts, projects and hospitality activities until 2016.

Then was working for Ocean Independence in the management and services to clients.

From 2018 until end 2022, Christophe has headed up Swiss Ocean Yacht Management (the yachting arm of international shipping group Columbia Ship Management, one of the leading ship manager of the world), with offices and operations in Hamburg, Cyprus, Zurich and Singapore.

Christophe recently joined boutique firm Dean & Waters, still from Hamburg, and also lead crewing services firm Sirius Maritime.

Christophe has long experience with superyacht fleet management ranging from Superyachts to Gigayachts (30m to 140m), and refit and new build supervision, in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Christophe is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA) and has been on the Committee since it was established in 2011, and is currently serving as the Vice Chairman. 

Matthew Jaenicke

Group Managing Director, Viking Maritime Group

As Group Managing Director, Matthew is responsible for overseeing all Offices, Associates and Departments globally within the Viking Maritime Group, including Viking Crew, Maritime Skills Academy & Chiltern Maritime and reports directly to the Chairman and the Board.

Matthew is instrumental in the advancement of the company in all sectors including business development, monitoring industry trends and maximising client growth; as well as ensuring current clients and candidates are receiving the bespoke and tailored services that Viking provides.

Matthew joined Viking in 2001, however prior to this has a seagoing career spanning 8 years working in the Hotel Department of Holland America Line and Windstar Cruises. His early career was spent in the Guest Services department, sailing out of Dover on cross Channel ferries.

Along with all the Directors and Management at Viking, Matthew is proactive in ensuring that administrative and technological standards are progressive and in line with International Maritime Law, global employment and payroll procedures and industry training standards. This together with our own in-house and Lloyds accredited Quality Assurance ensures we are constantly reviewing and improving our company and client policies and procedures, to provide best practice.

Mathieu Henry

Director, WYCC - Seafarer & Expatriate Benefits

Joanna Drysdale

Manager, Underwriting Services, MHG Insurance

Joanna is the manager of the Underwriting Services team at MHG Insurance in the Isle of Man where she has been specialising in yacht crew insurance for 12 years.

An advocate for crew mental health and wellbeing, Joanna volunteers with the steering committee for Yacht Crew Help, a resource for yacht crew in distress which is run by International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN).

Liz Baugh

Red Square Medical

My medical career began when I joined the Royal Navy in 1999 and trained to work as an independent medical practitioner on small warships and with frontline Royal Marines units. My shoreside roles involved managing the medical preparedness of task groups leaving for operational deployments as well as new build medical facility commissioning. 

Having made the move into the commercial shipping sector and STCW training space I soon started to miss working with and on the ships. Balancing the needs of the ship against the commercial commitments of a shipping company was of great interest to me as I had been on both sides of the fence and saw where the disconnects were and how the stresses that can build could be avoided.  With clear strategies for working across multiple vessels and shoreside sites and well established communications channels  that allow for collaboration and ultimately a unified goal for excellent standards in crew health and welfare I found a way to continue my passion for providing medical care at sea and thus Red Square Medical was started. Our team is small. Current clinicians from a range of specialities who have worked, or continue to work, onboard vessels of all types.

Tracey Santrian

BZ Maritime Leadership

Tracey is a highly experienced Executive Consultant and Trainer who specialises in Professional Human Skills (Leadership, Crew Welfare, Well-being, Mental Fitness and Resilience, Teambuilding etc) for people operating in the maritime domain. A Former Royal Navy Commissioned Officer, she continues to serve as a Reservist with the Commando Helicopter Force, where she is the lead for Mental Health and Diversity & Inclusion.  As a Registered Social Worker ,Tracey spent many years managing Seafarers Welfare Support Teams and was also the Royal Navy’s Casualty Officer during the height of operations in Afghanistan.  She is a qualified Teacher (Adult Education), and previously headed the Professional School for the training of Maritime and Defence Welfare staff.  She also led a team that delivered Personal and Professional Development training for Naval recruits and featured in the UK Channel 4 TV Series ‘Royal Navy School.’  Having co-established BZ Maritime Leadership, she has worked extensively with superyacht Captains, Officers, and Crew, to develop their Professional Human Skills, whilst also enhancing superyacht recruiting success rates with psychometric evaluation of candidates. 

Tracey is recognised by the professional British and European Psychological organisations, is a qualified Coach, and holds a Degree in Leadership and Management.

Captain Luca Triggiani

Italian Yacht Masters

John Cook

Lesia Group

John is the Managing Director of Lesia Employment Services ICC Limited, based in Guernsey, which started life in November 2010. Previously, in 2003, John formed the first company to offer employment services to the yacht industry. He has retained the knowledge he gained when working for HMRC, especially in the area of social security.

He was part of the MCA’s Large Yacht Sub-Group and instigated the PYA visit to the ILO offices in Geneva in February 2010 and worked with the Seafarers International Research Centre at Cardiff University in drafting the PYA qualitative survey for yacht crew.  He is an ILO certified trainer of MLC inspectors and regularly runs MLC training sessions on yachts and for yacht sector companies, and is a frequent speaker at yacht seminars and conferences.

From June 2022, John will be a Visiting Lecturer at the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden.

Jonathan Watson

Partner, MFB Solicitors

Jonathan is Head of Yachting at MFB Solicitors in London with particular expertise in high value, complex superyacht transactions. His deals have involved some of the largest yachts in the world. He advises on ownership structures, sale/purchase contracts, newbuild and refit projects, finance, VAT, flagging, insurance, chartering and management. His clients include wealthy individuals/family offices, banks, managers and institutional investors.

Jonathan is the legal columnist for Yacht Investor Business magazine and is a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club.

Henning Schwarzkopf

Founder and Partner of Schwarzkopf Law

Founder & Principal of Schwarzkopf Law and licensed as a lawyer in Hamburg, Germany and Antibes, France with offices in both cities.

Educated as a maritime lawyer in Germany and in the United States (universities of Hamburg and Miami, Florida, graduating with a master´s degree in comparative law).

Having worked in Hamburg, San Francisco, Atlanta and Miami as well as Monaco, the focus turned to Shanghai and Hong Kong. As a “pioneer” of yachting in China an early member of APSA, the Asia Pacific Superyacht Association based in Hong Kong. Frequent exhibitor (as a lawyer) at Hainan Rendezvous and other yacht shows in China. Founder and principal of consulting companies in Hong Kong and Singapore assisting medium sized European companies.

From the office in Antibes advising clients on legal issues of yachting in the Mediterranean.

Frequent speaker at international conference. 

John Wyborn

Director, Bluewater

John Wyborn joined the Royal Navy as a seaman officer after university and served on various types of vessels including frigates, destroyers, and finally in command of HMS Mentor; a navigation and seamanship training vessel teaching RN trainees and foreign navies.  John and his fellow directors started Bluewater in 1991, a company specializing in yacht brokerage, charter, and management as well as crew recruitment and training.

He is President of MYBA (the worldwide yachting association), on the board of the Professional Yachting Association (PYA) and is a board member of the International Association of Maritime Institutions (IAMI). He is Chairman of IAMI’s influential Small Ship subgroup. John also sits on the board of both the Merchant Navy Training Board and the Maritime Skills Alliance.

As Director of Training at Bluewater, John is heavily invested in the training of crew.

Steve Monk

Da Gama Maritime

Steve Monk has spent most of his life at sea on a range of vessels both sail and power driven. With more salt water than blood running through his veins, he remains passionate about the water and the encouragement of others to push themselves in the challenges thrown up by the sea. A 22 year career in the Royal Navy through 15 ships saw him rise from junior aircraft mechanic to Navigator of the Fleet Flag Ship and aircraft carrier, HMS ARK ROYAL.

Officially recognised and awarded for his professionalism and instructional skills, he completed a two year period developing and honing the skills of future Officers at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis. Ever dedicated to the development of navigational abilities, as a qualified Specialist Navigator he was the lead instructor for Flag Officer Sea Training where he led a team who pushed the boundaries and limits of every RN and many NATO ships bridge teams to expand their skills and capabilities.

Steve was also directly accountable to the Admiral for the underway assessment of all newly promoted sea-going Captains.

An early user of compliant ECDIS equipment he was involved in its development within the military for which an intense understanding of its use and capabilities were necessary. He was one of the few authorised within the Navy to certify ships to operate ‘paperless’ once they had completed an intense risk assessment and two day training package to demonstrate their use of the equipment.

Leaving the Royal Navy in 2009 he established Da Gama Maritime, a company providing navigation management and on board crew training to both Superyachts and Commercial ships. Expansion through reputation and professionalism alone has meant the company now employs a number of exmilitary subject matter experts to enhance safety at sea. An author of numerous safety related maritime articles he can regularly be found pushing Flag States to enhance policy and procedures.

Command qualified (Royal Navy CQ2) Steve is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute and has been awarded Chartered Master Mariner status.

Sitting on the ISS Education Committee as well as the Education and Training committee of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and an active member of the International Hydrographic Office Crowd Source Bathymetry working group, he strives to enhance standards from both a crew and regulatory perspective. With many years of experience in driving ships of all sizes, he provides consultancy advice and instruction to Superyachts, Merchant ships and military forces around the
world, as well as the industry suppliers to assist mariners in maintaining safety at sea.

Emma Kate Ross

Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Co-Founder and Director, Seas the Mind

After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Emma pursued a 15-year career in super-yachting. Starting in 2005 on motor yachts and had also run sailing yachts.

Seeing and experiencing a vacuum in the industry around mental health awareness and unchallenged bullying and harassment, Emma sought to find an industry-accessible solution and resource. Having completed a two-day Mental Health First Aid course, Emma found what she believes to be the most progressive resource available for anyone in the maritime industry – the opportunity to educate and empower crew on personal and collective wellbeing. Upskilling during COVID-19 to become an MHFA Instructor and adapting the MHFAider® course for the yachting industry, she co-founded SEAS THE MIND, a global resource and training program for seafarers to tackle, recognise and fortify individuals to understand their own and others’ mental health onboard. 

For Emma yachting has been a wonderful career and opportunity, she also knows nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement and wants to leave yachting even better for the next generation, and that’s what she believes we are doing with SEAS THE MIND.

Charles Watkins

Mental Health Support

Born in 1985 in Osnabrück, Germany

Having graduated with a master’s degree (with distinction) in clinical psychology and completing his clinical training at the world-renowned University Medical Center of Princeton, Charles continued to use his passion to inspire positive change and advance the field of psychology in areas new to the psychological approach. Working in his private practice has been complemented by lecturing on various topics around the world. His devotion towards identifying places of need for dealing with stress and depression has led him to the maritime industry. Through the team’s profound research in the maritime industry, Charles has been able to create training videos and safety plans for the crew and on-shore personnel.

Charles has been researching the area of maritime stresses and psychological illnesses to develop preventive measures for the maritime industry. Charles is continuing to find helpful psychological solutions for real life problems on ships and on shore.

Conrad Empson

Managing Director, CrewPass

Conrad Empson started a career in yachting many years ago, and since then has had a starring role on Below Deck and has now  launched his own business –  CrewPass, an innovative Superyacht crew management software. 

Amélie de Franssu

Amélie de Franssu, Senior Associate / Avocate au Barreau de Paris, Stream Advocats & Solicitors

Amélie has a particular expertise on all aspects of the yachting industry, especially regarding crewing (employment and social security) both in litigation and advisory, especially in international matters. She joined Stream (previously Ince & Co) in 2015.

 Amélie studied law in France, Germany and Canada.

Frédérique Heurtel

Partner & Head of Employment Law Department, Stream Advocats & Solicitors

Frédérique is specialised in employment law and advises clients of Stream law, mainly employers, on all their employment law issues. Competent in both national and European laws, her clients are both French and international companies. Frédérique developed an expertise in maritime employment law since she joined Stream in 2017, after advising several shipowners and crew managers on those matters.

Michelle Chance

Employment Partner and Head of London Employment Team, HFW

Michelle Chance is an employment partner and Head of the London Employment Practice. She has over 20 years’ experience advising on complex and sensitive employment matters, which often involve discrimination and where the stakes in terms of monetary value and reputational risk are high.

Michelle’s specific yacht experience includes advising on the impact of sanctions on potential employment claims of unionised crew members; drafting seafarers employment agreements and settlement agreements on the termination of employment of senior crew members; and advising on and updating employment policies and procedures for crew members in the light of an International Human Rights At Sea investigation into claims of bullying and harassment.