How to Get a Job on a Sailing Superyacht

On a motor yacht, the deck team mostly looks after the boat, the tenders and the guests. On a sailing yacht, the deck team also sails the boat: hoisting, trimming, reefing, tacking and gybing, often at night and on long passages. Every deckhand is part of the sailing crew.

That changes what captains look for. Hands-on sailing experience often matters as much as yachting experience, and crews are usually smaller, so how you fit in with the team matters even more.

The minimum to work on any commercially operated yacht:

• STCW Basic Safety Training: sea survival, firefighting, first aid and personal safety.
• ENG1 medical certificate, or an accepted equivalent: proof that you are fit to work at sea.

What makes a difference on sailing yachts:

• RYA sailing qualifications (Competent Crew, Day Skipper, Yachtmaster Offshore). For deck roles, a Yachtmaster is a real advantage.
• Powerboat Level 2 to drive the tender.
• Food hygiene and a short interior course for stew and deck/stew roles.

You do not need years on superyachts to get a first job, but you do need to show you can sail. Captains notice:

• Dinghy or keelboat racing, and regattas, even at club level.
• Offshore miles and deliveries: passages, night watches, bad weather.
• Practical skills: rigging, splicing, sail repair, varnishing, small engine maintenance.
• Work in a sailing school, a charter fleet or a boatyard.

Write your miles and boats down in a simple logbook: it makes your experience easy to check.

• One page, two at most, with a professional, smiling photo.
• Nationality, passports and visas (Schengen, B1/B2), and where you are now.
• Certificates with expiry dates.
• Sailing experience first, then other jobs that show skills useful on board: hospitality, carpentry, engineering, cooking.
• Two references with phone numbers, ideally from captains or skippers.

Keep it the same everywhere: on agency profiles, crew platforms and the copies you hand out on the dock.

In the Mediterranean, most hiring happens between March and May, as yachts finish refit and prepare for the summer season. The main sailing hubs are Palma de Mallorca, Antibes and the French Riviera, and Barcelona for refit. In winter, much of the work moves to the Caribbean.

• Register with agencies that work with sailing yachts. Registration should always be free for crew: under the MLC 2006, agencies cannot charge you. See your rights under the MLC.
• Dockwalk in the morning: well presented, CV in hand, respectful of the crew's time. Ask for the captain or the mate, and accept a “no” politely. Day work often leads to a job.
• Be there. Captains often hire people they can meet the same week.

Expect questions about your sailing, how you handle long days and small spaces, and why you want sailing yachts in particular. Many captains then ask for a trial day or a short trial trip.

Be honest about what you know. A captain will quickly see whether you can coil a line or tail a winch; attitude, willingness to learn and getting on with the crew count as much as experience.

Long days, little privacy and time away from home are part of the job, especially in the busy summer months. Look after your sleep, keep in touch with people at home and speak up early if something is not right.

Crew we place get free, confidential support from our clinical psychologists. Read more on mental health at sea.