In years past, says Debra Blackburn Boggio, broker for Fraser Yachts Florida, in Ft. Lauderdale, “We saw an older crowd, with their children and grandchildren and rarely the younger demographic.”

Today, adds Rupert Conner, president of the Luxury Yacht Group, LLC, with offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Antibes, France, “Our typical charter client is married in their mid 40's to late 50's. They are still working in the business that made them their millions. They have children and use yacht chartering as a means to bring the family together.”

Conner adds, “I don’t see any major change in the future. The business sector that clients are in may change but the demographic remains the same.”

The latest addition to the large yacht market, says Boggio, “is younger American and European clients either as couples or as young families. They are active and adventurous, which most yacht crews enjoy. I think this trend will continue as younger clients begin making their fortunes at an earlier age and have seen enough of life to know to enjoy the time now rather than wait for retirement.”

On the other end of the age continuum, Luxury Yacht Group’s Conner says, “We find that once clients progress to stepping away from their business or selling their business they buy a yacht. Or, as they get older and travel, even in great style, it gets harder and they build an estate and bring the family to them.”

Crews play a huge role in attracting charter clients and keeping them coming back. Fraser Yachts Florida’s Boggio says, “The best crews know that the little extras make all the difference. The touches like a cool towel waiting for the guests when they return from a hot hike in the rain forest, or a refreshing drink. Other nice touches, like a digital photo album of the charterers’ time aboard, given to them at the end of the charter, sets the tone for returning again and again.”

“Avoid charter drama by maintaining a professional separation between guests and crew,” says the Luxury Yacht Group’s Conner. “Respect client confidentiality and their right to privacy. Support the industry by understanding the crew's role and not try to overstep that. Most important - deliver the magic of yachting!”

Beyond this, Fraser Yachts Florida’s Boggio says, “Many times a good crew will stay together even when they move to another yacht. This shows us brokers that they are a smooth working team and comfortable with each other. We can then relay our comfort level to our clients, as we all know that the crew is the key to a good charter. When they move to another yacht these clients will follow them and repeat business is a big factor for the brokers and the crew.”

Global economic troubles are already affecting the charter yacht industry. Cyd Mansell, of Cyd Mansell Yacht Consultancy, Antibes, France, says, “Many of the largest yachts laid up for this season, not even bothering to try and charter, due to such a drop in charter enquiries. I have heard that this drop in charter enquiries is as much as 80 percent for a few of the large brokerage houses.”

Mansell adds, “This past summer was also slower than normal, with a few of the traditionally fully booked charter yachts having large slots of the season left unbooked. Some of their usual American clients didn't charter anything this year. As many charter brokers are paid commission based, I know of a couple who are ex-Captains and are seeking to get jobs back on yachts as there is no likelihood of any earnings this winter, and who knows what will happen next summer.”

Ami Ira, managing director of Crew Unlimited, headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with an office in Newport, Rhode Island, is seeing the same industry trends as Mansell and adds her thoughts. “After visiting the Antigua and St. Maarten charter shows in December, it seems that some 30- to 40-percent of the yachts in the Mediterranean didn’t cross due to lack of charters. The brokers who are booking charters at this time are those who have clients that have booked them for the past several years and who are repeating again.”

Economic woes may be global, but there are still clients willing to charter. The big boat client has fund reserves that make them slightly immune to a global recession, but when times are tough everyone looks for more bang for their buck, says the Luxury Yacht Group’s Conner. “Yacht charter is a magical vacation experience but it is a tough one to justify financially. Even at the discounted rates that we are seeing it is still cheaper to rent an amazing home or stay in a great hotel. Whilst neither of those offers the same experience as yachting it is an option to be financially prudent. Privacy and confidentiality are essential in these current times. No publicly traded company executive wants to see an article about their yacht vacation in national media when company performance is being compared with their bonus packages.”