WHEN IS OLD


TOO OLD?


AGEISM IS HITTING ALL SECTORS OF BUSINESS AROUND THE GLOBE AND SUPERYACHTING IS RIGHT IN THE THICK OF IT. A BUSINESS THAT LIKES TO PRIDE ITSELF ON BEAUTIFUL VESSELS AND INTERIORS WITH SIMILARLY ATTRACTIVE CREW, WE ASK SHOULD WE NOT BE CONCENTRATING ON BRAINS AND EXPERIENCE?


the yachting industry. One of the frequent rants is about age and how the older you are, the harder it is to get a job on board.


T


The usual responses range from “if you want it enough you’ll get it!” and “I think age and experience is more valuable than being young and pretty!” but really, are those statements true in a cut throat and sexy industry like ours?


hanks to the joy of social media, everyone has a platform to whine about how hard their lives are in


The first question is, why is yachting perceived as a good industry to join when you’re tired of your ‘normal life’? It seems it’s now more than ever that people are deciding to jack their lives in ashore and run away to sea but have they done their research? Or is this based on ‘reality’ (I’ll use that term loosely) TV shows like Below Deck? Unfortunately it seems some sea schools will encourage anyone to go into yachting in order to get cash off them for their courses, instead of giving genuine advice about the realities.


If you’re older, and considering a career change into yachting firstly ask yourself this; are you willing to sacrifice your personal space? You must bear in mind you don’t get to pack up and go home at 5 every evening and see other people. You have to eat, breathe, live, sleep and operate with the other crew members and for most of the time there is literally no escape. You have to love them. You will be sharing a cabin, most likely with a 20 something who parties like you used to be able to, who probably has no spatial awareness or respect for


30 | WINTER 2019 | ONBOARD


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