Crew safety, crew wellbeing, and onboard culture are shaped long before a yacht ever leaves the dock. They begin with hiring decisions.

In this episode of UNCENSORED, host Marién Sarriera speaks with Captain Mark McDowell about truth, accountability, and why recruitment practices in yachting have a direct impact on safety at sea.

With more than two decades of experience as a superyacht captain, Captain McDowell breaks down how rushed reference checks, unchecked assumptions, and avoidance of difficult feedback quietly undermine professionalism, crew wellbeing, and long-term vessel stability. He explains why trust alone is not enough, how verification supports better leadership decisions, and why safety must be considered before a crew member ever steps onboard.

This conversation challenges long-standing hiring norms and explores what smarter, more structured recruitment looks like in a modern yachting industry that claims to value safety, accountability, and people.

Topics Covered

About the Guest

Captain Mark McDowell is a seasoned superyacht captain and founder of Superyacht References. His work focuses on improving recruitment standards, transparency, and accountability in yachting, with the aim of supporting safer vessels and more sustainable crew careers.
🌐 https://superyachtreferences.com

🎥 Video version available via Yachting International Radio
Visit https://www.yachtinginternationalradio.com to watch the full interview.

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 SUPPORTED BY
 Moore Dixon
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Moore Dixon is an independent marine insurance broker specialising in insurance solutions for the superyacht sector, including crew medical, accident and sickness cover. Moore Dixon supports captains, managers, owners, and crew with practical, industry-specific protection focused on people, operations, and wellbeing at sea.

🌐 https://mdbl.im

Why does yachting keep talking about crew wellbeing while losing experienced people year after year?

In this episode of Superyacht Laundry, host Cherise Reedman sits down with Xanthe Bowater, Founder of WaveWellness Solutions, for a raw, unfiltered conversation about crew burnout, leadership failure, and why the industry still struggles to modernise its approach to human welfare onboard.

Drawing on more than a decade working at sea, Xanthe shares the highs that make yachting unforgettable and the lows that quietly end careers. From unresolved trauma and isolation offshore to leadership roles filled without people management training, this episode examines how silence, stigma, and outdated systems continue to harm crew wellbeing, retention, and safety.

The discussion goes beyond mental health awareness and into operational reality. Interior teams carry guest experience, emotional labour, and emergency responsibility while remaining undervalued. Crew are afraid to ask for help because confidentiality is misunderstood. Younger generations are labelled as soft when they are simply unwilling to accept burnout as normal.

Xanthe also explains why WaveWellness Solutions was built using proven shore side Employee Assistance Program models, and why confidential, preventative wellbeing support is not a luxury but basic risk management for modern yachting operations.

This episode is essential listening for captains, yacht managers, owners, and crew who want to understand why the industry keeps repeating the same mistakes and what practical change actually looks like onboard.

Topics covered include:

About Yachting International Radio:
 https://www.yachtinginternationalradio.com

Learn more about WaveWellness Solutions:
https://www.wavewellnesss.com

💸 Two brothers. One very honest conversation about money.

In this episode of Rich AF, host Charl Minnaar (The Yachting Investor) sits down with his brother Stefan for a raw, unscripted conversation about money, life, work, and the messy reality of growing up and figuring things out as adults.

What starts as sibling banter quickly turns into a candid discussion about upbringing, financial habits, career paths, and how money quietly shapes decisions around lifestyle, relationships, and long-term freedom. There is humour, self-awareness, a fair amount of swearing, and no pretending that anyone has this fully figured out.

They talk about yacht income versus land-based expenses, saving aggressively without becoming miserable, lifestyle creep, investing mindsets, property myths, and why chasing numbers alone rarely delivers the sense of security people expect. Marriage, prenups, and the uncomfortable truth about how late most couples talk about money also come up, openly and without sugarcoating.

This is not a how-to episode and it is not financial advice.
 It is a real conversation between two people who grew up together, took very different paths, and are still learning what money is actually for.

Expect laughs, direct language, perspective, and the kind of honesty that makes you reflect on your own relationship with money.

🎧 Topics covered in this episode:
• Growing up and early money beliefs
• Yacht paychecks versus real-world costs
• Saving, investing, and lifestyle creep
• Financial independence versus chasing numbers
• Property, renting, and common money myths
• Money inside relationships and marriage
• Why money conversations matter earlier than most think

📌 This episode is for entertainment and personal experience only and does not constitute financial advice.

💬 Listener question:
When did you first realise that earning more money did not automatically make life simpler?

Crew safety and welfare are no longer side conversations in yachting — they are operational priorities.

In this episode of Yachting USA, host Rick Thomas is joined by Paul Shepherd, Chair of the CHIRP Superyacht Board, alongside superyacht Chief Officer Jonas Wiesand.

Recorded at METSTRADE Amsterdam, this candid conversation examines the real risks crews face onboard yachts — from work-aloft incidents and unsafe diving operations to cultural barriers that prevent crew from speaking up before accidents happen.

At the center of the discussion is CHIRP (Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme), an independent, non-punitive reporting system that allows crew to confidentially share near-misses, hazardous practices, and safety concerns so the wider maritime and yachting industry can learn and improve.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why near-misses matter as much as accidents
 • How unsafe “normal practice” becomes normalized onboard
 • Work-aloft risks and recurring causes of serious incidents
 • Diving operations, training gaps, and systemic failures
 • The role of leadership and culture in crew safety
 • What real safety culture looks like in professional yachting
 • How confidential reporting protects crew, captains, and vessels
 • Why yachting must learn from aviation’s safety systems

This is a practical, experience-driven discussion focused on prevention, accountability, and learning — not blame.

🛟 About CHIRP

CHIRP (Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme) enables maritime professionals to report safety concerns, hazardous incidents, and near-misses anonymously. Reports are fully de-identified, reviewed by experienced professionals, and shared with the industry to prevent future accidents and improve crew welfare.

🌐 Learn more or submit a confidential report:
 https://www.chirp.co.uk
 📱 CHIRP Maritime app available on iOS & Android

✈️ Episode Sponsor: ATPI Travel

ATPI Travel supports maritime and yachting professionals operating in complex, high-risk environments, delivering specialist travel solutions with a strong focus on crew welfare, duty of care, and operational efficiency.

🌐 https://www.atpi.com

🎙️ Yachting USA hosted by Rick Thomas
Part of the Yachting International Radio network

In this episode of Self Care, Geraldine Hardy shares her personal daily practice as part of her instructor training, filmed and practiced in a busy, high-season gym environment where distraction and pressure are present.

Rather than removing external noise, the focus is on learning how to remain grounded, centred, and internally steady within it. This episode reframes self-care as a daily, multidimensional responsibility that supports the physical, emotional, mental, energetic, spiritual, and wisdom body.

Geraldine draws on her training in Tai Chi (Taijiquan) and Qigong, also known as Qi Gong and historically referred to as Chi Kung, alongside other grounding practices including yoga, dance, writing, studying, and functional movement. These practices are presented not as trends, but as practical tools for regulation, focus, and resilience.

The episode also reflects on hardship and disruption, including loss, illness, emotional strain, and life transitions, and how these experiences often become catalysts for growth, clarity, and internal strength when met with consistent practice and self-responsibility.

This conversation is for anyone navigating pressure, change, or uncertainty and seeking practical ways to return to centre and continue forward without losing alignment.

Topics covered:

Learn more about Geraldine Hardy’s Self Care Programs
Practical self-care grounded in nervous system regulation, emotional integration, energetic awareness, and sustainable daily practices.

Programs include:

Website: https://geraldinehardy.com
Instagram: @_geraldinehardy | @_alignwithin

What does it really take to raise professional standards in the superyacht industry beyond minimum compliance?

In this episode of Captain’s Chat, Captain Liam Devlin is joined by Joey Meen, a senior figure in maritime education and one of the key contributors to industry reform through International Association of Maritime Institutions (IAMI) and The Superyacht Alliance.

With nearly four decades of experience, Joey shares insight into how education frameworks, accreditation, and industry collaboration are shaping the future of professional yachting. The conversation covers leadership, crew welfare, training standards, accountability, sustainability, and why unifying the industry is now essential.

This episode is relevant for captains, crew, educators, management companies, and anyone invested in the long-term credibility and safety of the superyacht sector.

🔗 International Association of Maritime Institutions (IAMI): https://www.iami.info
🔗 The Superyacht Alliance: https://superyachtalliance.org

🎙️ Captain’s Chat
Hosted by Captain Liam Devlin

Crew safety in yachting is still too often built on assumptions, not systems.

In this episode of Superyacht Laundry, Cherise Reedman is joined by Amelia Hilton Pierce of CrewPass for a candid, experience-led conversation about crew vetting, background checks, and why inconsistent hiring standards continue to put people at risk onboard.

Amelia spent nearly a decade working on superyachts in senior interior leadership roles. She loved the work, the teams, and the standards. What ultimately pushed her shoreside was not burnout, but repeatedly feeling unprotected and being unable to fully protect her crew.

Together, Cherise and Amelia explore how weak vetting processes, leadership gaps, and unchecked credentials quietly undermine crew welfare, safety culture, and operational integrity across the yachting industry.

They also discuss how CrewPass has evolved from individual background checks into a broader compliance and verification system, covering criminal history checks, ID verification, certificate authentication, and enhanced online footprint screening.

This is a grounded, practical conversation about accountability at sea, based on lived experience rather than theory.

In This Episode, We Cover:

Yachts today are complex, high-risk environments with real human consequences.
 If the industry expects professionalism at the highest level, crew standards must match.

Guest
Amelia Hilton Pierce
CrewPass
https://crewpass.co.uk

Host
Cherise Reedman
Founder, Yacht Pearls of Wisdom
Instagram: @yachtpearlsofwisdom

Flag states are more than a name on the stern, they determine who protects crew, who investigates incidents, and how safety and welfare are enforced at sea.

In this episode of Forward Watch, Karine Rayson is joined by Captain Chris O’Flaherty, IMO Delegate and Senior Technical Adviser at The Nautical Institute, for a rare, inside look at how flag states actually operate — and why choosing the wrong one can have serious consequences for both owners and crew.

Drawing on 37 years as a Royal Navy captain and his current role representing seafarers at the International Maritime Organization, Chris explains how legal jurisdiction works under UNCLOS, how Port State Control exposes poor-performing flags, and what flag states will, and will not, investigate when serious incidents occur onboard.

The conversation also explores upcoming STCW amendments, including mandatory sexual harassment prevention and trauma-informed response training, and why global mental health awareness training for seafarers may still take until 2030 to become law.

This episode is essential listening for yacht crew, captains, managers, owners, and anyone who wants to understand where responsibility, leadership, and accountability truly sit in the maritime industry.

Key topics covered:

Forward Watch delivers clear, experience-driven insight into the regulatory forces shaping maritime operations — without spin, and without shortcuts.

Search and rescue at sea is not theory — it is split-second decision-making where lives, ships, and entire coastlines are on the line.

In this episode of Sea Views, host Julia Gosling is joined by Matt Baer, retired US Coast Guard captain and now Director of Emergency Response at Gallagher Marine Systems, for a rare, unfiltered look at how maritime search and rescue actually works in the real world.

Drawing on decades of frontline experience, Matt breaks down how major rescue operations are coordinated across borders, why merchant vessels are often the fastest first responders offshore, and how technology like EPIRBs, personal locator beacons, AIS, infrared imaging, and aerial surveillance is changing survival outcomes at sea.

This conversation moves beyond headlines into the realities professionals face — from mid-ocean rescues thousands of miles offshore, to next-of-kin notifications, to the hard decisions involved in suspending a search. Julia and Matt also compare UK and US search and rescue systems, highlighting where they differ, where they align, and what both still need to improve.

Key topics include:

Whether you work at sea, manage vessels, operate offshore, or simply want to understand how rescue really works when something goes wrong, this episode delivers rare insight from someone who has lived it.

Host: Julia Gosling
Guest: Matt Baer, Director of Emergency Response, Gallagher Marine Systems (Retired US Coast Guard)

Supported by:
CHIRP Maritime & The Seafarers’ Charity
www.chirp.co.uk | www.theseafarerscharity.org

In this episode of Yachting USA, Rick Thomas sits down with Jeroen van der Meer, CEO of Heesen Yachts, to explore how one of the world’s most respected Dutch shipyards is shaping the future of superyacht design, engineering, and sustainability.

Recorded following major ownership changes and a pivotal Monaco Yacht Show, this conversation offers a rare inside look at Heesen’s strategic direction — from custom and semi-custom yacht building to lean manufacturing, crew wellbeing, and next-generation propulsion systems.

Jeroen shares how Heesen is balancing tradition with innovation, why the 50–70m segment remains the shipyard’s core focus, and how evolving owner expectations are influencing yacht usage, onboard livability, and lifecycle design.

We also discuss:

This is a technical, candid, and strategic conversation for yacht owners, captains, brokers, engineers, and anyone serious about where the superyacht industry is heading.

Learn more about Heesen Yachts: https://www.heesenyachts.com