The Yotspot Team’s Trip to the Antigua Charter Yacht Show
The Yotspot team embarked on a journey from London Heathrow to the sun-kissed shores of Antigua for the Antigua Charter Yacht Show.
This show is an annual event that showcases some of the finest luxury yachts available for charter. The primary purpose of the show is to bring together yacht charter professionals, brokers, and industry experts, providing them with the opportunity to inspect and tour an impressive fleet of luxury charter yachts.
It’s fair to say that Antigua is firmly back on the map with a record number of yachts attending to maximise chances in the now competitive market following the significant decrease seen in charter bookings this year.
Monday 4th, Day 1
Our journey began with an early morning flight that landed us at V C Bird International Airport. Post afternoon show check in the Northrop & Johnson welcome happy hour was the first stop of the evening! We co-hosted the casual welcome drinks and connected with the wider Northrop & Johnson team along with crew from some of their managed vessels attending the show.
From there it was a hop over to support Superyacht Charities in their island fundraising event. Thanks to Cecil Wright & Partners Astilleros de Mallorca and Port tarraco for supporting Superyacht Charities to make this event happen. We are longtime supporters, and we really appreciate the tireless work the group does to help those less fortunate. The Antigua event was specially set up to support island based charities focusing on accommodation, housing and clothing supplies. Very worthwhile indeed.
Tuesday 5th, Day 2
Incredibly hot! Tuesday saw us walking the Falmouth and Antigua Yacht Club Marinas, where we had the pleasure of meeting teams onboard yachts Hyperion Management: Hill Robinson Yacht Management Limited, Crossed Sabre Management: IYC , Triumph Management: Royal Yacht International, and Twizzle Management: Camper & Nicholsons. Our day was filled with demos of the Yotspot platform, vessel tours and we even managed to capture some more content for our ‘We Asked Crew’ series we share on our Instagram – watch out for those over the next few months. Thanks for all the crew that welcomed us aboard and offered us cool drinks and their aircon!
The evening brought us to the ‘Welcome Caribbean Style Dinner’ sponsored by Safe Harbour Marinas at Clarence House, a beautiful historic venue, where we enjoyed exceptional live performances from a steel band, a local soul band and plenty more welcome drinks. It was great to see some of our peers on the dance floor!
Photo: Yachtie world
Wednesday 6th, Day 3
At Yotspot we really try to practise what we preach in terms of wellness in the workplace and that also applies when travelling. Work life balance is vitally important to mental health and longer term productivity so after an intense travel day, and a couple of late nights a rest day was very much welcomed. Taking a break from the show, we dedicated Wednesday to exploring the beauty of Antigua. We immersed ourselves in the local culture, enhancing our appreciation for this Caribbean gem.
In the evening we attended the yacht hop at Falmouth and AYCM, highlights were the beautiful classic boat Nadan. Like stepping back in time, this 30’s styled vessel is beautifully furnished and styled, complete with soft jazz on the stereo to really set the serene scene. Thank you to Burgess and the crew for a warm welcome.
Then onto Triumph Management: Royal Yacht International which was a louder affair with a DJ on the deck, plenty of dancing and the full crew in fancy dress. Both fabulous parties in very different ways!
Thursday 7th, Day 4
Thursday was a day of meaningful encounters with crew and captains aboard Parillion Management: Edmiston , Arbema Management: Edmiston , and Firebird Management: Y.CO and more. Firebird has recently been fully refurbished, the owner is an artist and it certainly shows! The interior is still under embargo until the official photographs are released so unfortunately no preview pics from us but please do look out for those when they land. It can only be described as exquisite!
The evening took a festive turn at Nelson’s Dockyard night, featuring a BBQ and a live performance from a steelpan group. It was an evening to remember, celebrating the camaraderie within the maritime industry.
Friday 8th Day 5
Our final day on the dock was a loop back to those vessels we had missed, squeezing in a few more meetings and tours. Loon Management: IYC , an epic vessel that has a strong reputation on social media showcasing their epic array of toys – this vessel really does have it all. Interestingly, this is one of the only (to our knowledge) to have a specific content creator on board, this really shows the types of positions we could be seeing in the future. Yotspot recently added ‘Videographer’ to the list of roles so look out for more traction on those types of job listings in 2024! We headed over to Calex too, managing to catch the crew lining up to see the rotational captains switching over for the Christmas break. Thank you to both for welcoming us.
We bid farewell in style with the show Barbie-themed leaving party. The pink Yotspot t-shirts were perfect for this memo! The party was full of crew looking to let their hair down after an intense week and the rain didn’t seem to damper spirits too much, but the mud made for an interesting element with the dancing!
Now we are back at the Yotspot HQ and following up with connections made and content collected. We also want to take a moment to express our gratitude to the team that put together this event. The success of the show is a testament to the dedication and hard work you put in.
Until next year Antigua 👋