On Sunday 10th September, Steve Crawford (Director of Yotspot) and Captain Michael Williamson (MY Cyan) started their morning with a hearty breakfast of eggs benedict and two double espresso coffees. The time was 6am.   Why on earth would they be up at this time I hear you ask?! … especially on leave.   Well today was 'Tough Mudder' and it was going to be a very tough day indeed. For those that don't know, Tough Mudder is an endurance challenge between 10-12 miles (16-19km) with 20+ obstacles to face that test the mental and physical strength of even the fittest. Steve and Michael had discussed doing this event months ago, both signing up with gusto, not really knowing what they were in for. Well that day had finally arrived…   &nbs...

Alan Sugar of "The apprentice" fame is so proud of his wealth that he once posted a photo of his tax bill to HMRC for £59,000,000.  For reasons unknown he has decided to sell his Yacht... Lady L (named after his wife). A once treasured possession it has caused great mystery to why he is selling. Edmiston Luxury Yacht Brokers have confirmed the sale of the yacht but have refused to comment on the reason for its sale.  Sugar is selling the yacht for £12,600,000 and was last seen onboard in June in Puerto Banus, Spain. The Sunday Time Rich List Lord Sugar has a fortune of £1.25 Billion.  We hope that he may be upsizing... and if he needs Crew... he knows he can find them on Yotspot ;)

There has been much talk over the last few years around crew recruitment and there have been countless salary surveys published. However, there has been limited coverage on the wider thoughts and feelings of crew and their views of the superyacht sector. Faststream Recruitment, in joint partnership with Yotspot, are looking to get the insight of thousands of superyacht crew to find out your views, thoughts and feelings on the sector past, present and future. What makes an excellent Captain? Are crew under excessive pressure?  Does the sector offer long-term career opportunities? Do you feel motivated? These are all question which we feel have not been answered in the many articles which we all read on crew recruitment. We have produced a survey covering these key topics and would...

RefitPlanner.com is an innovative app-based tool where you work in partnership with MML's team of qualified engineers to plan and cost your refit more accuratley - on time and on budget. Yotspot speaks  Yotspot – I'm here with Matt Liddell, Business Development Manager of Marine Management Ltd (MML), Good Morning Matt!   Matt – Hi Daryl, good morning to you too!   Yotspot – tell me a bit about MML, you're from New Zealand is that right?   Matt -  well we're originally Auckland based and that's where our head office remains, but I've recently moved to the UK to support our business interests here in Europe. These include assisting yachts with their refit or technical up...

ABOUT Superyacht Insurance Group: Superyacht Insurance Group is a full service marine insurance brokerage firm for all of the yacht's insurance needs, established in 2002. We focus on Global Crew Medical Insurance (groups & individuals) and Yacht Insurance (Hull & Liability). We offer an extensive portfolio of international and U.S. insurance policies tailored to accommodate the crewmember's unique lifestyle and the yacht's program. In addition we are able to arrange customized insurance coverage if requested. We work with most of the leading top-rated U.S. and European insurance underwriters and carriers and are able to provide competitive rates and options for you. Furthermore, we provide a wide range of additional crew coverage, including: Travel insura...

Three months ago, Xisco Gràcia experienced what he describes as every diver's worst nightmare - he found himself in an underwater cave, relying on an air pocket for survival. As hours turned into days he realised he might not be found in time. On Saturday 15 April, Xisco Gràcia slipped into the water in Mallorca for a routine dive. The geology teacher spent most weekends exploring and mapping the island's complex system of underwater caves. "Mallorca is much more beautiful underground than above ground," he says.     He and his dive buddy, Guillem Mascaró, wanted to explore Sa Piqueta, a cave with numerous chambers 1km from the entrance of the labyrinth. They swam underwater for an hour to get there. While Gràcia spent time collecting rock s...

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We've seen hydrofoil surfboards before, but never like this one, which has an electric motor to do the work for us. The world may not be ready for the level of cool that is this electric surfboard. Meet the new eFoil from Puerto Rico-based company Lift Foils. It's an electric-powered hydrofoil surfboard, or in layman's terms, a flying surfboard. So if you thought surfing couldn't get any more dope, think again.     The eFoil depends upon a submerged hydrofoil to lift the actual board of the surfboard completely out of the water when you're going at speed. And what's more, these boards actually have an electric motor in the hydrofoil itself so that you can just ride the water without actually doing any work. Think of it as an electric ska...

Luxury vessel was pictured going up in flames while anchored off Plage de Pampelonne, in St Tropez Beach is the most famous in St Tropez, attracting businessmen and celebrities who moor yachts offshore It is not known who owns the vessel, how the fire started, or whether anyone was injured during the blaze   A luxury yacht moored alongside St Tropez' most famous beach has been pictured going up in smoke as it was gutted by a huge fire.  The plume of smoke was easily visible from the sands of Plage de Pampelonne at around 6.30pm on Monday, according to local news site Var Martin. Shocking footage taken from the scene by a Swedish tourist  shows a plume of smoke filling the sky as people stroll about on the beach. The beach attracts the creme de la ...

So you are looking for a new Crew member.  Here are some of our top questions when interviewing crew. Safe manning aside ... One thing we have learned at Yotspot is that you should always interview for attitude over skills. You can always change someone's skills... but you can't change their attitude! The following questions are designed to gauge a persons attitude and a few of these used in your next interview can provide you with an excellent way to see if their attitude fits your programme. 1) "Please introduce yourself..." This is a great way to start the interview and help you the interviewer judge the confidence level of the candidate. This is also a good way to refresh your knowledge on the candidate and maybe even hear something about the crew member that ...