I’ve just finished reading an article in the April issue of Superyacht Business by Michael Howorth – a highly experienced Captain who has commanded a number of significant Superyachts.
Essentially Michael writes about his friend who was turned down for a position because of his age. Clearly laws around the world are different however that would lead to a significant claim in the Courts if that was to happen in New Zealand. It’s Michael’s opinion and ours that there is no substitute for experience, especially when it comes to command of large vessels.
We saw recently how Captain Chelsey B Sullenberger III, the airline pilot who had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River, saved hundreds of lives through the expert application of skill and experience. He started flying aircraft well before the advanced automated systems that are now commonplace in today’s modern jets. This enabled him to draw on his 40 years of experience to safely land Flight 1549 on water – which is the first time in 45 years that a major aircraft has crash-landed on water and every passenger on board survived.
How can an experienced Captain be turned down for a job because of his age? It’s crazy and when considering the amount of people/lives on board large yachts now that are under the ultimate responsibility of the Captain one could be forgiven to think that real experience counts for something. “And at what point does looking good in a pair of white shorts become a better bet when employing a Captain to oversee a crew of 20-plus professional yachties?”
Michael points out that there is “no substitute for experience built on the solid foundation of top class training”.
We saw recently in New Zealand an American businessman setup a business with a vision to develop and provide multi-talented crew for Superyachts and he even went so far as to recruit crew from Law Enforcement and Military backgrounds. Unfortunately for him things did not progress as well as expected and he’s closed down the business. However the philosophy and relevance in today’s environment (piracy, etc) was sound. The team trained to STCW and MCA standards and held a wide vocation of skills that would be very useful to most private and commercial ships. The guys that went through the first cycle of training are doing very well on assignments around the world. What I think made this Unit exceptional was that they came from structured and demanding environments and applied their experience (and focus) to developing the specific skills required to be valued team players.
At Urban Voyage we think there is no substitute for experience and that the focused application of unique skills can achieve great things. I think it comes back to a concept of honoring those that have come before you by being humble and learning from their experience.
