Charter Base in Tortola Revitalized After Covid

Setbacks

For The Moorings and Sunsail in the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the Covid pandemic period struck the group’s performance hard up to 2020 and beyond.

Ian Pedersen, senior marketing manager of The Moorings and Sunsail’s charter yacht, sailboat and catamaran charter businesses, said: “I remember just a few days before that storm hit, I was thinking to myself, ‘Wow, this is the best week and the best month that the business has ever had’.

“As far as revenue and just the momentum, marketing and all the trends were going great. And then a few days later, sure enough, Hurricane Irma came in and completely wiped out our entire fleet, and our No 1 destination [the British Virgin Islands]. What do you do when 300 boats that you had are basically wiped off the face of the Earth?”

After the Storms

Having worked through that difficult double whammy, for 2023-24 The Moorings and Sunsail are both reporting double-digit annual growth. Pedersen indicated that 2023 was the most successful year in the company’s 54-year history.

“First, post-pandemic interest in socially-distant vacations increased, and last year the BVI saw a new and relaunched airlift from Miami to Tortola,” he said. “Also helping fuel sales is an increase in clients who have little to no boating experience and just want to hire a skipper and a crewed yacht rather than learn the maritime ropes.

“We’re definitely seeing a shift towards that kind of more mainstream travel audience,” he explained. “Those that are discovering yacht charter vacations in their own right, even though they may never have set a foot on a boat before.

“It’s just a cool, different way that people want to experience the Caribbean, rather than a luxury cruise or staying at a villa. I think that you see the full breadth of what your destination has to offer when you’re on a yacht charter as opposed to staying at a resort or a villa.

“Over the past few years,” Pedersen pointed out, “The Moorings and Sunsail have broadened their poweryacht offerings and in the US there are now four times as many powerboaters as there are sailors, so targeting that market is key.

“The idea of a live-aboard yacht charter vacation is very, very new,” he elaborated, “and experienced skippers still ask questions about yacht charter vacations at boat shows. We’re still introducing this concept to really experienced boat owners who you would assume would be the most knowledgeable when it comes to yacht charter vacations and the most likely to do something like this.”