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“Many jobs on yachts, but young people don’t know it”

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“Many jobs on yachts, but young people don’t know it”

“Recreational boating offers great job opportunities. Too bad most young people don’t know it.” Paolo Blaffard is the captain of the Kauris II, the first Wally sailing yacht owned by Marco Tronchetti Provera. He is a veteran of the seas and is the president of AMADI, an acronym which stands for Pleasure Seamen’s Association, a partnership which since 1995 has been a point of reference for all those who work in any capacity on pleasure boats, from small boats to mega yachts. He’s an exploratory chat, we part with the promise to hear from you. Boating also needs these voices.

Paul Blaffard

Commander, how many associations are there in the sector?

“There have been several, today there are basically three. The Amadi, which was the first to be born, then the Argentario Maritime Association, and the Italian Yacht Masters, the latter which includes only captains and chief engineers”.

For what purpose were you born at AMADI?

“With that of an association. A community of people who share ideas, information, category problems. We’ve had ups and downs, we’ve had several branches from Sanremo to Venice, from Torre del Greco to Sardinia, then the 2008 cirsi forced us to downsize and today we have a single branch in Santa Margherita Ligure. An office that the Municipality has assigned us on loan for use, near the Port Authority. We have adapted to the regulations, we have become an association for social promotion”.

How do you support yourself?

“With membership cards. Sixty euros a year, thirty for young people. And through the advertising of our Yachting News, which we publish once a year”.

Are you also looking for boarding for your members?

“The association acts as a meeting point between request and demand. Let me explain: an owner, a captain needs personnel, he contacts us and informs us of the characteristics that the candidate must have. We send them the CVs of the members who meet the requirements. We connect them and stop here. We don’t ask for anything, we stay out of what follows in terms of talks, negotiations, agreements”.

And what else?

“We are fighting for adequate legislation. Unfortunately, the one concerning the pleasure craft seafarer is still incomplete. Some of our representatives in the past have been invited to Rome by the Ministry to discuss it. It should be noted that in 2006 the career of the seafarer in the merchant sector was divided from that of the pleasure craft sector, while before we all fell into the first ‘family’. A fair distinction, which, however, was followed by some problems and errors. We’ve tried to report them to government engineers, but we haven’t been able to change them yet. In particular, we have pointed out that those with foreign qualifications have much more dignity than those with Italian qualifications”.

In what sense?

“To embark, to obtain qualifications and degrees, one must undergo training courses. Today it appears that the recognitions of the British legislation, for example, are much easier to achieve than those provided for by the Italian legal system. The former are more expensive, but simpler to obtain, despite the fact that in Italy, theoretically, this path can also be tackled as a private individual, therefore with less outlays of money”.

What is the problem, specifically?

“In Italy it is very complex to have the periods of embarkation, the months of navigation, necessary to advance in one’s career and obtain the qualifications necessary to operate on a boat, recognized. Thus, it happens that our kids prefer to follow the British, Maltese, even Croatian path rather than the national one. Titles that in some cases are not recognized and for which a lot of money has been thrown away “.

Consequences?

“In the end, doing so penalizes the Italian navy. And it is absurd, because we are first in the world in shipbuilding, we vary the most beautiful superyachts in the world and if we then get on board we discover that the staff is increasingly foreign”.

I see the consequences, yes. First of all, jobs are lost.

“Of course it is. And it’s a shame, because there is a great demand for personnel in the yachting sector. The boats are more and more, and bigger and bigger. But the question is: who will go to work there? The crew is essential. Masters and deck officers, directors and engineers, sailors and stewardesses, cooks. There is demand, there is work, as is happening throughout the tourism sector. But few know it, and in Italy we are less and less”.

On yachts, however, wages, including heats, are higher than on land. He confirms?

“Yes, you work a lot, there are no timetables, but you earn well”.

We all have in our eyes the episodes of TV series such as “Below deck”: dream boats, heavenly places, luxury…

“Well, it’s a beautiful world, it’s true. But working on board also requires an uncommon spirit of adaptation. Spaces are reduced, coexistence is tight. And you have to be prepared, because for example in the hotel department the level of service required is always higher. You have to know how to relate to the owners and their guests, people accustomed to luxury and very high standards of living. To understand each other, it is not enough if you are a hostess or a steward to pour them a 500 euro champagne, but it also counts how you do it”.

Are there many Italian captains on the big boats?

“Less and less. Most are Anglo-Saxon. And this also has significant economic consequences…”.

In what sense?

“Well, the British commanders and directors, for example, choose Palma de Mallorca, Spain or the Côte d’Azur as their port of reference for the boat. A matter of climate, lifestyle, international airports, well-equipped ports and above all communities. They tend to stay with each other. Thus the large yachts are stationed in Palma and not in Italy, where instead they would be if the top management were Italian. Which means a significant loss of economic impact, because the boat must be continuously maintained, because a large boat needs spare parts, food, there are personnel needs. The related industries that create a large yacht is a huge value, which Italy sees evaporating to the advantage of other nations. The fact that the seafarers who make up the crew are foreigners is one of the factors that generate this phenomenon”.

Should we fight foreign competition?

“But no, that’s not the point. We should give the Italians the opportunity to get on board and stay there”.

Are Italians wanted?

“Especially engineer officers and chefs”.

She says there are many job opportunities on yachts, but young people don’t know about it. Why?

“Because if they don’t have parents, relatives, friends who tell them about this opportunity, they don’t know about it. Most see boats only as a way to go for a swim or large yachts as impossible destinations, on which one will never be able to get on. But is not so. There should be specific paths to help them know and choose.

Are you doing anything to remedy this?

“We, in our small way, have started training courses in recent years for hostesses and sailors, who then embarked on yachts where the captains and directors were our partners. Small numbers. We also promote meetings in nautical and hotel institutes..:”.

Nautical and hotel?

“Oh yes, because among the students of the Nautical Institutes not everyone knows that there may be an alternative to the merchant marine route. Understanding that probably only 10% of those students will go surfing. We are going to introduce them to pleasure craft as a working sector. And the same goes for the Hotel Management Institute: on large yachts, chefs are fundamental figures, highly sought after. Also in this case it can be an alternative to the big hotel”.

There are private academies, also promoted with the support of shipyards.

“Even the large shipyards, which carry on the made in Italy and which are among the first producers in the world, have realized that there is a lack of personnel on the boats and that we are losing the Italian one. So, even with their support, something is happening.”

What would it take?

“One could think of a specific path within the Nautical or Hotel Institutes, or of post-diploma specialization courses of even six months, which can issue an entrance qualification to a career on board. It would be the way to initiate the boys to work in the sea”.

Should you give advice to a young person who is entering this sector?

“To embark on boats that sail a lot, because it’s very educational. I have almost always been on sailboats, from Sangermans to Swans, and for three years I went back and forth between Europe and the Caribbean. I learned so much, I saw the world”.

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