Profile Bob Saxon

THE STANDARD SETTER

By Isla McKechnie

Bob Saxon is a standard setter. A man of good repute.

With a yachting career starting in 1979,

the former Cardinal Gibbons High School English teacher parlayed a way with words into the superyacht industry’s largest yacht management group at the time after launching Bob Saxon Associates in 1987.

His career since has been one of creating industry benchmarks. He was the founding president of the International Superyacht Society (ISS) and is in his fourth term as president of the International Yacht Brokers Association. He’s a certified arbitrator of the International Yacht Arbitration Council, has been awarded the ISS lifetime achievement award and is an electee to the international chartering hall of fame.

A lot of work. So what drives him?

“It was about taking the yachting sector from a loosely fragmented collection of companies, to a profession,” says Saxon. And he points out that it’s not finished yet.

“We have yet to reach the ultimate and ideal but it’s a worthy pursuit with the yachting consumer in mind who benefits from the drive toward professionalism.” The ISS, IYBA, and IYAC represent a way for Bob to give back to a career that he’s enjoyed for four decades, and he describes the driving forces behind them as promoting trade and fostering professionalism.

He cites his time as founding, and four term, ISS president as the proudest role of his career. The organisation is dedicated to the betterment of the industry at large.

“Being awarded the ISS Lifetime Achievement Award was a thrill as well as being elected to the International Chartering Hall of Fame with my plaque hanging in the museum in Antigua, birthplace of yacht chartering.”

However there’s also the matter of introducing people to the superyacht experience. He says he’s incredibly proud that during four decades of work he’s helped introduce hundreds of new owners into the yachting arena.

That consumer has also evolved in Saxon’s time in the industry. Over 40 years he’s represented more than 2500 yacht owners, so he’s well placed to observe change.

“Each generation brings with it a differing approach toward ownership and appreciation of the asset. Today we see an approach to yachting which looks to the sea as nature’s playground, and deference to the oceans as ecosystems.”

He also describes a more pragmatic and businesslike approach to ownership which has evolved over his four decades of involvement in the industry, much of it instigated by international safety and regulatory conventions.

“However, one commonality that exists between owners then and now, is a sense of wanderlust.” “I learned recently that a major builder has a windowless bridge on the drawing board. The space ordinarily dedicated to helm operation will now be available to expand the creature comforts and usability for the customer, with the bridge repositioned below deck similar in manner to the way in which a submarine is commanded.”

With the industry evolving, where to next for Bob Saxon, in a career that has spanned numerous industry leaps forward and the creation of professional standards. Fittingly, alongside work with owners, sales and charter brokers, he’s focused on what he can give back to the next generation to keep the industry moving forward.

But stopping them moving further afield? The charter market. Saxon explains that the development of new destinations would be welcomed by the industry, however the current market places an inordinate emphasis on chartering.

That emphasis skews the market toward the easilymarketable, mainstream charter markets. The eastern and western Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and to a lesser extent New England and the Pacific Northwest.

“I’ve seen some amazing things emerge from our industry.”

“I am doing a lot of mentoring; the old school teacher again. In that way I feel fulfilled,” he says.

“And it is in fact, after all a matter of fulfilment.”

“The industry is crying out for other markets to develop but unless they represent a viable charter market, we’ll see the charter demand dictate the return of the fleet to the charter milkruns.”

But there is plenty changing for the better. Saxon points to design, and how impressive it is to see yacht builders push the boundaries as far as they’ll go with the good of the environment in mind.

“I’ve seen some amazing things emerge from our industry. When you combine the unlimited talents and creativity of our builders and designers with the boundless imaginations of our clients, It’s exciting to consider the possibilities,” says Saxon.