Whites International Yachts profile

Clare Willison talks to Arend and Jacqueline Venema to find out what one of the longest standing yacht brokers on the island of Mallorca have to offer and what drives their success

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remember visiting Whites International Yachts many years ago on a client visit to Mallorca soon after it was set up. Tucked away on the south west coast of the island, Andratx is a beautiful natural harbour where yachts enjoy a safe deep water anchorage safely protected from the south-west swell that can kick up. This long-standing brokerage was set up by Brian and Jill White in 1989, hence the name; Whites was one of the first yacht brokerages on the island. Back then there was little development in the port, but over the years the harbour and surrounding area has developed into a buzzing yachting centre where you can or-

Office at Port d’Andratx near Club de Vela left

Jacqueline Venema Dirk Jan Coljee

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PROF LE

Whiter than Whites

ganise virtually anything for your boat, including a part exchange if you decide you would like to switch yachts mid-cruise.

Under seventeen years of guidance, Brian and Jill White built a strong secure reputation based on a dedicated, personal and professional service. This continues today under the relatively new ownership (since 2006), of Dutch couple Arend and Jacqueline Venema. With their offices in the strategic position opposite Club de Vela in the port, this strong duo are known to many as the founders, in the late 1970s, of a very well-known yacht brokerage company: Prins van Oranje in Holland.

Port d' Andratx

Arend and Jacqueline have wide and extensive experience in the marine industry. In the eighties they were importers of Bianca Yachts and Finngulf sailing yachts from Scandinavia, and from the UK, the well-known Sadler (Starlight) Yachts. They built typical Dutch steel boats as the Gillissen Vletten and Molenmaker & Mantel Kutter Yachts which they exhibited at national and international boat shows.

After a period of twelve years at Heeg, the Venemas expanded their brokerage business and developed a marina in

Makkum on the Ijsselmeer. In this new location they also offered yacht management alongside a charter brokerage company for both power boats and sailing yachts. Eventually they took the opportunity to sell the property and marina to an investor and handed over the management of the Makkum office to an employee. In the meantime Arend’s brother took over the Heeg office and has since expanded the business further.

Following the sale of the yard, the Venemas took a wellearned sabbatical, travelling and sailing the Mediterranean SPRING 2010  YACHTWORLD.COM 13

Anchorage in bay of Port d’Andratx

aboard their 43ft sailing yacht. They lived and worked in southwest France for almost five years before they realised that they missed the sea, marine business and environment. An opportunity arose to purchase Whites and they jumped at the prospect.

Whites International operates as a small, dedicated and active team – Dirk Jan Coljee (sales director) and Hannelore Maas (secretary) work alongside Arend and Jacqueline. They are multilingual, speaking English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish and even Frisian, the language of Friesland – the area they come from in the North of Holland.

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The service offered is far reaching, with an extensive network on the international market, co-operating with yacht brokers all over Europe, particularly in Holland, France, Germany, UK, Scandinavia and further afield, Florida, and of course locally, with colleague brokers on the mainland of Spain.

This network enables the company to offer a portfolio of boats for sale – new and used – and to keep listings and stock levels sufficient to service the requirements of their clients. They also offer clients a part exchange service.

I asked Jacqueline a few key questions:

What type of craft do you specialise in?

We like to specialise in the sale of pre-owned sailing and motor yachts from 40 ft, with the focus on sailing yachts as this is our particular area of interest and expertise.

If you owned a boat what would it be?

We do own a boat at the moment – a Grand Soleil, but when we retire our choice would be an Oyster, as this would appeal to our future long distance cruising plans. For the time being we enjoy as much as we can sailing locally around the Balearics.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of buying a boat in Spain?

Our key piece of advice that we would give to people when they look to purchase a boat in Spain is to always contact an international yacht broker who is a member of a marine association – for example YBDSA – as paperwork and the regulations in Spain are complicated and onerous. A yacht broker is aware of the potential legalities of foreign registration and can communicate with other nationalities and registration offices.

They can check if there is a mortgage on the boat and will act as a notary office on behalf of the buyer and seller. An escrow account is also provided for depositing funds during the buying and selling process.

What are the biggest changes that you have seen since you have been in the industry?

The biggest change that I have seen since I have been in the industry is the open internet market. In the early days I walked down to the mailbox to post a letter and advertised in printed magazines. Now we work hard on the internet, using all sorts of portals and social network sources. Print advertising is still very important and forms part of our marketing strategy, but internet marketing is faster and essential for gathering information, marine investigations, listings and, ultimately, sales.

What are the biggest challenges facing the marine industry today?

The biggest challenge for me is to keep up with the market, new and emerging technologies and, above all, to have satisfied clients.

What is your prediction 30 years from now?

I believe that we are undergoing a change where lifestyle is becoming more important, and with the development of decent long range communication systems, work can now be done

remotely and from anywhere in the world. New build yachts, harnessing advanced technologies, will be become bigger and more and more people will take a break and circumnavigate around the world.

It is not easy being green. How green are you?

In the office we are green as we can be with as most of the “paperwork” is stored and our business relies almost wholly on digital communication.

How do you view the current market?

We are aware that it is a difficult market out there, but whether in a good or bad market we advise boat owners to be as honest as possible concerning the asking price. We are very successful in selling boats, but it is no use to market a boat above the realistic price. Because of the unpredictability of the current market the best boat for the best price will sell. We have lots of potential buyers but are continually searching for new listings. Speak with our sales director Dirk Jan Coljee about this if you have a boat that you want to sell.

Would you choose the same career if you had your time again?

Yes, and it is even better as coincidentally as I met my husband in this business, and we are incredibly lucky to be on this beautiful island, and in the spot we are.

Stop by and have a coffee if you are in the area, we love visitors, and if we can help source your dream yacht … even better. n

For more information contact Jacqueline Venema-Sijpersma at Whites International Yachts (Mallorca), Edificio San Marino L3, Avda. Gabriel Roca 24, 07157 Port d’Andratx, Mallorca, Spain; tel: +34 971 673 555; fax: +34 971 673 968; mobile +34 626 04 23 27; www.WhitesYachts.com

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