Charter Yacht Solutions, based out of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, was formed 3-1/2 years ago with a new concept in clearing houses (the primary link between the charter yacht operator and the charter yacht broker community). We have two types of clients – we have yachts and we have brokers. The brokers provide the charters and one of the cornerstones of our business has always been that we will never have an in-house broker who competes with our broker clients. All other clearing houses have one or more in-house brokers, but we believe this to be a conflict of interest. This approach has served us well as our faithful brokers have not only given us all of our bookings but also the vast majority of our fleet has been referred to us by these same brokers. Brokers tell us they start with our fleet because they want to support a clearing house with integrity that does not compete with them.
Our US Virgin Island base is at American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook, St. Thomas, which affords yachts easy access to collect their guests. The majority of charter guests fly into St. Thomas because of the convenience of the numerous direct flights from the continental USA. It also allows the yachts access to more choices in provisioning with multiple grocery stores, gourmet provisioning services, and an Italian import store that sells cheese, meat, wine and other wonders.
It is important to remember when arranging a charter that the average cost of provisions is around 20% less than for the same items purchased in the BVI. St Thomas also has three major liquor distributors, a couple of local organic produce options, numerous florists, two excellent marinas, plenty of hotel options for night before and/or after charter and excellent limo services.
Whether you are an owner/operator or your vessel is run by your own professional crew, our goal is to help guide you through the intricacies of entering your yacht into charter, assisting with the red tape and licensing legalities in the USVI, BVI or Bahamas. We can arrange for a professional photo shoot, crew placement, provide guidance on proper pricing for your yacht, creation of the Central Yacht Agent brochure (this is an MLS listing for charter yachts) and once created, provide your yacht with an introduction to the charter brokerage world.
Having a private yacht do charter is a great way to offset costs of yacht ownership and it allows you to have full-time crew who maintain and look after your yacht. With a good charter layout and a well- respected professional crew team, many yachts enjoy 15-28 weeks of charter per season. Many of our owners prefer to have just a handful of charters so they can use the yacht personally (the reason they purchased the yacht after all!) and we are happy to limit the number depending on the owners’ desires.
We are detailed oriented and pride ourselves on keeping all details and calendar information online up to date so brokers know they can rely on this information when working evenings and weekends when our office is closed. Unlike other clearing houses, we provide our owners and crews with 24/7 access to their charter and billing data to help keep their business life more productive.
Through our Charter Yacht Solutions business partners, we also have access to factory-authorized maintenance via MultiTechVI for repairs and preventative maintenance. We also offer a full yacht management option through Paradise Yacht Management with every aspect of operations including crew hiring, expense reviews, banking and maintenance are taken care of with financial statements provided to the owner monthly.
The following is an example of what should be provided by a Clearing House:
- Creation of individual e‐brochure on Central Yacht Agent (CYA) for yachts new to charter
- Constant updating of CYA e‐brochure including:
- Holds/Options ‐ notices sent to owner/management and crew for each hold and/or change to a hold/option
- Bookings (notices sent to owner/management and crew for each booking including all details of charter, terms and pricing and uploaded to owner/crew Dropbox on our website for 24/7 access
- Contracts uploaded to owner/crew Dropbox for 24/7 access
- Guest comments with photos uploaded within two business days to CYA brochure
- Rates updated quarterly and reminders sent out that rate change dates are approaching
- New photos of yacht resized and uploaded to CYA as they become available
- Arrangement for professional photo shoots for brochure, at client expense
- All specifications and new equipment/toys details kept up to date for broker and clients
- Real‐time maintenance of the yachts calendar so brokers can have confidence in the data when working with clients on weekend and after hours
- Access 24/7 to your charter and boat documents via our owner/crew website
- Access 5 days per week to yacht mail room, weekends by appointment
- Storage (holding) area for large package deliveries for yacht equipment ordered
- Yacht management through Paradise Yacht Management
- Detailed monthly invoicing (also available online 24/7)
For details of the services offered, rates and a FAQ then CLICK HERE
FEATURED YACHT: SHANGRI LA – Lagoon 52
SHANGRI LA is one of our more successful charter yachts. This spectacular Lagoon 52 accommodates up to eight guests in luxury with a professional crew of three attending to their every need. This yacht and crew have won many awards over the past 3 years and continue to be one of the most successful yachts in the industry. Aside from a perfect charter layout, the secret to her success is her owner/operator crew. Bernd and Daniela are both retired doctors and very interesting. Daniela has won numerous culinary awards and together with their stewardess they provide wonderful charters. Below is their brochure, please check out the yacht, crew and Daniela’s wonderful menu!
SHANGRI LA 52 Feet. (Cat)
Sleeps 8 Guests in 3 Queen(s), 1 Twin(s)
Online brochure and Rates: CLICK HERE
A clearing house is a financial institution formed to facilitate the exchange of payments, securities, or derivatives transactions. Its main role is to make certain that the buyer and seller honor their contract obligations.
Its main role is to make certain that the buyer and seller honor their contract obligations. Responsibilities include settling trading accounts, clearing trades, collecting and maintaining margin monies, regulating delivery of the bought/sold instrument, and reporting trading data.
Yacht Operator and the Charter Yacht Broker
A yacht clearing house is the primary link between the charter yacht operator and the charter yacht broker community. Your clearing house keeps your calendar of available chartering dates along with all of your up to date rates, yacht specifications and other vital details about your yacht and your crew.
Your charter clearing house will provide you with marketing strategies, social media recognition and a mailbox service. When looking for a quality minded clearing house, a charter yacht operator should take into account their homeport location, as well as their accessibility to their clearing house office. Your clearing house should also be able to discuss and implement an individual marketing plan designed specifically for your business while promoting the charter yacht vacation industry as a whole.
Yacht clearing houses concentrate on maintaining your paperwork, funds and data so that you may optimize your charter time out on the water. These services include Contract management, escrow of funds and maintenance of your data in a central database.
While the Virgin Islands were at one time known for pirates, times have changed. Clearing houses do have certain legal responsibilities to our owners, crews, brokers and guests. Requirements change from time to time and you will be informed as any and all changes occur.
