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The SYH Story
While serving as co-CEOs of a superyacht charter and brokerage company, founders Thomas and Matthew Locastro identified a wide gap in the yachting market. At one extreme of the continuum they found true superyachts, exclusive to billionaires, and charters of those yachts few could afford. They also realized the massive underutilization of those assets. At the other end of this range are cruise ships, now including some being built for luxury hotel companies including Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental.
In the middle were several attempts to duplicate the success of The World – Residences at Sea. Although many attempts have been made, none have been successful. Learning that The World was still very successful after 21 years of operation they set out to find the details of the vessel. A colleague in the US Virgin Islands remembered that a well-respected resort manager had left the islands and ultimately became president of The World.
They recruited Jim St John, the first successful President & CEO of The World to the SYH team as President and he began the task of identifying key team members for yacht operations along with developing relationships for luxury service providers for Wellness, Spa and Medical support. Dale Moffitt, former Chief Concierge of The World and later a successful luxury boutique hotel General Manager, was recruited as Director of Operations. With Dale on board, Jim immediately joined Thomas and Matthew in the search for the right superyacht to build their program around.
This search process required numerous individual and group trips to France, Greece and Turkey. It included detailed analysis of numerous existing and partially completed superyachts to isolate specific targets that could most effectively meet the need of the evolving SYH program, which was initially based on shared ownership and has since evolved into straightforward membership. Several vessels were inspected personally by the team and negotiations were undertaken with three different potential yacht owner participants.
Ultimately, superyacht Victorious was selected, and an agreement was reached with the owner to purchase the vessel and the initial shared usage program was launched at the Monaco Yacht Show in September 2023. Later that year, Victorious crossed the Atlantic and was opened for qualified tours in Ft Lauderdale and at the Miami Boat Show. Follow-up shoreside events were held in conjunction with the West Palm Beach Boat Show and at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Over a three-month period, the SYH team, now including Gabriel Baldinucci the visionary that launched Virgin Voyages, conducted eighteen events and toured over five hundred qualified visitors. Events were held in collaboration with the Family Office Association, Association for Corporate Growth, Trivest, Bank of America and the Nicklaus Children’s Healthcare Foundation, to name a few.
This “proof of concept” process yielded amazing results, along with the unexpected direct sale of Victorious. This unplanned challenge allowed the SYH team to evaluate the entire planning process based on the invaluable input from multiple visitors that made specific and actionable recommendations.
Based on the many specific and actionable recommendations SYH is able to offer a much more easily understood model and a reduced price point using a private membership club approach.