Onboard BOLD at Antigua Charter Show

Bold. Beautiful. Adventurous

That’s how Chief Officer Benn Weatherseed would describe the 85m BOLD. With BOLD on display at the Antigua Charter Show earlier this month, it was the perfect opportunity for a catch up with the crew.

You’re the chief officer aboard BOLD, but this week you’re filling Captain Paul’s shoes. How’s that working out?

Captain Paul is the primary captain but for the past year or so, we’ve slowly sought to bring in a bit of a rotation between us. Whenever he goes away, I’ll step up. And then he’ll come back, and I’ll go on leave, and then come back to the chief officer role for a bit and then he’ll go away again. I’m kind of doing a step up/step down thing and it’s working great. The dynamic is good, no complaints from the crew! And it really helps us both. For me to have that experience is important. I’ve done a couple of crossings with BOLD in the role of Captain now, that’s been cool! And we’re both keen to continue in this manner, perhaps with a more formal structure and schedule. We’ve shown the owner that the yacht’s programme continues to run smoothly, and we’ve both worked for this owner over three years now – we look after the boat, and his best interests.

What do you prefer owner trips or charter trips?

The owner makes things very simple for us because he tells us exactly what he likes and what he wants from each trip. We follow that to the letter and he’s happy.

Charters are the complete opposite! Often we don’t know what the party wants and we have to figure it out – and sometimes that means helping them to figure it out too! They might not know what they want until they’re here.

We offer charterers everything, show them all the options, and try to help them decide on the best way to spend their time aboard.

We have a busy charter schedule. Last year did nine back-to-back! Guests raved about the boat and the crew – we have great crew longevity, I think the average across the team is 15 months now, and obviously some of us have been aboard for longer.

Do you find that the average charter guest for BOLD, if there is such a thing, is more the action/adventure type?

Because of the boat’s aesthetic, you would think so but, really, BOLD covers all the options. Some charter guests favour BOLD for her architectural styling and versatile spaces – particularly if they’re entertaining friends, and for others it’s all about the water toys and outside activities. But likewise, we’ve had some guests that don’t even want to swim!

What’s your ideal charterer, or charter group?

I prefer having a more active group onboard. The ones that want to use the jet skis, go scuba diving, explore the local areas. We have quite a young crew – most are early twenties, and they’re super active, super sporty, and they love showing guests what’s possible and getting involved

What’s your charter program like for the next 18 months? Where are you going?

We’ll be in the Caribbean until April/May and then it’s likely we’ll go back to the Med for summer. But the owner’s plans might change. We might go west, but we might go anywhere! We’re available for charter, and there’s a couple booked already. We’re keen to see the charter gaps filled.

Are there any special talents amongst the crew?

We’ve got some DJs. We have a masseuse, a spa therapist, some sailing instructors, and our chef makes absolutely phenomenal food. It’s a broad range of skills across the crew, which is cool.

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