There are few who would say that the yachting industry is like any other. It is unique in so many ways which for some allows certain tolerances that are not acceptable anywhere else. For others, this,often grey area, that many in yachting enjoy, is frustrating as the industry does appear to be at times, a little old fashioned.
Things however, do appear to be changing and there are signs that 'normal' business standards could be imposed upon the yachting fraternity. One of the factors is likely to be the good old Martime Labour Convention or MLC. Within the next couple of years this convention will compel yachties to adhere to a very tight set of rules which are, mostly, in effect already anyway. For example, it will require contracts for all seafarers. Indeed it is likely to require that these contracts are legal and that the employment process was also legal. This would then seem to make it difficult to specify race and gender when hiring a crew member if, just supposing, the crew agent was based in the US. Local laws would not allow this to happen. Now this sort of thing is blasphemy to a yachty. "How dare they!" they say or at least most of the ones I have talked to say that. Can we really imagine CVs without pictures? What a terrible world that would be!
What about hours of rest? The STCW standards will have to be rigidly adhered to. Failure could mean fines and a whole heap of paperwork. "Madness!" I hear yachties cry." What would life be like if we only were allowed to work for 91 hours a week!
Like it or not it is going to happen and it is nothing more than inevitable progress. My point is that whilst I am aware there will be a lot of people keen to point out that yachting will fall to pieces if they are not allowed to say that they need a hot, white, piece of totty to fill the stewardess role. I suspect that plenty of others will welcome the sort of changes that the MLC may bring with it.
My reasoning is this: It would seem to me that stereotypes are starting to be broken in this game and this, I would venture, is the result of a new generation of young yachties who are not allowing themselves to be pigeonholed. I cannot honestly say what the 'average' 200 ton student looks like these days. Male, female, old, young, black, white. This week for example it is the first time that the ladies out number the men on the Master of Yachts course.
A few years ago the various accents one would hear aboard a yacht were quite predictable, nowadays that just isn't so. I have seen perhaps twenty different nationalities pass through IYT's training facility in Ft Lauderdale this year already.
When the MCA imposed the rules regarding licenicng and training requirements, it is fair to say that the majority of yacht crew that I met were dead against it. There was a purvasive attitude that suggested that it was simply unecessary to try and regulate the business. However I sense that when the MLC knocks on the door many will welcome it with open arms.
The question then is this. Are we really undergoing a period of change and is this positive progress or interference? Can yachting improve as an industry if it observes yet more regulations?
Things however, do appear to be changing and there are signs that 'normal' business standards could be imposed upon the yachting fraternity. One of the factors is likely to be the good old Martime Labour Convention or MLC. Within the next couple of years this convention will compel yachties to adhere to a very tight set of rules which are, mostly, in effect already anyway. For example, it will require contracts for all seafarers. Indeed it is likely to require that these contracts are legal and that the employment process was also legal. This would then seem to make it difficult to specify race and gender when hiring a crew member if, just supposing, the crew agent was based in the US. Local laws would not allow this to happen. Now this sort of thing is blasphemy to a yachty. "How dare they!" they say or at least most of the ones I have talked to say that. Can we really imagine CVs without pictures? What a terrible world that would be!
What about hours of rest? The STCW standards will have to be rigidly adhered to. Failure could mean fines and a whole heap of paperwork. "Madness!" I hear yachties cry." What would life be like if we only were allowed to work for 91 hours a week!
Like it or not it is going to happen and it is nothing more than inevitable progress. My point is that whilst I am aware there will be a lot of people keen to point out that yachting will fall to pieces if they are not allowed to say that they need a hot, white, piece of totty to fill the stewardess role. I suspect that plenty of others will welcome the sort of changes that the MLC may bring with it.
My reasoning is this: It would seem to me that stereotypes are starting to be broken in this game and this, I would venture, is the result of a new generation of young yachties who are not allowing themselves to be pigeonholed. I cannot honestly say what the 'average' 200 ton student looks like these days. Male, female, old, young, black, white. This week for example it is the first time that the ladies out number the men on the Master of Yachts course.
A few years ago the various accents one would hear aboard a yacht were quite predictable, nowadays that just isn't so. I have seen perhaps twenty different nationalities pass through IYT's training facility in Ft Lauderdale this year already.
When the MCA imposed the rules regarding licenicng and training requirements, it is fair to say that the majority of yacht crew that I met were dead against it. There was a purvasive attitude that suggested that it was simply unecessary to try and regulate the business. However I sense that when the MLC knocks on the door many will welcome it with open arms.
The question then is this. Are we really undergoing a period of change and is this positive progress or interference? Can yachting improve as an industry if it observes yet more regulations?
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