A lifetime of practical experience racing, sailing, cruising and teaching has afforded Tom an unmatched depth of knowledge in yachting. Tom has earned the respect of his luxury clientele by fulfilling their interests, offsetting long term costs, accommodating international showings, organizing the transaction and assisting long after the negotiation closes.

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Welcome to Newport Living and Lifestyles, I’m Christon, and I’m here with Tom Maynard of Atlantic Coastal Yacht Brokers. Welcome. Thank you, Christon. Can you tell us when you opened up your very first yacht brokerage? I opened my first company in 1984, I got into the industry in 1979 after getting out of college.

Well you have a lifetime of practical experience: sailing, cruising and educating. How does that affect your yacht brokerage?

I try to use all the experience I’ve gotten to benefit my clients. I think I have a lot of practical experience from crossing oceans, to cruising on motor yachts, to sport fishing, that I can bring to the table in advising my clients as to what would be a good boat for them, and ask them to give me what they’re looking for in the experience. I think anyone can sell a boat, but I play the role of an advisor and I am truly working for my client every step of the way.

What type of boats are your clients looking for?

Right now, the clients I’m active with, are ranging anywhere from 180 feet at about $30 million, down to friends and locals in the 30, 40, 50 thousand-dollar-range. Depreciation on even the best yachts is that, say the gentleman, the family that I’m working with on a 165-footer in the $25 million range, the boat was built for $50 million, 5 years ago. So there is a great savings when buying a relatively recent brokerage yacht  that was well-founded to start with and has been well taken care of. And you can bring that right down the line to something that costs $250,000 to the boat show and four or five years later, it’s worth $175,000 and five years from now it might be worth $150,000. So you get away from that initial hit, and you still have the same experience if we do the process correctly.

So what kind of features are people really looking for in a yacht?

Well the range is in family needs. For some it’s, “we have another child, we’d like to have another state room.” Or, “we don’t have time to dally around, we want a boat that cruises at a minimum of 20 knots.” Someone else will go, “I’ve got all the time in the world, I’m retired. I want the yacht that burns the least amount of fuel. I don’t need to go more than 8 knots.” So it’s tailoring things like that. On a 165-foot yacht, you can get the experience of being on a 250-foot yacht, in the fact that they have a lot of the same elements.

Yeah, definitely. So what price range are people looking in for these types of yachts?

Again, it’s such a range. But I would say that the majority of the people that we meet, around a quarter million to around a few million. Then we have some other people from the other realms, like Wall Street, and the sky is the limit. But they’re coming to me I think looking for some guidance, and looking for a good value in a yacht, not just walking into a sales situation where somebody’s selling the sizzle but not the steak.

[laughter]

I like that. So what are some of the most extravagant places that you and your clients have been to list and sell yachts.

I’ve sold boats in France, then in England, all over the Caribbean, and certainly being based out of Fort Lauderdale in the winter time, all over Florida. Water front I’m pretty familiar with.

Tell us about what boat shows all buyers, and maybe people who are listing a boat, should be attending.

Well in the Northeast/mid-Atlantic, the first show of the new season, the 2019’s are debuting at the Newport Boat Show. That group then moves down to the Norwalk Boat Show where you pick up the Northern New Jersey, Long Island, Fairfield County area, then some of them move to the Annapolis Boat Shows, and then all the boats go to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show which starts on November 1. And that is one of the two biggest boat shows in the world.

So is there a best time throughout the year to buy or sell a boat?

Northeast and mid-Atlantic, the two best times are really early in the spring where you can get a boat and get somebody out from underneath that boat and you have it for the season. The other one is in the fall, where people are going like, “I’d rather not pay for the storage again, I want to know that I’m free of the boat, and I want to go shopping for the next year and the next boat.” So that’s a great time, yes you pay the carrying costs for the winter, but they’re discounting the boat heavily, way beyond those costs, just to be clear of it. It’s all fun and it’s all on the waterfront, it’s a great lifestyle, it’s something you can share with the family, there’s a lot to be said for it.

Mhm. Definitely. So if somebody wanted to reach you, to list, or to buy a boat, how can they reach you?

I can be reached at tmaynard@acybyachting.com I’m available on my cell, that’s what’s printed on my business cards, if I’m taking the time to work with somebody, I want them to get me directly, not after the answering service. I’m busy and available pretty much year round, seven days a week. And sometimes you may reach me on a boat, but that’s because I’m having fun as well.

[laughter] Oh good. You have a storefront here, in Newport, where is that located?

Yeah at 547 Thames St, on the busiest most popular street in Newport. [laughter] It parallels the waterfront. So if you follow the waterfront of Newport, you can find my store and I’ve got a display window of my listings and other yacht brokers’ listings are shown there.

Good! Well thanks so much for coming on, I really appreciate it. It was a wealth of knowledge.

Thank you for having me.

We look forward to seeing you, on Newport Living and Lifestlyles.