Yacht brokers nationwide now have a new benchmark for measuring their skills, abilities and performance. Boat sellers and buyers are now in a better position to select qualified, competent yacht brokers.

These are the goals of the new National Yacht Broker Certification program; a joint effort of the Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA, Annapolis, MD), the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL) California Yacht Brokers Associate, Ontario Yacht Brokers Association and the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA, Seattle, WA). In development since 1999, the yacht broker certification project objective has been to set a performance baseline for professional yacht brokers nationwide. A program ‘Design Team' of volunteers from the three associations worked with the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute to define the industry Body of Knowledge, which lists the key areas of performance skills and knowledge required to be a professional yacht broker. The team then crafted a certification exam, comprised of 151 questions, designed to be an objective measurement of a broker's knowledge. "The process of determining the essential skills that a professional yacht broker needs to have was daunting," stated Vincent Petrella, president of Hellier Yacht Sales, new London, CT and chairman of the multi-year effort. "This has never been done before, and it was both a challenge and an honor for our volunteer team to be involved in this project. I firmly believe that our efforts will result in raising the bar of performance for the yacht brokerage profession, and will greatly enhance our credibility in the minds of the boating public."

When you work with a Certified Professional Yacht Broker, you do so with the confidence that your broker has the experience and knowledge to handle every facet of the transaction ethically and professionally. As a qualified full-time professional broker for a minimum of three years, the Certified Professional Yacht Broker has passed a rigorous exam, testing his or her knowledge of tax laws, ethics, escrow accounting, closing, co-brokering and numerous other very important details which are integral to a smooth transaction. The CPYB mark is a symbol of professionalism, trust and integrity.

Since 2002, the CPYB program has provided a new benchmark for the professional performance of yacht brokers nationwide. The result of a unique collaboration among the Yacht Brokers Association of America(YBAA), the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA), the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA) and the California Yacht Brokers Association (CYBA), the CPYB program is based on a defined yacht broker Body of Knowledge identifying the skills and competencies required to be a professional yacht broker.

Everybody knows that "MD" following an individual's name means they're a medical doctor, and "CPA" signifies the individual has met standards and fulfilled requirements to be a certified public accountant. Thousands of associations utilize professional certification to recognize individuals for their dedication to their chosen career and their ability to perform to set standards.

Then why not choose a CPYB endorsed Brokerage when selecting a Broker that will assist you with one of the largest, most important purchases, you will make!

Check out our Meet the Crew section to read more about our Certified Professional Yacht Brokers, Mike Locatell and Mark Gilbert.