Gary Smith, CPYB, Senior Partner, {certified professional yacht broker} is a lifetime boater, scuba diver and one of two aircraft pilots within the company. He grew up on the Louisiana waterways where fishing and living on a water ski is a way of life. Gary is an active alumnus of LSU in Baton Rouge. With his family as crew he cruised the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean and headed as far south as South America, spending a year cruising aboard the 62' Motor Yacht, Lady Alistina. This cruising experience combined with ownership of his other boats allowed Gary to obtain an extensive knowledge of all aspects of yacht ownership, excelling in full-time cruising and living aboard larger yachts. He has traveled as far as the country of Turkey for a survey and sea trial, proving that he will go to the ends of the earth to find the best yacht for his clients. “I'm looking for lifelong clients, so satisfaction is my only concern. Whether it is your first yacht or tenth, I will work as hard as humanly possible to ensure that your yacht purchase goes as smoothly as possible before, during, and after the sale.” Gary was one of first in the state to obtain his Certified Professional Yacht Broker designation. Most recently Gary is serving his second two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA), located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He also is the Secretary and chair of several committees within the organization. In addition, he served on the Certification Advisory Council in the Certified Professional Yacht Broker (CPYB) Program. Email Gary or call 941.365.9095.

Jason Mashke, CPYB, Managing Director, {certified professional yacht broker} Jason is native to Sarasota and grew up enjoying the beautiful waters of Florida. Jason is a life-long boater, following in the footsteps of his father Doug, founder of Sarasota Yacht & Ship. As an avid fisherman, spear-fisherman, and diver, Jason has an intimate knowledge of the waters surrounding Sarasota and beyond. Jason’s travels have taken him abroad where he has cruised extensively throughout Florida, the Keys, Dry Tortugas, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, USVI’s, BVI’s, St. Lucia and Costa Rica. Jason’s studies took him out of state where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology and Ecology. Jason began his career as a consultant at one of the world’s largest engineering firms where he honed his skills in project management, marketing, research, analysis, and public relations. Jason returned to Sarasota early in 2004 where he joined his father in operating Sarasota Yacht & Ship. Jason’s consulting experience helped cement his dedication to client satisfaction, which has been vital to his success and the success of Sarasota Yacht & Ship. Jason has been a consistent top-producer since joining the team and attributes his success to his constant research of market data and product knowledge. Jason enjoys the challenges of brokerage in difficult markets and is confident in his ability to satisfy his clients in the purchase and sale of their first or fifteenth yacht. Jason prides himself in his ability to negotiate through the ever-growing masses of market data to provide his clients with the best information to base their purchasing and selling decisions. Jason is a life-long learner and continually attends professional meetings and seminars to further his product knowledge, keep up to date with the latest laws and regulations, and to develop ways to continually improve the yachting industry. Jason is one of the founding members of the Sarasota Waterfront Alliance, which was organized in order to support strategies that help maintain the boating way of life that brought so many to the beautiful waters of Sarasota. As a member of the Florida Yacht Broker’s Association (FYBA), Yacht Broker’s Association of America (YBAA), and one of few Certified Professional Yacht Broker’s (CPYB), Jason is continually seeking knowledge in order to better serve the clients of Sarasota Yacht & Ship. As with the rest of the SYS team, Jason is committed to doing whatever it takes to satisfy the needs of clients. "Please call on me day or night for any of your boating needs." Email Jason or call him at 941.345.3200

Doug Mashke, CPYB, Founder of SYSS {certified professional yacht broker} has been in Sarasota since 1955. Doug founded SYSS in 1986 and has owned and operated the 200-slip, Harbor Marina, selling new and used boats, with one of the largest service yards in the area. The marina serviced all brands and was the largest Californian dealer in the country for 4 years. Doug credits his brokerage success to the lessons learned while at the Marina. Doug has a passion for boating and is very energetic about representing his clients. "At our downtown and marina locations in Sarasota, we start with knowledge and dedication; we proceed from the first phone call to the closing with the aim of making boat-buying a pleasurable experience. Our referrals make us the most recommended Brokerage firm in the area." Doug invites all of his cients to contact him by calling our office at 941.365.9095 or Email Doug

Alison Smith, Business Manager, is an International Baccalaureate Graduate and attended State College of Florida and the University of Florida. She's a proud new mom of Aiden Patrick and will be very happy to share her pictures! Like all of our staff, she is a very experienced boater, too. Along with her father, she obtained hands-on extensive cruising experience in the Caribbean and Bahamas and this knowledge allows her to better serve our clients. Alison is a support member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association and has become an integral part of the SYSS team! Call Alison if you have any questions concerning a closing, listing, or any of our company policies at 941.365.9095 or Email Alison.

Warren Childers, CPYB, {certified professional yacht broker} has 15 years of experience in the yachting industry. Ten of those years were working in production with the last 5 years as a salesman for Fantasy Yachts. Warren grew up boating on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky and owned his first boat at age 16. He and his wife, Kristi, were married atop a houseboat and have lived aboard. He has an extensive working knowledge of boats as well as a love of the water. Email Warren or call him at 727.534.6141.

Lee Messina, CPYB and charter broker, {certified professional yacht broker}, is a sailing yacht specialist who has over 30 years of experience racing and cruising in New England, the Caribbean, South Florida, and the Bahamas. He grew up in New London, CT on Long Island Sound where he raced and cruised his sailboats and fished offshore for swordfish and giant tuna in the North Atlantic on his family's sportfishing yachts. In addition to his knowledge of recreational yachts, Lee has established formal International Brokerage Alliance Agreements with several yacht and commercial ship brokerage and shipbuilding firms with offices in Europe, the Med and Asia. Lee is our cruise ship specialist and provides his commercial investment clients with opportunities and guidance evaluating and purchasing large commercial passenger vessels, including cruise ships and yachts suitable for charter operations. Also, Lee is a vacation yacht charter broker for our sister-company, GetAway Charter; arranging charters for clients on crewed yachts worldwide and helping charter yacht owners establish their businesses. In his hometown, Lee was the Commodore of the Thames Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in New England, and a contributor to the national Safety-at-Sea seminars. With a BA in English from Assumption College in Worcester, MA, Lee has enjoyed a successful career as an educator, and as a marketing executive for several advertising agencies and Arthur Andersen’s corporate tax software division. “Whether you need my help to sell or buy a yacht or commercial ship, you can be assured you’ll get outstanding service and straight talk through every step of the process. I’ll help you meet your objectives, always ensuring you make a sound financial investment. I’m particularly proud that I earned the trust and confidence of five different clients who I’ve never met face-to-face and who each purchased a yacht from me without a personal inspection. In each case, I coordinated the shipping of these yachts to the satisfied Buyers at out-of-state destinations.”
Client Testimonial from Rick and Brenda Benson after the purchase of their 2006 Express Cruiser: "Thanks for all your efforts and your integrity. My wife and I will highly recommend you to anyone who wants to purchase a yacht in the future."
Email Lee or call him at 941.350.9020.

Alex Rowe, CPYB, {certified professional yacht broker} Alex began his sales career in 1999 with the largest Sea Ray dealer in the US. With over twelve years of experience, Alex is very knowledgeable of Sea Rays and their competing brands. Now with over two years of Brokerage experience, his knowledge of other boat lines is quickly on the rise. Alex absolutely loves his career choice and it shows in everything that he does. His Enthusiasm, Trustworthiness, Marketing Techniques, & Hard work will have your yacht sold in the shortest possible time.
Client Testimonial from Michael Remsberg after the sale of his 2006 Sea Ray: "You consistently demonstrated a high commitment to communication and follow-up and provided me with valuable insight into the challenges of selling my boat in a difficult economic environment. I have no doubt your persistent and tenacious approach will serve future prospective ship buyers and sellers well."
Client Testimonial from Patrick Speer Alex was absolutely fantastic! He not only spent a lot of time during our decision making process, ensuring that we understood everything about our prospective boat, but was invaluable in assisting us in locating and securing all of the services necessary, including boat survey, boat transport, maintenance services, temporary dockage and haul out services. His knowledge and experience in the field, especially as it concerns Sea Ray products is outstanding and his customer rapport is as good as I have ever experienced. He truly went above and beyond in making sure everything was handled in an efficient manner and that we were completely at ease with everything.
Call Alex today for more information at 941.376.2208 or Email Alex.

Chuck Royhl, CPYB, {certified professional yacht broker} has been with Sarasota Yacht & Ship Services for over 18 years. Born in Chicago, he moved to Florida at the age of 18, and moved aboard the first of many boats at 19. Professional Yacht brokerage was a natural progression, but also a planned one, as Chuck had always known the water was his passion. A licensed captain since 1980, Chuck now holds a 100-ton Master's License. He has first-hand knowledge and experience with a wide variety of vessels - having been involved in virtually every aspect of boats, from building and commercial fishing to private yachts - enabling him to find the right boat for his clients. Email Chuck or call him at 941.350.3437.

Craig Crossley, licensed yacht salesman. A senior executive leading businesses around the world within a variety of multinational and family owned industrial and consulting companies, Craig now directs his passions towards the marine world. Creating and developing Rhode Island and Florida based CrossCurrent Marine, which has formed a marketing alliance with Sarasota Yacht and Ship Services, his businesses are dedicated to providing a select group of individuals with high-performance, well designed luxury yachts that truly stand out from the crowd. Associating with world-class brands like J/Boats and Maxi Dolphin, he has the knowledge and experience to help you make the right choice with your next new or previously owned yacht. Email Craig

Roy Kaplan, licensed yacht salesman, is a transplanted Californian. He moved to the East Coast of Florida 8 years ago to pursue his love of boating. He had experienced the Florida waters and those of the Bahamas, Exumas, Abacos on someone else’s boat and wanted to do it on his own boat. Having accomplished that goal, he moved to Sarasota to experience boating on the Gulf Coast, “The Nice Coast”. At the time he moved to the East Coast, he was running a national sales force for a consumer products company involved in selling fans, heaters and small appliances, a position similar to which he held with a variety of companies in the consumer products field…i.e. health and beauty aides, housewares, cosmetics. He was responsible for national sales in each of these companies. Since he has moved to Sarasota he is anxious to share his experiences in boating with other boaters…present and future. Hence, his new association with Sarasota Yacht and Ship, where he hopes to acquaint old and new boaters with a positive boating experience…finding the right boat for them…or helping them to sell their existing boat for a different experience. He is living a dream; which is to work in an industry which has enabled him to meet people with whom he has common interests. Email Roy or call him at 941.320.3946.

Brad McClelland, licensed yacht salesman, has been working in the yacht sales and service industry for over thirty years. A native of Virginia, Brad's career started with a three year boat-building apprenticeship building wooden Downeast style lobster boats, Chesapeake Bay Deadrise work boats and the traditional Skipjack oyster dredging sailboats. The apprenticeship was with a third generation boat building family which provided a solid foundation for his career and love for the Downeast style of pleasure boats. This appreciation stayed with Brad even after his boat building days were up. Brad then moved on into the service end of the yacht industry as a finish carpenter and rigger in Hampton, VA. with a local sailboat dealer that sold Cal, O'Day and Pearson sailboats. His responsibilities were new boat commissioning and service related repairs. After a couple of years Brad took a service manager position with the renowned Zimmerman Marine in Cardinal, VA, another quality Downeast boat builder and service yard founded by Steve Zimmerman. After 10 years of service with Zimmerman Marine, Brad moved to Sarasota, Florida and was offered a sailboat dealership with Sabre Yachts, one of the finest New England boat builders known for their Downeast tradition, reputation of quality and craftsmanship. To enhance his sales experience, Brad took a sales position in Jupiter, Florida with Jupiter Yacht Sales where he furthered his knowledge of the Downeast style boats, selling New Sabre and Back Cove power boats. He now takes this experience to SYSS. Email Brad or call him at 941.957.8627.

A. Rulon "Skip" Mansfield, licensed yacht salesman and charter broker is a veteran in the yacht brokerage business. He lives in Punta Gorda and is an Isles Yacht Club member and will concentrate his efforts in that area. After graduating from Princeton he worked and later managed Alta Ski Lodge in Utah and managed Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in Truckee, California. Missing the boating world, Skip took an apprentice job at Mt. Desert Yacht Yard in Maine. Later he moved to customer relations at Wm Edgar John Yacht Yard in New York. He has worked as a yacht and commercial surveyor and later a claims desk manager for a major insurer. In 1952, he became a broker for Northrop and Johnson out of their Manhattan office and was instrumental in opening offices around the country, most of which still exist today. Skip was hired by Dick Bertram to manage all of his operations in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. A few years later, he returned to Northrop and Johnson and was then hired to establish Emerald Yacht and Ship which he ran along with other corporate duties for 21 years. Call Skip at 941.769.0468 or Email Skip.

Steve Stevens, licensed yacht salesman, has had a long history in boating. Born in Boston, Steve was introduced into boating at age 2 by his parents who boated up and down the New England Coast. They owned upwards of a dozen boats from Sailboats to Trawlers. After many years, Steve moved to New Jersey where he enjoyed boating on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and the Connecticut Shoreline. After graduating from Rider University with B.A. degrees in both Speech Journalism and Communications, Steve entered into the Insurance Business as a Special Agent with Northwestern Mutual and Equitable Life Of New York where he spent 21 years in Insurance and Financial Planning. After living outside of Philadelphia for over 25 years, Steve was seeking a better boating environment. His true love for boating and cruising the waterways led him, his spouse Dorothy, and their youngest son Andrew to Sarasota, Florida where he began an 11 year career in Boat sales. Steve worked with one of the largest Sea Ray and Boston Whaler dealers in the country. His long term desire to assist his Customers in larger yachts brought him to Sarasota Yacht & Ship in Sarasota, Florida. His passion for boating and providing exceptional service and attention to his customers is his main focus. He is never too busy to help guide a current and future boater to satisfy all of their boating desires. Having owned a number of personal boats himself, he is familiar with all types of watercraft. When Steve is not boating, he can be found enjoying the Florida lifestyle in and around Sarasota, Florida. Email Steve

or call him at 941.302.0621.

Christina Smith, Marketing Director, is an International Baccalaureate Graduate and holds a Masters Degree from the University of Florida at Gainesville. In addition to her international marketing experience, she is a very experienced boater, living aboard during her childhood and experiencing all there is to love in boating. Christina handles all aspects of the marketing of our services as well as branding for the company, both in the states and internationally. She is a support member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association and is an integral part of the SYS team! Christina is always on the lookout for new fresh stories for our newsletter, facebook and other social media sites. She invites everyone who has any ideas or suggestions for great content or come to be sure to get in touch with her. Email Christina.

Bill is the most popular member of our team. He is eager to greet folks at Marina Jack. Always energetic with a desire to please, Bill will do whatever it takes for a smile. He will never ask for any compensation, except perhaps a scratch behind the ears. Bill’s hobbies include chasing birds from the docks at Marina Jacks, going for a boat ride, meeting and greeting new clients and friends, visiting with old friends (especially those in the dockmaster’s office), and napping. As Bill has taken early retirement, he refers his clients to Jason. If you'd like to email Bill, he can be reached via email address at BillTheDog@SarasotaYacht.com