Watch: Webinar With The Yacht Guy And Florida Yachts International’s Ralph Navarro
This past weekend, Haute Yachts held a virtual “deck-side” conversation with The Yacht Guy and Florida Yachts International Owner and Brand Ambassador Ralph Navarro on the yachting industry’s latest as quarantine and restrictions are close to being lifted.
The event was hosted by Haute April Donelson. Watch the webinar below.
Navarro opened Florida Yachts International in 1995, and has over 30 years in the industry, becoming one of the premier brokers of luxury boating in the US. The Yacht Guy is the number one influencer in yachting since 2010, amassing over a million followers across his social media pages.
After Donelson asked Navarro on how he met The Yacht Guy, he said, “We met at the Monaco show. He has come a long way with so many followers on so many platforms. I’m very proud of you,” which was appreciated at the other end of the webinar.
Navarro also spoke about the industry’s adjustments to quarantine measures, and how it is starting to pick up as they become closer to being lifted. “We have seen the activity in the last week triple from what it was the previous month during the quarantine. The great part of the activity that we have seen is that they are all fair market value. It’s like the market went back to what it was a month ago. It is more active under-$2 million than over, but we started to see some demand on the over-$2 million market yesterday (Friday).”
The Yacht Guy told the story of his beginnings in the boating industry. “It started as a dream. I aspired to be more and to be in a better place than I was. Yachts, and being on yachts, became an escape. I also read books that said ‘What you see, you become.’ So I started seeing myself on yachts in Monaco, Italy, Ibiza, and other places. I would envision that as often as I could. Instagram came and I started connecting with people. The dialogue between myself, followers, and designers grew into a full-time job. Now, all of those places I dreamed of has come to pass. It all started with a dream, so I have been very fortunate.”
The dialogue included current topics like enhanced steps to clean boats after use by charters and owners; the influence of yacht shows; social media’s strength in market exposure, the growth that both of the guests have experienced in the luxury yacht world, and more, featuring questions submitted by live viewers.