12/16/2014

Ketch of the Month

David Walters, CPYB, David Walters Yachts, Inc.

This monthly spotlight on YBAA Members asks questions ranging from personal interests and hobbies to musings regarding the industry as a whole. In their own words, members share their secrets for success, as well as how to become a more visible entity in the community of yacht sales professionals.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming installment of “Ketch of the Month” please submit your request to jforte@ybaa.com.

David Walters, CPYB

David Walters’ started sailing at age 11 and never turned back. Although the family business was insurance, David was drawn to the water. After six months, Dave left the insurance business. His first job in the yachting world was with Allied Boat Company, where he learned boat building from the president Howard Foster; where he became sales manager and oversaw commissioning from the companies office at Bob’s Directors Yard in Mamaroneck, NY.

In 1975 David co-founded Shannon Boat Company in Bristol, RI. In 1982 he sold his 50% interest to start his own design and building company, David Walters Yachts, in Portsmouth, RI that built Cambrias. Both Shannons and Cambrias were featured in Mate’s World’s Best Sailboats.

Since July 2001, Dave has led his newest iteration of David Walters Yachts, a yacht brokerage company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL with his wife Betsy. He has been serving on the Board of Directors for YBAA since 2012 and previously served as a director of the FYBA (Florida Yacht Broker’s Association).  Dave enjoys sailing and sail boat racing and playing golf with his two sons.

YBAA News: Who would you say has most influenced you in your life so far?

David Walters: Definitely Olen Stevens and Ted Hood; more specifically Ted Hood because I built and designed my boats in Rhode Island; where the first incarnation of David Walters’ Yachts was headquartered. I really learned boat building from working with Allied; I spent a lot of time at the factory with different people (the president, the production manager, etc.). I really admired Ted Hood, who was one of the few designers who was also directly involved in boat building.

YN: What brought you from New York and New England to Florida?

DW: In the spring of 1990, our crew of 30 were building about six cambrias a year, and the Bank of New England went bankrupt. That fall, two days before the Annapolis boat show, the luxury tax was announced. Between the luxury tax and the fall of the Bank of New England, no semi-custom quality boat builder got any orders that fall. We had to consolidate into one building and lay off all our workers. The luxury tax didn’t go away after a year and since we were just a design and building company selling new boats, I needed to find a way to make money. I came to Florida and got a job with Luke Brown and Associates in Ft. Lauderdale.

I stayed with Luke Brown for seven years, spent three years with Agents International and then reopened
David Walters Yachts with Betsy thirteen years ago.

YN: What was the best and worst experience you’ve had in your professional life?

DW: Probably my best experience was racing to Bermuda on one of our first Shannons as a skipper. Our mission was to beat all the Hinkley Bermuda 40s and we ended up third in our class, beating all the Hinkleys. That was a lot of fun! There was a pretty good storm in the middle of the race and we really pressed on; I had a terrific navigator (in those days, you didn’t use electronics). It was a great race, I had a great owner and a great crew and we finished in four and a half days.

I can’t think of a worst, nothing comes to mind.

YN: What is your business philosophy?

DW: I really just enjoy all parts of the business: the design, the boat building, the industry, the people in the industry and especially working with the people you sell boats to.

YN: What advice would you give up-and-comers or people who are interested in becoming a broker?

DW: If you want to make money you have to put in a lot of time. You need to have the product knowledge; I think 80% of it is answering questions and being persistent. You have to give a lot of service in order to earn the client’s business. I would say once you have a client you need to identify who is likely to go to the finish line and who really wants to buy a boat within a reasonable amount of time. Those are the people you have to focus on and get the job done.

The industry has changed; we are going through sometimes two or three surveys on different boats with the client to get to the final boat. Ten years ago, you’d usually finish nine out of 10 or better on the first try.

YN: What do you think that has to do with?

DW: I think people are more careful with their money now. They are more particular on which brokerage they decide to go with. They expect a boat, even if it is 20 years old, to survey like a new boat. It’s a real challenge to find boats at attractive prices that survey well. A lot of our inventory of semi-custom boats are older, which can result in potentially more problems during a survey. With many buyers, there doesn’t have to be many problems of any significance and they decide they’d rather find another boat. There are also certainly more boats in the market than buyers.

YN: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the yachting industry?

DW: I think it is finding new people to get involved and making it an experience that offers good value. I think we need to build boats that depreciate at slower rates so the investment isn’t as costly as it is per year. I think we have to find ways to get more people comfortable operating boats, sail or power.

YN: What do you think the solution is? What can the industry change so that there is this interest?

DW: The industry, the different associates, are working hard to get people involved in the sport. I think it really starts at the club level, or communities. In a country like France, it’s a national sport, so it’s the “thing to do.” I think we have to have the clubs or communities make it more economical for people to get involved. We need more role models for people of all ages to look up to.

I think it’s an uphill battle because there are so many recreation alternatives and sailing takes a bit more time to get going. I think the other challenge is that families are so involved with school sports that sailing is not the primary activity in the summers. That’s when you have to get more people, the parents down to the kids, involved. To get the kids interested, you have to get the parents interested.

YN: I’m finding this is a pretty common sentiment among your colleagues: gaining interest at the youth level and getting more people involved, including families, and making it a sport that does breach the line of those offered in schools.

DW: Rae Whitt in Florida has created an educational program for those starting out as Yacht Sales
Professionals and it looks as though she is having success and getting it as a course in high schools. She is doing a great job, it’s the most comprehensive course for somebody that might want to get involved in the profession.

This would be great way to get interest levels up in your waterfront communities. I think somebody like Rae Whitt can make a big difference.

YN: I think interest at the youth level definitely feeds into the industry later in life. I’ve noticed, in speaking to certain people, that they are very involved as children in sailing. Even though it isn’t a direct foot in the door of the industry, I think that it does feed pretty significantly into the industry.

DW: I think having somebody that takes off and can steer their boat independently can make a huge difference, you gain tremendous confidence. You can’t drive a car until you’re 16 but you can sail your dinghy around the harbor or into the next harbor when you’re much younger than that. The racing is a lot of fun too, its good competition and crewed boats teaches you teamwork.

(o) 954-328-2130 david@dwyfl.net  davidwaltersyachts.com