You may remember that I wrote a post back in January raising some red flags about a website called eYachtCharter.com. They didn’t take too kindly to my review of their site, including my concerns that they would accept any boat that called itself a “charter yacht” in their paid online listings. In response to my business-like critique of their site, the owners launched a fairly substantial campaign to smear my personal reputation all over the Internet.

Despite these personal attacks against me, I’m an honest and fair journalist, and thus am pleased to report here that the owners of eYachtCharter.com appear to be taking some steps to ensure that the yachts they offer on their website are actually living up to a certain standard of quality. Yesterday, the site sent out a press release announcing the creation of its Luxury Yacht Charter Certification Program–the only such program I’ve ever encountered from an agency not directly involved with managing yachts.

According to the press release, only those charter yachts that meet certain criteria will be listed for charter in the eYachtCharter.com directory. The criteria include having accessible captain’s and crew licensing and certification, appropriate vessel licensing and insurance, charter agent referrals, listing agent contracts, and more.

That sounds a heck of a lot more rigorous than what I was told six months ago when I asked how the yachts on the site were being qualified. The answer from the site’s marketing director back then was, “We have our ways.” It’s nice to see they are now correcting at least one of the problems I suggested were pretty obvious in their business model.

I’m still not crazy about the idea of you, as a charter client, trying to find your own yacht online without the help of a reputable charter broker who gets paid to know what’s going on beyond a yacht’s superbly airbrushed brochure pictures. Further, all the certifications and licensing in the world, in my opinion, are still no substitute for working with a broker who has actually stepped onboard the yacht to make sure everything is as it should be (see our CharterWave Special Report about the sinking of the charter yacht Lady Candida if you need proof of that).

Even still, I congratulate eYachtCharter.com on responding to my criticism and attempting to become a better online resource with this new program.

Now, if only I could get them to become better people and stop smearing me personally all over the Web…

The folks in the above photo are Sandy and Tom Taylor, who announced this week that they are officially opening a booking agency called Taylor’d Yacht Charters.

I’ve known Sandy for quite some time now, most recently in her capacity as the head of retail charter and crew placement for Northrop & Johnson. She left that job last year to join her husband Tom, former executive director of Northrop & Johnson, in starting their own business booking charter vacations for clients worldwide.

The Taylors have a combined 20 years’ experience in the marine industry, working at everything from yacht support to charter management at firms as large as Camper & Nicholsons International. They now plan to combine their big-company expertise with the personal service that a boutique company can provide.

They’re based in Natchez, Mississippi, and are members of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association. Plus, I can personally attest, they’re darn nice people.

For more information, check out their newly launched website.

The folks at Sunseeker Charters have put up a new website specifically geared toward short-term, corporate yacht charters in the United Kingdom, which is the company’s base of operations.

What a great idea. While a good number of charter companies have sections of their existing websites that discuss corporate charters, this is the first time I’ve seen a company develop a standalone website about the option. The site includes not just available yachts, but also one- and two-day itineraries, a listing of annual charter-friendly events, and links to on-shore catering venues that can be paired with a corporate yacht charter experience.

“We have developed this website in response to the increasing demand for this extremely popular style of corporate entertainment,” Sunseeker Charters Director David Ward said. “From the information shown on the site, clients will be able to see not only the unrivaled range of vessels we have on offer, but also the variety of options that are possible in the areas in which we operate.”

That’s the one catch with this new website: the areas in which Sunseeker Charters operates. While the company does have full-term charter yachts available around the world, this new corporate website is highly focused on the United Kingdom.

Still, it’s a great example of a new way to offer information about charter to readers like you. I hope that other companies providing corporate charter services worldwide will take note, and give us all even more resources for information like this in the future.