Ali Kaufmann spent nearly four years as the right-handassistant to a charter industry powerhouse before becoming a retail broker herself in June 2010.

This charter broker also owns her own yacht management company, having built it up after spending years cruising the world as a charter yacht chef.

Now booking crewed yachts worldwide, she got her start by running her own 44-foot charter yacht in the Caribbean.

As the senior charter broker at Camper & Nicholsons International, she regularly works with top-dollar clients.

Based in California, she's been in the business more than 30 years--and knows about chartering in Turkey better than pretty much anyone else.

Capt. Ray "Rags" Weldon has sailed the world, booked the most expensive charter yachts in the world, and served as an active member of the top broker professional organizations.

Based in Boston, Carol specializes not just in vacations, but also corporate day charters.

This longtime broker is one of the few who can help with luxury racing sailboat charters.

This broker once went so far as to make a requested board game for clients from scratch.

Craig Cohen worked aboard some of the most prestigious charter yachts in the world before joining Burgess Yachts as a charter broker.

The Florida Yacht Brokers Association named Debra Blackburn 2010 Charter Broker of the Year.

She left a big charter company to start her own business in 2006, and we couldn't be happier to support her.

He's one of the few brokers who handles crewed yachts and bareboats alike.

She'll book bareboats, crewed yachts, you name it. She even once helped plan a charter wedding!

Gayle Patterson spent three years as a charter yacht manager before moving to the retail side, putting her insider knowledge to use for clients booking vacations.

She helped to start the world's first online charter company and is still serving some of the clients she found over the Internet a decade ago.

Hume Jones spent 14 years as a charter broker with Camper and Nicholsons International before joining the London office of YCO in 2010.

She's been booking charters since 1979 and now works only with the best of the best.

If your crew isn't taking care of you the way they should, Janet makes it her job to ensure that things change.

Jennifer Thomson joined Sea-Alliance Group in early 2010, when the company formed its charter division.

This Fort Lauderdale-based broker once booked a million-dollar European charter on just a few weeks' notice.

Based in St. Thomas, she keeps her finger on the pulse of the Virgin Islands while booking crewed charters worldwide.

Katie Wray books crewed charter yachts, typically larger than 100 feet.

Based just outside of Paris, this multilingual broker books charter vacations and manages her own fleet as well.

This large-yacht charter broker got her start by working as an onboard stewardess.

She gets to know every member of your charter party, just to be sure you're all happy.

She handles bareboats and crewed yachts alike, and she personally cruises in the destinations she recommends.

Lynne Campbell spent more than a decade running a Caribbean charter yacht before becoming a retail broker in 2006.

She's done it all, from being a yacht captain to a yacht manager. Now, she books vacations.

Michael Sawyer became a charter broker after a long career as a yacht captain and sailing instructor. He is now a leading expert when it comes to charter yachts in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Missy knows more about airtight charter contracts than most other brokers in the business.

Molly Browne spent several years as a charter assistant before being promoted to broker at Camper and Nicholsons International.

Natasha Smekalina is fluent in English as well as Russian, and she books charters worldwide.

He and his wife lived for 25 years in the British Virgin Islands, just one of the locations where they book crewed yacht charters.

Nicole Haboush runs Allied Yacht Charters, a boutique yacht-management and charter-booking company that specializes in late-model yachts.

Patty Wilson spent four years managing charter yachts before bringing her "other side of the deal" experience to bear as a retail charter broker.

Some people call Penelope Kellie the "funny places" lady--and that's just fine with her. She books charters everywhere from the Galapagos Islands to India's canals.

This charter broker got her start more than 25 years ago working onboard crewed yachts, including several years she spent circumnavigating the globe.

Looking for a broker whose cell phone is always turned on? Rebecca Riley is at your service.

Reia Stannard helped to create CharterWorld.com in 2004, after several years of working onboard charter yachts herself.

After years working for yachting companies, this couple opened their own agency in 2008.

Even when yachts back out at the last minute, she saves her clients' vacations.

A lot of charter brokers say that they grew up around boats, but Sarah Piggin actually did--on her parents' sailing yacht off the coast of Italy.

Hospitality doesn't get much sweeter than with this broker, a former yacht chef herself.

Broker Sharon Bahmer of Boatbookings.com once saved a 40-person group's vacation after it went awry in the tropics.

Sherry Yates lived aboard a sailing yacht in the Caribbean for a decade before launching her own charter agency in 2000.

Steve Elario was a megayacht captain before joining the ranks of International Yacht Collection as a sales and charter broker.

Tim Clark has been working in the yacht charter industry since 1989, when he was a deckhand on a yacht in Antibes.