Pila Pexton
Charter Managing Director, Bartram & Brakenhoff

Date interviewed: January 2008

How did you get started as a charter broker?
I grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, north of Boston, Massachusetts. It’s a lovely small town that has a sailing program, and you can’t help but be by the ocean. At age 13, I started working on deep sea fishing boats, taking up to 25 people out to deep sea fish and do whale watching. My role was the Galley Gal. I can remember saying to the somewhat tough guys that I had much bigger ideas--one was to sail around the world. My brother, Tim Laughridge, went to work as a chef on a 103-foot wooden schooner in Antigua. When I graduated from high school, I went onboard with him as the stewardess.
     I traveled the Caribbean a bit and then went to the University of Massachusetts. I got a degree in Leisure Industry, concentrating on commercial recreation—which is anything from resorts to golf clubs to yacht chartering. I graduated in three and a half years with honors, and in between I worked at the Newport Yachting Center in Rhode Island. I was in charge of all the parties and activities during the America’s Cup years.
     I entered charter yacht management with Nicholson Yachts in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the early 1980s. That’s where I learned the backbone of the business. I was really hooked. I got myself a ticket back to Antigua and got a ride across the Atlantic, and I got jobs on charter yachts as a chef. I met my husband, Peter, in Europe, and we ran a 62-foot sailboat called Pegasus. We also ran Ocean Mermaid, a 75-foot sailing ketch. She was probably, in her time, one of the most beautiful, largest sailing yachts in the charter industry. We ran the boat as captain and chef for 11 years. We circumnavigated the globe.
     In between all this, I would fly back to Antigua and be the show director for the annual, industry-only Antigua Charter Show. That was the late 1980s, early 1990s. I did that for Nicholson Yachts for nine years. 
     We decided to start a family, and we bought a home in Newport, Rhode Island. Peter stayed a captain, and I started with Bartram & Brakenhoff in Newport in 2003. I do charter management and retail bookings here.   

What kinds of boats do you typically book?
Power and sailing yachts, all luxury crewed. We don’t do bareboats. Typically, we book boats 80 feet and larger.

What are some of the best charter destinations you’ve personally visited?
My husband and I spent three and a half years circumnavigating the globe. We began in Antigua and sailed to Panama, to Hawaii, to Vancouver. Eventually we headed to the South Pacific islands, to Australia, to the Indian Ocean, to the Seychelles, to South Africa. Prior to that trip, we had sailed to Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Ireland and the Med.
     Of everywhere I’ve seen, I think New England, for the summer, you can’t beat it. It’s refreshing. Newport, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket—all are busy and fun places. For somebody who loves more serene, au naturale, I’d say the coast of Maine. If I don’t get up there once a year, I feel like I haven’t had a summer. I recommend late summer, August and beyond; otherwise it gets too foggy.
     I love the Caribbean for its superb sailing conditions. The Leeward Islands are very special, from St. Vincent to Grenada. They have a real West Indies cultural feel with happy people.     
       In the Mediterranean, France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey each offer a magnificent, unique charter experience. They have various foods, festive villages, phenomenal  landscapes and quiet anchorages. 
 
What is the first thing you ask a new charter client?
Have you ever chartered before?
     I find out what they know first so that I don’t tell them something they already know. That’s a waste of their time.

Describe your ideal charter client.
They are comfortable in their budget. They don’t want more than they can afford.
     I seem to work well with first-time clients. I have a high level of expectations for a charter. If somebody has a $50,000 budget, I’m going to make sure that they get $50,000 worth of holiday. Their money, if it was my own, how would I spend it? I’m picky.

Describe your nightmare charter client.
The kind of person who calls you up last minute and is shopping. They really don’t know if they want to charter a boat. They think they know more than you, and they want something that doesn’t exist.
     I think people have to be realistic. This is not for the poor. It’s an expensive holiday. It’s important that they be comfortable in their budget, and a lot of people aren’t.

What are a few of your favorite charter yachts, and why?
Any boat in my fleet at Bartram & Brakenhoff  are some of my favorites. There’s a real combination to a great boat. There’s the condition and the layout, and the bells and whistles. There’s also the crew, and they’re just as important. I’m a really strong believer in the quality of the crew. 
     A great package is a brand-new boat with a young, enthusiastic crew, like Gale Winds, our 112-foot Westport with a five-star crew, a captain with 17 years of experience who knows how to entertain people. And he knows how to be discreet. 
     But then I also love a boat that is not brand new but has been highly maintained, like the 115-foot sailing yacht Titan XIV, kept up to date, and has a special history with a five-star crew.

What makes you different from other charter brokers?
I listen to what people are saying, I ask lots of questions, and I make sure that the person I am speaking with gets my full attention. Things do happen, and my job is to sort out problems. If a boat is in trouble, you have to know who to call. If I have a problem, I know how to solve it. I know who to call. I’ve worked with them in the past. I've been in the industry for years.
     Here’s the difference between myself and a broker who’s new to charter and just getting on the industry bandwagon: I know what it’s like to be the captain. The stewardess’s job, the engineer’s job, the chef’s job—I’ve been there. I know the distances from A to B. I’ve cruised it. When a boat is in the shipyard, I know what that means. 
     It’s not as simple as travel agents. When something goes wrong, this is when you see the difference between the brokers and the babies.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you?
That I have been involved in all facets of this industry for over 25 years. My brother, husband, and brother-in-law are all highly qualified captains of luxury yachts. We love the industry and have grown up in it.
     They say one must be passionate about what you do; I believe my passion shows through when working with a client.  I enjoy guiding people in the right direction, enabling them to satisfy their dreams and desires. 
     I'm one of the few brokers who also has an interior design background. That helps to give me a really sharp eye for choosing yacht interiors.
     I enjoy releasing my creative abilities and seeing results, and I am unflappable.

Any general advice for people learning about charter brokers in general?
Readers need to know how to separate a good broker from a bad one. How do you know who’s good? I look at experience. There are a handful of us agents who have been in the industry for many, many years. There’s an unspoken network—call it the old girls’ group or network—and we try to keep it together. There is validity to it.
     Whichever broker you choose, ask how many years your agent has been in the industry. You have to work with a broker who is more than just somebody who has a nice website. If they haven’t had salt in their ears, how can they be selling yacht charters?

How can CharterWave readers contact you?
(401) 862-1977, pila@bartbrak.com, www.bartbrak.com