Brad's Crabtree Home Page

Almost every day I am asked questions like "How can I sell my yacht" or "What are the processes one goes through in buying a yacht" or "How can you help in these processes."

So I have created this website to answer these questions. Use the navigational aides to the left to guide you through this site to my various links as well as those maintained by others.

Certified Professional Yacht Broker

Yacht brokers nationwide now have a new benchmark for measuring their skills, abilities and performance. Boat sellers and buyers are now in a better position to select qualified, competent yacht brokers.


These are the goals of the new National Yacht Broker Certification program; a joint effort of the Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA, Annapolis, MD), the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL) California Yacht Brokers Associate, Ontario Yacht Brokers Association and the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA, Seattle, WA).


In development since 1999, the yacht broker certification project objective has been to set a performance baseline for professional yacht brokers nationwide. A program ‘Design Team' of volunteers from the three associations worked with the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute to define the industry Body of Knowledge, which lists the key areas of performance skills and knowledge required to be a professional yacht broker. The team then crafted a certification exam, comprised of 151 questions, designed to be an objective measurement of a broker's knowledge.


"The process of determining the essential skills that a professional yacht broker needs to have was daunting," stated Vincent Petrella, president of Hellier Yacht Sales, new London, CT and chairman of the multi-year effort. "This has never been done before, and it was both a challenge and an honor for our volunteer team to be involved in this project. I firmly believe that our efforts will result in raising the bar of performance for the yacht brokerage profession, and will greatly enhance our credibility in the minds of the boating public."


As in many other industries, performance standards, professional training and recognition are essential tools for ensuring that the industry encourages and maintains aggressive performance goals and sound business practices. YBAA, FYBA, NYBA, CYBA and OYBA each have had in place, for many years, association mandated codes of ethics, which provide the minimum standards for ethical broker performance and which are mandatory for all brokers who desire membership in the organizations. The Yacht Broker Certification Program takes this process to a new level, providing a comprehensive method for qualifying eligible brokers who have the necessary experience, skills and know-how to be recognized as a Certified Professional Yacht Broker

All applicants to CPYB must meet the following requirements:

1. The applicant has, at a minimum, worked for the past three consecutive years and is currently working in the business of yacht sales.
   
   
2. The applicant has not been convicted of a felony within the previous seven years.
   
   
3. The brokerage firm/broker of record maintains a dedicated escrow/trust account that is utilized for all client funds in trust.
   
   
4. The brokerage firm/applicant currently hold all necessary licenses required by all applicable governmental entities.
   
   
5. All client payments are made payable to the brokerage firm/broker of record and not to individual brokers.
   
   
6. All client transactions are supported by fully executed, contractually sound written agreements, affording protection to both the buyer and seller.
   
   
7. All business conducted by the applicant complies in full with the CPYB Code of Ethics.
   
   
8. The applicant has not been found in violation of any yacht broker association's code of ethics within the previous seven years.