Celebrating the Lives of Superyacht Leaders: A 2025 Tribute

We often associate celebrations in yachting with happy occasions. The launch of a new yacht, for instance, is one of the most popular. The death of shipyard founders, superyacht owners, and other influential figures by contrast can be heartbreaking. The year 2025 was particularly difficult, with more than a dozen significant losses. However, these superyacht leaders, some still quite young in their careers, deserve memorializing. Without them, the industry—and indeed the world, as you’re about to read—would be far worse off.     

Carlo Agliardi was a giant among superyacht leaders. In fact, without him, the notion of a company offering brokerage on both sides of the Atlantic might not have happened. Prior to the 1990s, nearly all firms concentrated on just Europe or the United States, not both. Agliardi and his business partners transformed the industry with the merger of two brokerage houses into Fraser Yachts. They further added yacht management and charter as services later in the 1990s. This was unusual for the era as well.

The 91-year-old Giorgio Armani took fashion by storm throughout his life, but his love of cruising earned him praise in yachting. In 2003, for example, he took delivery of Mariu, a 164-foot (49.9-meter) Codecasa. The yacht naturally featured interiors by Armani Casa, which Armani personally selected. He christened her in honor of his mother (above), in a play on words. Armani returned to Codecasa for Main, a 213-footer (65-meter), from 2008. She, too, paid tribute to his mother; “Main” means “Mom” in an old dialect of Piacenza, Italy. Finally, in 2021, The Italian Sea Group and Armani announced a 236-footer (72-meter). She premiered at the recent Monaco Yacht Show. Armani handled styling and interiors, the latter also with Armani Casa. Both the profile and interiors reflect clean simplicity and understated luxury, his signature looks. Yet another superyacht, with the same LOA and styling, remains in build.

Twenty-year-old Paige Bell was a stewardess aboard the 141-foot/43-meter yacht Far From It when she was murdered this summer. The crime occurred just days before her 21^st birthday, and aboard the yacht while Far From It was in the Bahamas. The yacht’s engineer remains in custody in the Bahamas, awaiting trial. A native of South Africa, Bell had joined the yachting industry just a few years prior. Although superyacht leaders largely are considered those on land and with many years’ experience, Bell unquestionably qualifies. She had just been promoted, for instance, and earned praise from those who worked with her. They included the crews, owners, and owner’s representative for Sweet Emocean, the megayacht she worked aboard before Far From It. Her death has given rise to increased calls for crew background checks to become standard.

A former yacht captain, Mark Drewelow (top and above) established C2C, the first licensed, bonded, and insured superyacht agent in California. He and his team assisted yachts traveling everywhere along the West Coast, from Mexico to Alaska. His biggest impact, though, was establishing YachtAid Global, a non-profit delivering humanitarian aid to communities in need. Travels as the captain of a circumnavigating superyacht opened Drewelow’s eyes to the challenges that remote regions particularly face, from basic school supplies to medicine and food following storms.  YachtAid Global’s tagline became—and remains—“Changing the World Without Changing Course.” Over two decades, YachtAid Global has coordinated more than 300 yachts in upwards of 25 countries. 

Steve Elario parlayed 20 years of working on deck into a 26-year career as a sales and charter broker in Florida. He earned renown and admiration for greeting co-workers and clients with a simple word: “friend.” At the time of his death in September, he was a broker with Northrop & Johnson, having spent the prior seven years with the firm. As much as Elario loved yachting, he loved the Florida Panthers NHL team equally, if not more. Thanks to his friendship with team owner Vinnie Viola, he arranged events in the VIP area. Additionally, his omnipresence at home games earned him fame among fellow fans—and the nickname Ric Flair of the Panthers. (Compare photos of the two, and the resemblance is remarkable.) Just as Flair did, Elario enjoyed exclaiming “Wooo!” at games.

Bill Healey founded Viking Yachts with his brother, Bob Healey Sr., and spent his entire career in his native New Jersey. What started as a small boatyard grew into an 880,000-square-foot (81,755-square-meter) facility along the Bass River in New Gretna. Viking Yachts delivered more than 5,000 boats and yachts under their guidance, pushing up into megayacht territory. Despite retiring 13 years ago, Healey remained a constant presence, regularly visiting the yard and greeting craftspeople and customers alike. Most importantly, at the end of each day (above), Healey stood at the door, thanking every single employee and wishing them a good night. Furthermore, he knew hundreds of the metalworkers, electricians, and other craftspeople by name, along with many of their family members’ names. 

Frans Heesen was already long retired when he died this past April at age 85. However, he remained a passionate ambassador for the Dutch superyacht shipyard bearing his name. And to think it all started by chance. An entrepreneur, Heesen was in the high-tech plastics business when he learned of an interesting opportunity. In 1978, Striker Boats, which built yachts in his hometown of Oss, was for sale. Originally, he wanted to use the building for a different purpose. He changed his mind, despite no maritime-manufacturing background. One year after he bought Striker Boats, the shipyard launched its first project under the Heesen Yachts name. Furthermore, Heesen Yachts was the only Dutch yard constructing all-aluminum projects.

Ivor Jones (above right) and his brother Jack (above left) turned a shipyard constructing commercial-fishing vessels into one of America’s leading megayacht builders. In 1967 they established Delta Marine as a small boatyard along the Duwamish River in Seattle. The commercial fishing fleet had long employed wooden hulls, but the Jones brothers knew fiberglass would require less maintenance. Simultaneously, it would hold up well to the harsh realities of the waters of the Pacific Northwest, especially Alaska. They pivoted their focus toward yachts in the 1980s, launching their first yacht in 1984, a 70-footer (21-meter). Not surprisingly, she employed the same hull design as the successful Delta 70 fishing vessel from 1980. From that point onward, Delta Marine never looked back.

Born Prince Karim al-Husayn Shah, the Aga Khan had a shrewd eye for business. Significantly, he established the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS). Sardinia’s center for superyachts opened in Porto Cervo in 1967, along the island’s so-called Emerald Coast. It has earned renown for its waters and winds, going on to host numerous regattas. The Aga Khan personally enjoyed yachting, too. In 1983, for example, he took delivery of Shergar, a custom 153-footer (46.6-meter) from Lürssen. No traditional cruiser, she maxed out at 45 knots—with a steel hull, no less. Furthermore, the super-fast Alamshar followed in 2014. Bearing the same name as one of his famous racehorses, this 164-footer (49.9-meter) clocked in at an extraordinary 65 knots. 

Many superyacht leaders run family businesses, as outlined above. George Nicholson was no different. He expanded his family’s longtime UK-based yacht company, Camper & Nicholson, into a global superyacht charter and brokerage firm. The company officially became Camper & Nicholsons International in 1961 upon establishing a European presence and simultaneously offering brokerage services. Nicholson also brokered the contracts for some of the most notable yachts of the 1970s and 1980s. He then added the firm’s first American offices in the 1990s. Despite retiring as chairman in the early 2000s, he enjoyed mentoring many individuals who remain involved in yachting today.

The entrepreneurial-minded Margaret Whittaker owned Pearl Yachts for more than 20 years. She and her late husband Tony Whittaker (who died in 2021) thoroughly enjoyed motoryachts and the cruising lifestyle. They took over Pearl Yachts from its co-founder, Iain Smallridge, in 2003. Though Smallridge remained—and still remains—as managing director, Whittaker is especially credited with helping Pearl Yachts expand its reach. Specifically, the shipyard went from designing and building aft-cabin motoryachts for British clientele to creating sleek flying-bridge yachts for Mediterranean-based buyers. Pearl Yachts introduced its larges model, the Pearl 95 yacht, in 2018. All the while, sales in the United States and other international markets continued to grow.

A collision with a cargo ship cut Halit Yukay’s life short this summer. The 43-year-old was aboard his own boat on August 4 when the incident occurred off the coast of Erdek, Turkey. Yukay established Mazu Yachts in 2011, at just 29 years of age, following a nearly lifelong passion for yachting. As a child in Istanbul, he preferred designing boats over doing his homework. Yukay moved to Florida when he was 18 to study industrial design and yacht design. After moving back home, he worked for several builders, none of which afforded him the opportunity to design. That was when he chose to open his own shipyard. Every Mazu Yachts project has borne his handiwork. The shipyard continues using his designs.