BELOW DECK:
BLESSING OR CURSE?

The pilot aired in July 2013 aboard 50-metre Barents (known on the show as Honor). “Production wanted to hire a lot of young people to operate the boat, but we couldn’t get the insurance approved,” she says. Nor would the owner of the yacht agree to that, stating, “The only way we’re gonna do this is if you use my own captain,” the now famous Captain Lee Rosbach.

Rosbach became an overnight success, yet the industry maintained the show would never take off. “No one thought owners would charter their yacht to the show, and if they did, it would be harder to sell as buyers won’t like the exposure,” says McCoy. It’s a point she has since disproved by selling Barents for around $15 million (£11.9m).

For yachting veteran Captain Sean Meagher, who has commanded 100-metre yachts and led polar expeditions through the Northwest Passage, starring on Below Deck was not something he aspired to.

“I wrote a few itineraries for the producers early on but always declined a credit,” he says. “I thought it was a show where crew destroy their careers and captains go to die.”

Gradually, as the show gained more of a mainstream following, his perception changed. “I began thinking about it differently,” Meagher says. “That’s when I got a call from the owner of Seanna, a boat I had captained many times before.”

He met with the production team, some “legitimate crew”, and realised it wasn’t as haphazard as he’d first feared. “They’re careful about who they recruit as captain, making sure all licences are correct to comply with the Safe Manning Certificate. It’s not like you show up, you’re a train wreck and they put you on the show.”

A “battery of psychological tests” later, Meagher agreed to film a couple of episodes for Season 9 and vouches for the show’s authenticity. “It’s all real,” he says. “Hammed up, of course, but not made up or scripted.”

The onboard set-up changes from season to season. Due to safety regulations and from a licensing standpoint, there are two captains: one works behind the scenes while the other is filmed sailing the boat. For Below Deck Sailing Yacht, however, Captain Glenn Shephard, the owner’s captain aboard 54-metre Parsifal III, runs the show. “Perini Navis are unforgiving,” says Meagher. “You can kill people if you don’t know how to handle a sailboat with 1,700 square metres of sail.”

For all his praise, Meagher’s biggest gripe is the show’s limited representation of the industry. “Yachting has some of the most innovative people in the world implementing a broad range of environmental changes and Below Deck misses the boat. They stop short of showing the true capabilities of what people in this industry are capable of.”

From the perspective of a charter guest, it’s a different picture. McCoy has appeared in four episodes to date – Below Deck Mediterranean in Croatia and Below Deck in Tahiti – both times at the invitation of curious yacht-owning clients who wanted an insider to experience an “on-screen charter”.

The clients paid for the charter, albeit at a hugely discounted rate (around $40,000 for three days compared to around $260,000 for a seven-night minimum) and filled out preference sheets. “It was as real as could be,” McCoy says.

“It’s stressful not knowing how the show will be edited but it’s up to you how you act,” she says. “Guests don’t typically charter to create drama, so I’m always surprised the way they behave on the show.”

Drama or not, Below Deck generates business. McCoy saw her charter requests go “through the roof ”, buoyed by an influx of young affluent people who hadn’t known charter existed.

Katya Hall, commercial director at Ahoy Club, agrees it has made yachting more accessible. “The perception is only billionaires charter yachts, but when I tell people you can get a 112 Westport for $50,000 a week sharing the cost with three other couples, suddenly it becomes attainable.”

Hall (who recently starred in boat broker series Hot Yachts Miami) cites charter clients who are huge fans. “They never miss an episode. They call it their guilty pleasure because on charter they don’t get to go below deck or sit in the mess,” she says. “Not all crew get blind drunk every day and chefs don’t mess up every other meal, but it can be eye-opening.”

Guy Mannering, an experienced captain and broker for Cecil Wright, has also seen an uplift in first-time charterers, but believes it’s had a net negative effect on the type of crew applying. “They think the on-screen antics are a true depiction of crew life,” he says. “What it doesn’t show are the safe working practices, crew training, weekly drills and industry professionalism.”

“It’s a strange limbo where I generally don’t want to tell other yachties that I’ve done the show due to the negative stigma, but also being proud of being on the show”

The show has not been without its controversy. Last summer, producers intervened and stopped a crew member from climbing naked into bed with an inebriated sleeping girl (after an investigation, he was removed from the show). Weeks later, another sexual misconduct allegation against Gary King, one of Below Deck’s main characters, came to light. The alleged victim, makeup artist for the show Samantha Suarez, accused King of allegedly forcing himself upon her while drunk in 2022, an accusation that he denied. Bravo said the complaint was investigated and acted upon at the time.

When asked by producers to source crew, Sara Duncan, managing director of recruitment agency Crew & Concierge, politely declined. “I don’t think that should be our focus,” she says. “The show remains controversial within the industry, with some believing it attracts the wrong people with little to no training and unrealistic expectations.” However, she says, it’s made many aware of an industry that millions knew nothing of. “So, for every unqualified applicant, there’s a fantastic young engineer or female chef who perhaps would never have otherwise considered yachting.”

Conrad Empson, an experienced bosun who appeared on Below Deck Mediterranean, was, like many, recruited via a Facebook group. “They cast a lot of junior crew with experience, but they also get those who have no idea,” he says. “I was paired with a deckhand who’d only ever worked on ferries.”

Deckhand Katie Glaser took part in Season 10 aboard St David, the largest yacht on the series to date, to push herself beyond her usual 24- to 40-metre sweet spot. “I would never normally apply for a 63-metre yacht, especially being a female on deck, as I don’t know if recruiters would pick me,” she says. “I wanted to see if I could do it, and being able to break those boundaries was empowering.”

Since the show aired, she’s encountered captains who are “wary” of her Below Deck profile but has progressed to first mate on a 40-metre yacht and says the show “definitely didn’t hurt her job prospects”.

It didn’t hurt deck-stew Tyler Walker’s job prospects either, but neither did it boost them. “There haven’t been as many positive effects as I thought there would be,” he says. “It’s a strange limbo where I generally don’t want to tell other yachties that I’ve done the show due to the negative stigma, but also being proud of being on the show because I got to have this unique experience that I love talking about.”

Sometimes careers can implode on screen: chief stew Hannah Ferrier, who was fired from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5 for undeclared Valium, later admitted that she should have quit the show sooner. For those aspiring to become social media influencers, an on-screen appearance certainly helps. Chief stew Katie Flood has garnered 143,000 Instagram followers and now stars on Bravo’s newest reality TV show Winter House. Ironically, Ferrier’s career is now thriving: she has appeared as cruise director on CBS’s The Real Love Boat Australia and has released a hit Apple podcast called Dear Reality, You’re Effed!

“They said they’d give me a ridiculous amount of money to charter it for a solid seven weeks in the off season. So, I agreed, but on the condition they change the yacht’s name.”

On-screen fame works for yachts, too. Listed among Cecil Wright’s sales fleet is 47-metre BG Charade (known on the show as Valor). She’s appeared in three seasons of Below Deck – a fact which the owner, Canadian businessman Bobby Genovese, is only too happy to highlight. “Who doesn’t love their boat being loved?” he says.

When first approached to feature his yacht, Genovese said no. “I had just done a $7 million refit and thought the boat was going to be ruined,” he says. Yet he still sought advice from industry peers. “Some said, ‘Don’t do it, they’ll wreck your boat and stain its reputation.’ Others said, ‘Every boat charters, what’s the difference if there’s a show being filmed or not.’”

When the producers failed to find anyone willing to provide their yacht, they reached out to Genovese again. “They said they’d give me a ridiculous amount of money to charter it for a solid seven weeks in the off season. So, I agreed, but on the condition they change the yacht’s name.”

The production company paid the full charter fee (around $150,000 per week) and included a $75,000 insurance clause for damages. “There were a few nicks of paint here and there, but $75,000 certainly covered it.” To this day he’s never watched an episode. “They have a formula of giving a load of young people booze and just seeing what happens, and I don’t want to know what they did on my boat!”

When the show aired, several owners reached out to Genovese enquiring about his experience. “I gave it favourable reports,” he says. “Most boats do 10 to 12 weeks of charter a year. Add seven weeks in the shoulder months and we did 19 weeks in total, which is unheard of.”

A decade on and the success of Below Deck shows no signs of waning: Season 6 had its highest viewing figures to date. Meagher, who only appeared in two episodes, still gets recognised. “I welcome it because it allows me to talk about other projects I’m involved with,” he says.

Not all captains feel the same. When Worth Avenue added 65-metre Starship (previously Seanna) to its sales fleet, the captain made sure the boat was made unrecognisable from its on-screen performance, yet McCoy still received requests to go aboard “the Below Deck yacht”. “People get a kick out of being on a yacht that’s been on TV,” she says.

Meagher is unconvinced. “We need to aim higher,” he says. “If you aim too low and hit, that’s the worst. And that’s what I think Below Deck does.” It’s a viewpoint shared by Mannering. “I don’t think the industry is any better understood because of it. It only shows the worst aspects. I wouldn’t be surprised if the experienced captains on the show are coming to the end of their career and want one last foray on TV.”

For career mariner Captain Kerry Titheradge, that’s exactly what it was. Following difficulties in his private life, he’d made the decision to leave his role as captain on a 90-metre yacht to spend more time with his children ashore. When the opportunity to star in Below Deck Adventure came along, he took it on knowing the exposure would prevent him from getting another job on a 90-metre yacht.

“It’s really hard to come ashore when you’ve been a captain at the top of your game,” he says. “Had I been asked to do the other franchises, I would’ve said no back then, but the adventure side drew me in.”

Located in the Norwegian fjords, Below Deck Adventure became the fourth spin-off when it premiered in September 2022. It was the first season to show guests enjoying thrill-seeking activities.

Titheradge has reservations about the show’s gruelling schedule of six back-to-back weeks of charter, which he regards as an unrealistic portrayal of crew life. “As captain, you have to pay attention to your crew’s physical and mental health,” he says. Yet in a complete twist of fate, NBC announced in November that Titheradge will replace Rosbach as captain on Below Deck Season 11. It’s a development he never saw coming but one he welcomes.

Love it or loathe it, the Below Deck effect is as real as the on-screen exploits. Is it a true representation of what happens on charter? “Oh, if only they knew!” laughs Genovese. “You can’t make it up.”

First published in the February 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.