To be in with a chance of winning an all inclusive weeks vacation onboard Motor Yacht AWOL follow the link: raffall.com/8501/enter-raffle-to-win-luxury-super-yacht-vacation-hosted-by-tristan-mortlock

It sounds like both you and the owner know a thing or two about team management and motivation. I particularly liked hearing about how the owner makes the crew feel like they own the boat. Great way to align objectives and work effectively as a team!

Your owner is such a smart man to make you feel the boat is yours so you look after it really well like your own. That’s why he is a successful business man .

I would say it's like military, if an admiral is on a ship, the captain still runs the ship. So basically the owner "wants" things, and the captain decides how to go about solving that.

Not that I have ever owned such a yacht, but this owner sure sounds like a very clever guy. It makes perfect sense to have the crew think of it as their property as well, with the resultant approach to the job. Much respect to him.

This was a great video. As an employer of over 50 people, I really appreciated this! Your owner sounds like a first-class guy and obviously has hired a first-class Captain.

As a pilot I can tell you that people do insist that we go when we tell them the weather is no good. The same guy firing his yacht captain will do the same to his jet captain.

I would have to say when it comes to the operations and the Maritime law, the Captain has ultimate authority. The yacht owner might want to travel to a specific location, but if safety is concerned mainly because of weather, the Captain has the authority to say no. Does the Captain risk being fired, of course- but Maritime law and safety always come first for a captain as his or her license could be in jeopardy.

My take is that the captain is in charge of the operation of the ship within the budget and operational guidelines set by the owner.

the owner decides "where" we go , captain decides "if" we go

Tristan: I am the boss on board, Head stew on AWOL overhears comment: Later that night........ Who's in charge my darling? LOL ( Disclaimer: in no way am I suggesting that the CREW is in any way unprofessional )

Captain while at sea, take off and landing days. In harbor, the owner. Captain in charge of the crew at all times. Never the owner. Crew do not need two bosses.

Always the captain is in charge. This may mean telling truth to power in the protection of the people on board and the ship.

Interesting , Thank You, . So Wise A fine example how everybody HAS to work togather .. A wise owner will listen to the Captain

Thanks for this episode - it's the "behind the scenes" bits like this that most of us will never see or know about. It's easy to understand that you are in a complicated industry, but it's another thing to get a peek at some of the reasons why. It seems the greatest asset in your career is this wonderful owner, and you seem to appreciate that. Best wishes that you can all continue in this fashion, and that it remains a win-win-win-win situation for the owner, crew, captain, and guests.

Well said skipper, totally agree, how fortunate of you to have a great owner, Bon voyage 👍

That's as close as Captin Tristan is ever going to get to tell us that he actually is the owner of AWOL.

The captain is in charge. Anything goes wrong it's the captains responsibility.

I would bet that the owner is so proud to have you by his side. Tristan, I must say that you are a very professional person and no matter what business it is you are in, the owner will go to sleep at night without any worries knowing that is yacht and/or business is in the best hands that he could ever dreamed off. Fantastic job. You run a tight ship. Cheers

I had a bad experience as a Captain for a holiday cruise. The owner took the wheel and changed course and put us broadside to the swell. The yacht pitched over in the swell about 45 degrees and water entered the engine room through the vents and shorted out power and killed one of the engines. Long story short passengers were tossed a bit I got everyone lifejackets because idotstick was now driving, I checked the bilge pumps etc. and we were able to get the boat back to a close by port. There were no injuries or loss of life. Here's the thing: As the Captain I would have been responsible if someone got injured or killed. After this incident I became very wary about who I worked for and subsequently was not hired for passages where I made it clear that I was in charge not the owner. Happy to hear you have a proper relationship with your owner.

Tristan: These are the reasons why you hire a Captain. Owner: nope, I just want to go where I like and do it luxury whilst someone else does all the work.

I am a Union Ironworker in the U.S. and worked for a tower crane company erecting and dismantling cranes across the country. The owner put me in charge of what happened in the field and listened to what I needed and did what I said. Owners who listen to their employees make money, those who don't will not be in business for long. He was one of those super rich owners who drove the shittiest car to the job site to see how things were going and stayed in the same hotels he put me in.

I would assume that it differs from owner to owner but in general I imagine that the owner employs the captain to make all operational decisions, while the owner still has ultimate rule when it comes to where the boat should be and when. That being said, the owner would employ the captain and purser to look after all aspects of the boat, including employing crew.

The owner sounds like a very smart man! It's nice to hear how much pride the crew takes - an awesome team is great to be a part of. I completely agree on how important fit is, but I would extend that to almost any team (not just crews). As a long time manager of people, having built and run very successful teams, I don't think most managers/organizations give that aspect of team selection the weight it deserves. I hope I win the raffle and get the chance to see how truly great the team is!

Haven’t watched the full vlog yet but when it comes to the safety of the boat and crew the captain is the boss. When it comes to the expense of the boat the owner is boss

In opinion before watching it depends on the situation, on sea is always the caption but when talking about repairs and more money related stuff I imagine is the owner like deciding on new beds or new sofas I imagine is the owner but on sea deciding which way to go or how to go, or what can we do is certainly the captain. He is the highest authority at the moment on the yacht

This is an amazing video showing the true meaning of being a yacht Capt. Keep up the good work, Captain!

The captain is liable for decisions.

When I checked onboard my last ship, the USS Truman, I literally ran into the Captain as we both rounded a blind corner in a p-way. This was right outside my division office. I apologized to him and he was cool about it. Asked me how I was doing and how long I have been onboard stuff like that. When he found out I had only been there a few days he asked how I liked the ship. We were in the yards in dry dock at the time and the ship was tore up pretty bad from all the work being done. I said I didn’t like my ship being all messed up like it is, I can’t wait till she is whole again. He replied with “Your Ship?” I said yes sir, my ship. He said he liked that, and to carry on. My LPO told me that I was out of line telling the Captain it was my ship… it was HIS ship. I told my LPO that the ship is ours, all of ours and if we don’t treat her as such she won’t be a good ship.

The Captain at all times 'cause if ever the sh*t hit the fan, the Captain would answer for it. The owner just gives the captain his list of wants.. the Captain tells him if he can do it or not.

Excellent Tristan. As a former owner of businesses (none of which were of a super yacht, but same concept) it's easy for me to understand the relationship between you and the owner, which seems to be the best to be had. Koodos to the owner.

Very well explained, so looking forward to the next session.

The way I see it, the owner says where the boat is going, the captain has control of the ship, but also liability and responsibility, because he and not the owner is then on trial if something happens

The captain is in charge

You are very fortunate to have such a great relationship with your owner and he with you. Great presentation. 👍👍

Captain Edward Smith of the Titanic got a strong recommendation from the owner of the ship to sail at full speed in order to cross the Atlantic in record time. Captain Smith knew better in thick fog with icebergs reported in the area, but took the owner's recommendation as an order. A lifetime of commendable naval and civil maritime service was negated by that one fateful decision to kowtow to the vessel owner who knew nothing of sailing.

I imagine it's a bit like a Board of Directors and CEO/Admin - the owner is responsible for oversight, budget approval, etc. while the Captain handles day to day operations.

My dad was a master upholsterer in antiques restoration. (As in the good stuff) He alway's said they entrust me with a piece of history. They can tell me what they want but I decide how and iff we are going to do that. You hire a master in his/her field not to shut up and do. You hire them because of their expertise, proffesional opinion and advice as well. In my mind you actually hire them to say NO !!! When you are about to do something stupid.

Very informative video. So pleased you have the setup you have with the owner. One big family.

I think that the captain on a yacht and an aircraft are very similar. The physical equipment is of course owned. Having a productive and conducive environment between the employees and a having a sense of ownership is going to be positive for everyone. Therefore, the lines are drawn fairly clearly in my mind - captain is the final authority when it comes to safety. This includes safety of lives and equipment. Investments - that's where the owner is the final authority. Naturally provisions are simply a cost of doing business but things like refits and relocations would involve the owner. Tristan sounds like he has a unique working relationship with the owner and he has stated many times. The more often that any boss and any employee can have a productive relationship it usually leads to being fruitful and tends to be long lasting.

Not a ship captain, but the relationship between owner and crew is the same dynamic really. I've been a pilot for 40 years and for the past 22 years I've been at the Airlines. So this is a different situation because I never see the owners, I flew for 14 years at a major carrier in Japan and I never saw anyone from upper management. Before my airline career, I flew corporate for a couple of decades so I am familiar with this chemistry between a very wealthy owner and the pilot. I always started a new job by letting the owner know that the only way that I would advice against doing a flight is when it is plain dangerous to do so. That way when the inevitable "let's go " came, I could always remind him of that conversation we had. One time I told an owner "I realize that you need to be there, but please understand that I don't have to risk my life nor yours to take you there , I rather just quit now" and that took care of it. But it is a very difficult relationship for sure...

It's so good to see that the owner allows the crew that sense of "ownership" of the vessel. I worked in power stations for 36 years and went up the ranks until I reached management level. I always encouraged that feeling of ownership for the operators and maintenance people. . When the operator is doing his rounds of the plant at 3 o'clock in the morning, he doesn't walk past a piece of equipment that has an oil leak, and just ignore it because it's small and because he's not interested. . He sees the oil leak and thinks "Why is this equipment leaking oil on MY nice clean and safe concrete floor? "How will this oil leak impact or degrade the performance or life of MY piece of equipment?" He thinks "How much of MY money am I wasting with my oil leak?". . . "How am I harming MY environment with this oil leak?" "How is this oil leak impacting MY safety and the safety of my workmates?"

The Captain is in charge. He is accountable and responsible for the safe handling the vessel. Obeying and knowing the maritime rules no matter where that vessel goes. The crew, passengers and the vessel are his responsibility.

Congratulations to Tristan and AWOL's owner for building a very special relationship. I'm sure both work very hard on that relationship and reap rewards from it.

there's a difference between Owner and an operator. It is for the captain to make sure of the safely of the people on board and the yacht. So, The owner can request but it is upto the captain to make sure that the request does not endanger the crew or the yacht.

Hi Tristan, everything you said about decision making makes a lot of sense. I just have a quick question: when you have guests on board, it's probably much more difficult to make a decision to stay in port because of the bad weather. How do you manage the guests in this case. Thanks for this very intesting video. 👍👍👍👍🙏

Captain Mortlock: Your attitude and philosophy and that of the owner are spot on. Sure wish I was young again... I'd be sitting on the dock waiting to work on AWOL!!

I realised a couple of years ago that myself, being an Owner and Operator is extremely rare. Especially at the size of my vessel. So, I'd really like to hear another owner/operator talk with you about experiences.

Ross Perot had a number of rules for his managers. Among them were "run this business as though it is your business" and "you won't always be able to make all of your employees happy so do what you can to make those most who are most valuable happy."

....he's an exceptionally smart man, (10min 45sec).....'course he is Tristan, he's your boss.

Captain is in charge of the safety of the vessel and the passengers/crew. This must be in the employment contract. But there is a fine line between safety and comfort! There is also a fine line between crew competence and owner’s expectations. I would guess a Force 7 is not going to jeopardise safety of the vessel like AWOL but it would make the passengers nauseous!

I have only ever done boating privately! So I feel that NO Captain should ever be sacked! when he is looking after your safety! As a family, we got our yachtmaster to the level of offshore! That was in 1978/9 I know a long time ago!! However! We all could make a choice of safety, if needed and that is Why a Captain is hired! That was a delightful vlog and well done to you and the owner! Full credit to him too ;)

Responsibility for a decision depends on the situation. Ship, crew, guests safety rests with Captain.

I always think it's hilarious to hear what other crews/owners get into arguments with. The biggest arguments we get into with our captain/crew is when my dad and I (both huge history nerds) want to go to a place that is ugly and boring but a massive battle happened (or something similar) 500 years ago (my sisters and mom usually join in with the complaints as well). I think it truly baffles our crew that we could spend hours looking into open water and reading books while swapping quotes. I think most of the people that charter the boat go for the instagram spots. It makes us happy though.

The "owner" decides WHERE to go, the "captain" decides HOW you get there. Kinda like a marriage: the wife decides what you want, and the man figures how to get it.

Very interesting topic which I haven't seen on KZfaq before. Great insight into the dynamics of captain/owner.

Ultimately the Captain. He’s responsible for the safety of the yacht and crew. As well as compliance with regulations.

It's smart that the owner makes you identify withe yacht. But, let's face it: it's also a question of trust. So, if he trusts you so deeply, then you must do a darn good job, Tristan & Crew.

I was an airline Captain for many years. In aviation the Captain has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the aircraft, crew, and passengers. The airline managers want a certain level of performance and the Captain will come as close to meeting those expectations as possible but without sacrificing the margin of safety. The Captain is the one in charge.

My guess: Owner about general yacht ownership and large expenses, Captain for day to day, crew, and everything while at sea

Sounds like a very mature relationship all around. Well done SYC.

I would never get on any boat where anyone other than the skipper is in charge! When I’m rich enough to afford a super yacht I’m gonna definitely employ you Tristan 😀

Hello Tristan. Love the videos and have learned a ton. Thank you. FYI I tried to buy a ticket for the draw several weeks ago and apparently it’s sold out. Congrats on that. Is it something you may do again in the future?

Hi Captain, this is very informative, one question, when you charter a yacht, can you use the owner's cabin as a client? or you are only allowed to sleep on VIP staterooms? Thanks!

Captain makes final decisions, with respect to owner. Yes. Ours. Nice.

Interesting video, regarding the crew selection etc, you could have problems when personal relationships between crew members can make decision making extremely difficult. AWOL is a beautiful yacht, and your pride in it is obvious to see.👍.

Captain - when vessel is under any marine jurisdiction (Law of The Sea) at sea and when docked. When I did naval training they taught us the commanding officer 'has the ship'. Even if the Admiral of The Fleet comes on board for a visit the commanding officer ( C.O. - Captain) is still in charge and the Admiral must follow the orders of the C.O. The exception is in the event the Admiral due to special circumstances must take direct command and there is a formal legal handover process and the Admiral becomes C.O. On a number of occasions I saw naval officers on board of higher rank than the C.O. but they always followed the strict protocol that the C.O. was in command of the ship and asked permission of the C.O. to do whatever it was they came on board to do.

You answered the question very well and I agree with every point.

Wow your boss sounds like one cool dude. When you told us a while ago of the fire aboard, and the first thing the owner wanted to know. Was all the crew safe. Respect. There is nothing more important than the welfare of all aboard. As to who's in charge, when it comes to money decisions the owner is ultimately in charge. But once on board any ship, liner or yacht there should only ever be one person in charge. THE CAPTAIN. If the owner does not trust the captains judgment on something so important as the safety of all the guests, crew and vessel. He should put a for sale sign on his yacht, and stay on dry land. Thank you for making such an interesting vlog keep up the great work and stay safe. Regards Austin.

Hi ,,, I really REALLY enjoyed learning a great deal of information in this video please know that you are greatly appreciated.

The captain probably. They recruit the crew and make sure the yacht is running properly. The owner only sees the good side of what goes on and is just there to be pleased with the boat and the quality of service.

Owner. Always. The Captain is hired help. The Captain over sees the crew and does all the set up for traveling. The owner sits back and over-rides the captain anytime they want because it's their money that pays the bills and it's the owner's boat.

Thank you! Missed your vlogs. Very nice to say Cheers to you! Be Well!

Captain is always in charge!

Let's not compare this with any other business relationship as comments below have tried to suggest. This is different and unique. A maritime Captain with Tristan’s experience, together with crew, of how ever many is required for the size of yacht, with a close relationship with the owner is the key to a successful venture. It can't be compared with the captain of an aircraft, for example, because in 99.9% of cases it is part of a huge organisation. Tristan, owner and crew type examples are generally small organisations in comparison but with equal, or if not more responsibility. Although in most cases the ownership of a yacht such as AWOL aims to cover the cost of general running of the yacht it doesn’t necessarily make an overall profit because of the initial outlay of the yacht in the first place. Tristan has hit the nail on the head in all respects in this video and that is why he is where he is today. Any yacht owner with Tristan and his crew would be feeling very comfortable that they have the best in class running their yacht. I certainly would be.

Great video, I was fired from a captain position because I wouldn’t take out a owner and a guest who were fall down drunk, and weather was absolutely terrible, high winds etc! I’d love to send this to him!!!! Great video as usual, I’ve watched and learned from you and your crew from day one! I did however ask a few times before, and I apologize if I didn’t see your response, but wanted to know if we could sign up for raffle anyplace other than Facebook? Thank you!

Captain is always in charge when underway

It's a very simple answer. The owner is the employer, the captain is the employee. The captain is paid to be responsible for the safety of the ship, crew and passengers and has the final say there. If the owner does not like the captain he gets another.. Ergo, the owner is the only boss and the captain is a manager. An owner can make any decision he likes unless it affects the safety of the boat, crew and passengers. It seems to me that some captains have ideas of stations above their life.

If I were King of the forest, which probably may be a good thing I'm not, the owner of the vessel would have the final say in pretty much everything with one critical exception. Anything to do with the vessel underway or scheduling to go underway that poses, in the Captain''s professional opinion, undue risk of damage, injury, or loss of life, the captain should always be the final word. They are the one who has to get the vessel safely to its final point. A best friend drove work boats out in the Gulf of Mexico for about 12 years, and it was always his call as Captain whether they left the dock or not in the end. Lucky thing for it as well, because some of the less reputable operators would have sent him out in the middle of a massive typhoon if they thought they can get away with it!

"Unless we're going through a difficult time financially" (2020) they also higher a captain becasue its highly unlikely that they have the liscense that will allow them to operate the vessel with insurance.

You just nail it every time. Very well said, This why this channel does well because of you and your boss, but mainly you ☺Hope i win. I'm in it !

Health and Safety is Captain. Activities, destinations is Owner but only if Captain on board

I was a yacht captain and my owner ordered me into a hurricane or loose my job. I went as far as I thought safe then went to a marina that was in the path. The surge almost destroyed the marina but we survived. The owner said he was so worried about us I quit and left the yacht where it was. So the owner has control.

If I were a superyacht owner, the Captain would be in charge of all boat related affairs. My authority would be just to decide destinations within the constraints of weather and such. My only authority over the captain is that in theory, I could fire him. Other than that, he's the boss on board.

I would say Captain. He has the knowledge and experience - plus I would imagine responsibility in law as master of the vessel. What else are you paying him for? You're paying for his skills, experience and knowledge - you'd do well to listen when he speaks!!

I don’t give a damn how many billions on dollars an owner has, when you’re at sea, the Captain calls the shots. If you’re in the air, the pilot calls the shots.

I can imagine very easily that you are an incredible person to know. The owner is obviously successful and part of that is due to his understanding of the importance of delegating responsibility to whom he has hired to manage those responsibilities and you Captain are obviously qualified and proven to be. You both owner and Captain are lucky to have one another as equal team leaders, You both obviously recognize that you need each other to make the business of Yacht ownership lucrative. Yachts and Aircraft are two of the things that are not only very expensive but they require very technical knowledge to operate and are basically piles of dead money without the highly qualified personnel to safely operate them. Those owners who fire a captain for not allowing them to make the final decisions of how to operate I bet are not very successful business owners and they will eventually sink their ship and their business too. Salute to Captain, Owner and Crew. I'll bet you all are an interesting group of people to be acquainted with and this is what makes your channel so interesting. Dynamics at the finest level.

Before looking at video. My guess is capt is in generally in charge at all times. However the owner can at any time relieve him of command, and he/she would become a captain if qualified for the vessel. International treaties and various countries laws might come in to play as well. Just a guess before continuing.

Excellent video. Thanks Tristan.

Like any successful business, it has to come down to clear roles and responsibilities and not who is in charge, including the owner. Having a clear structure to the oganisation will lead to the natural identification of strengths and weaknesses of the team members. This in turn leading to an understanding of who makes particular decisions to enable the team to reach common goals. These are obviously live situations and evolve and change over time

Pos 02:20: I think it depends. Of course the owner decides about the "basic" decisions: Where do we go? Who is guest on board? When do they depart? But the captain is in responsibility and in charge for the security of the passengers, the crew and the other boats and people around him. Plus, the owner has not the competence to decide like in navigation or emergency situation. The captain of a yacht is like a pilot, they have the competence and responsibility.

My dad was a captain on ANL Australian shipping line. And I can tell you he was in charge. So it comes down to the captain of the ship or super yacht if shit happens the owner of the ship or superyacht. The owner and the insurance will go to the captain and look at the log books.

As for anything that has to do with the safe operation of the vessel, it is 10% the Captain, unless the owner is duly licensed as a Captain. The owner is responsible for purchasing and maintaining the safe operation of the vessel.

You are obviously an excellent and very experienced captain - who I’m sure would be sought after if you chose to move on. But it would be interesting to explore (or get tips on) the dynamics between less experienced captains and owners, or inexperienced owners in terms of how to attract and evaluate a good captain, or perhaps how to deal with more domineering owners. Thanks for the vid!

My mate's uncle owns and lives on his yacht and has done for over 30 years. The owner is a businesses man and many don't like working for him because he is set in his ways (I don't like the guy) When on the yacht which is worth around 40 million I found the only person in life he looks up to is the captain on board his yacht. Whatever the captain says is gospel to him, and personally, I think the captain is a captain for a reason. I think the captain has been with the owner for some 12 years. Harry (the captain) is held accountable from a rag out of place to the safety of life as all captains. The captain before harry was with him near on 20 years and has retired now. If I said the owner's name you'd more than likely know him or have heard of him. I think captains are the only people in life he respects. The crew he is ignorant to as if they are the necessary evil he could do without. Personally, I think the owner is the ignorant one as the crew work very hard and the reason he can sleep and travel in comfort.

I think it's a bit of both. So the owner obviously calls the shots but the captain is the one who says that this can or cannot be done. The captain manages the charters and crew while the owner basically tells the captain what he wants wants to do and the captain takes that and makes that happen if at all possible. That's just my guess from a complete outsider

Wonderful Insight .... Very Best to You and All the Crew ,.... Cheers from NZ

My favorite video from your channel. I’ve often wondered several things about this industry and have had some of those questions answered throughout watching the videos. One thing I have not learned was, where does a future super-yacht owner find a crew and what is the process of vetting them?

Obviously the owner could override any decision. But a good owner let's a Captain run the boat.

Interesting idea. I know very few (if any) owners of businesses that would say he/she does not hold the ultimate decision making authority though many concede daily operation decisions to their executive officer.