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The sport boating becomes professional: COS and Julio Verne Náutica launch the first pilot course based on the quality standard for recreational skippers.
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Vigo/Online – May 5, 2026 – For years, yachting has operated on a blurred line between passion and profession. Today, faced with the growing demand of an increasingly demanding charter market, Charter Operations Standard (COS) is born. In collaboration with the renowned training and charter school Julio Verne Náutica, they announce the launch of their first pilot course: the first training designed to transform sport yachtsmen into recreational boating professionals.
The end of improvisation: A standard born of reality
The yacht charter industry faces a critical bottleneck: the lack of qualified skippers who understand the real demands of today’s market.
There is a training gap between obtaining a nautical qualification and knowing how to manage a charter boat.
COS was born not in an office, but on the deck of the ships. It arises from a common problem shared by charter companies, shipowners and clients: the difficulty of finding professionals who master both technical and customer experience management.
“After years of managing boats and crews, we understood that the market not only needed qualified skippers, but professionals who mastered a rigorous standard of operation,” says COS management. ” A good skipper is not only someone who knows how to sail; it is someone who knows how to manage a boat as a business unit and experience for the client”.
Training by professionals for professionals
Behind COS are companies and active skippers who have worked together to create technical training created by and for the industry. The pilot course developed with Julio Verne Náutica distills years of “tricks of the trade” and covers critical areas:
- Self-sufficiency: Maneuvers without dependence on passengers.
- Strategy: Planning focused on the experience without forgetting comfort and safety.
- Professional management: Handling of contracts, local regulations and the relationship with clients and shipowners.
Industry voices
From Julio Verne Náutica, they emphasize the importance of impeccable execution once the client arrives at the base:
“The hardest part should be getting the client to set foot on the ship for the first time; once on board, it’s easy to do our job, as long as we have trained and motivated professionals.”
For his part, Frank Moëller, founding partner of COS, charter skipper and RYA instructor, underlines the paradigm shift:
“As a shipowner and skipper, I know that the title is just the beginning. Today’s market is not looking for boat drivers, it’s looking for experience managers who are technically self-sufficient. COS is the bridge to leading a boat with the mindset of one who takes care of an asset and ensures the happiness of those who charter it.”
A guarantee seal for the future
This first course will serve to validate the COS methodology, which aims to become the benchmark for recruitment in the most demanding recreational fleets. It is the definitive step to transform a vocational profession into a structured, high-level professional career that offers absolute peace of mind to the shipowner and an unforgettable experience to the client.
About COS (Charter Operations Standard)
COS is the first professional training standard born from the consensus of the yachting industry. Its mission is to professionalize the figure of the skipper, aligning the interests of customers, owners and professionals through frameworks that ensure operational excellence.
About Julio Verne Náutica
A nautical training center of reference, Julio Verne Náutica is committed to the professionalization of the sector by collaborating in projects that link nautical education and training with the real needs of the recreational sector.
Iván Pérez-Gándaras is CEO of Julio Verne Náutica and the main Director of the company's RYA Training Center. His vast experience is based on the highest nautical qualifications such as Yachtmaster without limits, STCW95 and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore with commercial endorsement. He has accumulated more than 20,000 ocean miles in deliveries and transatlantic crossings, in addition to 30,000 miles in scientific expeditions, including Antarctica and Newfoundland.
A trainer since 1993 and instructor of nautical qualifications since 2009, his background combines a solid technical background with exceptional practical experience. With a degree in Marine Biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela and World Champion in Dinghy Sailing (1989), his unique perspective ensures that Julio Verne Náutica's articles, training and charter services are delivered with the highest level of technical rigor and passion for the sea.
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