We had the pleasure of interviewing Captain Stefan Räbisch, winner of the Captain Master Unlimited category at the Crew Awards 2023! It has been a privilege to support Stefan in some key hotspots in the Med and we are delighted to have him among the testers of our app, AcqueraPro. Our conversation revealed the industry changing potential of the app and highlighted key considerations for the 2023 and the upcoming 2024 seasons. Read on!
What are your thoughts about the 2023 season?
Overall, the season 2023 has been very successful and busy for us. After a normal Caribbean season, we were heading back in a rush to attend an early high society event in May. Since than we have been constantly underway, both for owners and charters. Traveling across the whole Med all the way up to Greece and back through the Corinth Canal. I was surprised to see how busy the area around Capri was even in the month of September. Now we are finally taking a breath and undergoing some annual maintenance works in Amico shipyard, before heading back to the Caribbean in the beginning of November.
How was your experience with Acquera Yachting?
I have known Aquera for many years even from their early stage and saw them and their network growing. Ever since they have been a reliable partner and a very good agency to us. Helping the crew to provide the highest standard of service all around the Med. All ground transportation have been seamless and always on time. Acquera took off a big workload from the Chief Stew preparing top notch itineraries for shore excursions and were always right in there choice of recommendations for restaurants.
Opinions on AcqueraPro: which are the benefits of such a tool in todays’ market?
We did try the AqueraPro site this summer and it can be a very helpful tool. These days the bureaucracy of some countries is making the life of a purser hard and for yachts without a purser the officer is often drawing in paper to fill out before arrival. I see a big advantage to use one site for all the countries to make all the arrival and departure formalities with just a click of a button. It’s time-saving and easy once it’s set up. Besides that you have many other options making this tool also helpful for the interior department, as you could check on restaurants and excursions options in most of the general charter locations. As any other new program or library this needs to be filled with content. I am pretty sure over the time this platform is becoming a game changer for the yachts.
How do you foresee 2024 Med season?
It’s hard to predict. After Covid it looks like people are keener than ever to use the freedom of travel. I am just concerned about the political situations in certain areas. But there are always reliable hot spots in the Med which you can count on. We are keen to do a lot of charters of course. Hopefully there will be one going up the Adriatic for a change 😉
