CREW PROFILES

Nick Doyle / Captain

I was born & raised in the famous Victorian town of Scarborough located in the North East of England. My love of the sea has seen me revolve around a multitude of water sports which eventually progressed into sailing at the local yacht club. I then moved to a training establishment in Cowes called the United Kingdom Sailing Academy where I completed a course in professional crew training in 1995. This enabled me to start my career in Yachting full time. My career has lead me to work & gain experience on some of the most prestigious large motor yachts in the industry, including 4 years on Lady Marina (64m Feadship), firstly as bosun, then up to 2nd officer & finally Chief Officer, 3 years on Octopus (124m Lurssen) as a bridge Officer, Helicopter landing officer and also certificated in Dynamic position & HiPap hydro-acoustics. My next venture found me joining Solemar (62m Amels) as First Officer in Nov 2006 to become Captain at the start of the 2008 Mediterranean season. My career has taken me across the Indian ocean & associated islands, Coral sea & Western Australia, the Mediterranean, the eastern seaboard of the USA, the Caribbean chain, Baja California including the Sea of Cortez, Gulf of Mexico, South Africa, Madagascar, Rio de Janerio, numerous Atlantic crossings.

I love to drive exotic cars & motorbikes and have a growing ambition to build & fly a replica world war 2 Spitfire. I also have a passion for travelling, visiting beautiful places whenever possible.

Gareth Weston / First Officer

Sarah Clune / Purser

Originally from Ireland, Sarah has also lived in several other different countries including, Jordan, England and currently, France. She joined the yachting industry a few years after finishing her Business degree. Prior to Solemar, Sarah worked on motor yachts Talitha G, Reverie, Islander and Jo. She loves to travel, wake board, surf, snowboard, read, collect paintings from around the world and laugh, but most of all she enjoys relaxing amongst friends with a glass of Chablis at home in her favorite city Nice.

Andrew Newton / Executive Chef

Andrew Newton comes from Christchurch New Zealand, where he started his apprenticeship at The Park Royal Hotel, working in a under a large kitchen brigade of many chefs from around the globe.

This lead Andy to an epicurean adventure. He spent time travelling around the world, working in different environments such as fine dining restaurants, leading hotels and prestigious resorts from the tropical shores of the Whitsundays, Australia to the small island of Jersey, England through to Fort Lauderdale, America were Andy was placed on his first yacht in the Bahamas back in 2001.

Andy’s star sign is Pisces, so it was only a matter of time before he found his role in yachting and his love for the ocean reunited. In his spare time he enjoys swimming, diving, mountain biking, motorcross and enjoying good food with great wine and brilliant friends.

Genevieve McGrath / Lead Service

Genevieve hails from Sydney, Australia where she studied for her Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She then went on to work as a Foreign News Editor, before setting her sights on yachting. Various members of the McGrath family have been working on Superyachts for the last ten years, so it was a natural choice for Genevieve. She always enjoyed working part-time in hospitality, in various high-end establishments, most recently in a Sydney Sailing Yacht Club. Travelling, Music and Netball are some of Genevieve’s passions. She has joined us just after some exciting adventures whilst touring through South America.

Kristian Glavan / Chief Engineer

Born and raised in Zadar-Croatia, he studied in Rijeka- and first going to sea back in 1995 as an engine cadet for six months in Brazil on a merchant ship.

After couple of years he moved to the cruise ships and worked for Disney cruises being part of construction/commissioning site team in Venice-Italy for both Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. He then changed to Royal Caribbean Cruise line where he spent six years including commissioning and construction of another two new 300 m cruise liners in Papenburg Germany.

Whenever possible he can be found enjoying his 44 foot sailing boat in Croatia, scuba diving, and lately he has learned to ski.

Mario Kramaric / Rotating Chief Engineer

Coming from the city of Split in Croatia, he started his sea career in 1995 as an apprentice engineer on chemical tanker ships. He then joined the cruise ship industry working for Premier and then Disney Cruise Lines. While at home he enjoys soccer, wrestling, playing Picigin (a local Croatian Game), sailing and “Kid’s watch keeping”. He runs a small sail boat charter business in Croatia and is an active member of ISKCON – His greatest achievement: “My wife and two kids.”

Dario Tomic / 2nd Engineer 1

Dario was born and raised on the island of Korcula, Croatia. He studied marine engineering in Sibenik and went to sea, as it is tradition in the South of Croatia. After many years serving on Commercial Vessels, Dario joined the Cruise Ship Industry in 2000.

On his vacation, Dario enjoys fishing, scuba diving and working on his family’s century’s old vineyards and olive groves.

Ivan Skracic / 2nd Engineer 2

Ivan was born in Sibenik, small but famous town on the coast of Croatia. He studied in Split and started his maritime career on oil tankers in 2004. Ivan joined the yachting industry in 2007.

During his spare time, Ivan practise various sports (water sport, Croatian local games). He plays the guitar and the piano and he is fond of the Dalmatian culture that he enjoys with his friends.

Dean Fillis / 2nd Officer

Coming from Durban in South Africa, Dean has been involved in boating from a young age, sailing up and down the coast of Durban, to skiing and wake boarding on the lakes around South Africa. Dean then started his career on Cruise Ships before joining the luxury Yachting Industry. His hobbies include all water sports, going to the gym, squash, golf, volleyball and music.

Shane Gamble / Lead Deckhand

Shane was born and brought up in Mallorca, Spain. Coming from a yachting background, it was not hard to imagine that from an earlier age he would be involved in the yachting industry.

In 2001 Shane joined his first yacht, MY Avella, a 33-metre charter yacht cruising the Mediterranean sea. Since then he has been on 6 other yachts ranging from 33 meters to 63 meters in which he has never stopped gaining new experiences and knowledge.

Shane loves travelling and meeting new people and there cultures but most of all he has a passion for surfing. Earlier this year he obtained his surf instructors qualification. His other hobbies include sailing, wake boarding, skate boarding and music.

Paul Verry / Deckhand

Stephen Baillie / Deckhand

Stephen was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He originally studied business and marketing and worked in advertising for 7 years before getting into the world of super yachts. Growing up in the city of sails Stephen, has always had a passion for the ocean and spent summers on the water diving, fishing and wakeboarding.

In the last few years Stephen decided to take his passion for the ocean and make it a profession. After working on several boats in New Zealand, Stephen joined MY Solemar in 2010.  He was a rescue crew member for the New Zealand Coastguard and is a qualified open water diver. Stephen enjoys the outdoors, sports, and travelling.

Roland Hector / Second Chef

From a young age, Roland has shown a healthy interest in cooking as his family came from a long line of bakers. At the age of 17, he became a student at Westminster Catering College, and over the next three years he was placed in various fine eateries as part of his training. They included working in France and working under Phillip Howard at The Square.

Soon after College, Roland joined the brigade at Coast restaurant under Stephen Terry and Jason Atherton. Working under these two great Chefs opened doors for him and gave him the confidence to move and work to New York and Sydney.

Back in London, Roland became a freelance chef and started, working in the private sector, mainly providing meals for clients in their homes or at their businesses. The transition to yachts was an easy one as he started sailing three years ago as a hobby. He soon found himself in the South of France and on to Solemar.

Hazel Alcala / Lead Housekeeping

Hazel is from Cebu City and the youngest of five children. She loves dancing, and says acting and singing is “her cup of tea”. She used to be a member of a theatre group and travelled to different places in the Philippines.

Jessica Bedford / Stewardess Service

Jessica was born and raised in New Zealand. Growing up, she enjoyed the outdoors and playing team sports, particularly hockey.

After finishing a business degree, she moved to the UK and lived in Edinburgh where she worked as a nanny and in the hospitality industry.

Jessica loves to travel and enjoy meeting new people. She is looking forward to the up-coming season on board Solemar.