How I got here
Albert´s connection to the world of yachts began long before it became his profession. In 1970, his parents founded the company, laying the foundation for a family history that remains closely tied to yachts, boatbuilding, trade and service to this day.
Even as a child, he was always around the family business – in service, in sales, or helping out at boat shows. In 1989, after finishing his training, he officially joined the company. The enthusiasm of his youth became his profession, and very quickly a passion that still drives him today.
Yacht building, international buying and selling, and service and support have shaped his career. One thing has always been at the centre of it for him: achieving the best possible outcome for his clients, and remaining a reliable point of contact for them even after a successful deal.
To him, the yacht business is about far more than closing a sales contract. It starts with honest, personal advice, continues through finding the right yacht, viewings and negotiations, all the way to handover – and his responsibility doesn't end there. After-sales and long-term personal support have always been part of good yacht business, as far as he's concerned.
He's been fortunate to accompany many clients for years, sometimes decades. Clients became regulars, and business relationships often turned into lasting friendships – built on a high level of personal commitment, since in the international yacht business, problems and decisions don't follow office hours. Being reachable and available around the clock, seven days a week, was simply part of the job for many years.
He's worked in small, close-knit teams of 10 to 15 people as well as in companies with around 110 employees. Regardless of size, one thing has always given him particular joy: successfully closing deals together with a good team – or on his own when needed – while personally accompanying the whole journey from acquisition through advice and sale to after-sales.
FROM THE FIRST TO THE THIRD GENERATION
The family history of the company means a great deal to him. It was, and still is, a great honour for him to carry forward and further develop the life's work his parents founded in 1970 – never just a professional task, but always a personal commitment and a privilege at the same time.
Since joining in 1989, he's been able to help shape and grow this life's work as the second generation for decades, adapting it to the changes in the international yacht market – with his wife by his side throughout, supporting him and their family every step of the way.
Today, he's especially looking forward to passing on, together with his wife, the knowledge, experience, contacts and above all the passion for yachts that they've built up over decades to their children. This marks the beginning of the third generation of the family's history in the yacht business.
He's convinced their children will carry this story forward successfully – with respect for what their grandparents began in 1970, with the experience they can pass on to them, but also with their own ideas and their own view of the future. Because for all the change in the yacht market, some things have stayed the same across generations: trust, a handshake you can rely on, personal commitment, and enthusiasm for yachts and for the people fulfilling their dream of owning their own boat.
What his parents began in 1970, he's been able to carry forward since 1989. Today, it makes him proud and grateful to be able to pass this life's work on to the third generation.
Or, as he always says: „I turned my hobby into my profession – and eventually, my profession became my hobby.“
“ I turned my hobby into my profession, and eventually, my profession became my hobby. ”
Albert Drettmann
Founder & CEO