Sophie Kemp

Sophie is back at work following the birth of her second child. She has returned as one of our Sailing Yacht Brokers, a position she was previously in prior to having her first child. In between her two children Sophie worked as our Sales Support Manager between April 2023 – January 2025. She has a variety of yachts listed and has a keen knowledge of all things bluewater cruising. Sophie knows the ins and outs of Berthon International, having been part of the team since 2016. She can put her hand to anything and is happy to help wherever she can. Her path into the yachting industry had been brewing from a young age… Thrown head first into sailing on her grandparents’ retirement yacht, PANORAMA – a one-off Sadler 40 deck saloon – in mainland Spain and the Balearics, the one problem was that Sophie did not like going anywhere on it for fear of sinking… How times have changed!

She writes: “Thrown head first into sailing on my grandparents’ retirement yacht, PANORAMA – a one-off Sadler 40 deck saloon – in mainland Spain and the Balearics, the one problem was that I did not like going anywhere on it for fear of sinking… How times have changed!

As time went on and I got older, I enjoyed being on the water more and more, and the freedom it offered. Come the end of school, there was no other degree I wanted to do – it had to be a BSc in ‘Navigation and Maritime Science’ at Plymouth University. Four years later, with an Atlantic crossing on a Nordhavn 55 under my belt, a season for Sunsail in Turkey, a year on a 220ft motor yacht as a deckhand, and a drive from London to Mongolia in a 1999 Skoda Felicia, I graduated.

Next, it was off on the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in 2015 with my father and husband. We spent four months cruising the Caribbean before it was time to come home, and after a couple of Skype interviews while out in the BVI’s, Berthon International Managing Director, Sue Grant, offered me a job. I started at our Lymington HQ on 1 March 2016 as a Junior Sailing Yacht Broker.

Having grown up in South West London, I feel incredibly lucky to now live, work, and bring my two children up in Lymington. I am a keen runner and completed my first marathon in 2020, and am spoilt by the trails and sea wall we have on offer. When I am not in the forest walking our dog, I will be out in the Solent sailing on my parents’ Hylas 54, or zooming off to a beach on the Isle of Wight in our RIB to see who can build the biggest sandcastle. I did a lot of boating during my first maternity leave, and managed to spend a total of six weeks cruising France and the South Coast. My son did his first Channel crossing at four months old. I feel very lucky to be raising my children in this magical part of the world. Balancing work and home life; working at Berthon International on board the big blue bus is like working in one big extended family, and we all help each other out.”