So Ends the Voyage for Our Marvellous Simon Turner…

^ Simon Turner, Managing Broker (Retired), Berthon Spain

Simon has been involved with yachting since 1979 and is a very well-known figure in international yacht brokerage, starting his career in the UK and thereafter in the centre of yacht sales for the Mediterranean, Palma de Mallorca. He is renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the sailing yacht market. He has been involved with and sold many of the significant sailing yachts that have come to the market during his career. He has been an agent for Nautor Swan and is the go-to person for information and knowledge about the whole Nautor fleet…

^ Simon sailing Swan 90 – SOLLEONE – Aug 09

Simon is part of the fabric of the Berthon Sales Group and we will all be sorry to see him hang up his yacht broking boots this year to spend more time travelling with wife Sue, improving his golfing handicap, and paying attention to the first of the Turner grandchildren.

Berthon’s Lymington HQ saw a teenage Simon working in our Dockmaster’s office between school and college in 1979. When he decided that further study would get in the way of being involved in yachting, Nicholas Edmiston, then the MD of the Sales Group offered him a job as runner, chief tea-maker and filing clerk! In those days yacht brokerage was full of big characters and it was a great time to learn the profession.

^ Simon on TRINTELLA – SBS 1988

Simon spent ten years at Berthon in the UK selling brokerage sailing yachts, new Baltic yachts and new Trintellas. When Swan 51 SWANKERS was sold by Berthon in 1984, Simon sailed aboard her for her voyage from the UK to the Caribbean. This was the start of his passion for Swans which is the thread that runs through his yachting career.

^ Simon on Swan 51 SWANKERS

In 1991 Simon and Sue moved to Palma and he went to work for Trevor Holloway, the Agent for Nautor in Spain. This was a golden time for Swan and yacht brokerage in the Mediterranean, and Simon sold around 100 Swan yachts between 1991 and 2002. Likewise for the Turners as their three children grew up in lovely Mallorca, all of them bilingual and enjoying the amazing outdoor life the island offers.

^ Simon sailing Swan 51 on the Atlantic

During that time, Simon was the Berthon agent in Palma in addition to his Nautor duties, providing an invaluable link for us to this important market. We sold around forty-five yachts together and it was good to have him back in the Berthon family.

Trevor sadly died late in 2003, shortly after Simon and Berthon set up Berthon Spain, working together for another 5 years. We sold a variety of yachts, but Simon’s portfolio (as today) was Nautor Swan heavy, and he was THE broker for those looking for a Swan.

In 2005 Joost Goverts joined Simon as his business partner at Berthon Spain. Joost came from Dahm International – today just a memory amongst old warhorse yacht brokers, but in those days a significant brokerage house specialising in Jongerts and other large brokerage yachts. Simon and Joost became Swan Agents in 2006 and so it was full circle for Simon as he was even more closely involved with his favourite yachts.

^ Giving best maintained S&S Swan prize, 2010 Swan Cup

In 2008, Simon and Joost formed Northrop & Johnson Spain and said goodbye to Berthon, although we still cooperated on international sales.

For us all the yacht market was changing and Palma with its outstanding service facilities and ability to accommodate superyachts and then megayachts as yachts became larger, made the sale of larger yachts the norm. This focus saw us all dealing with this segment and this was definitely the case for Simon. Berthon has always maintained a foot in both camps selling quality yachts of more modest size in the UK and now our Swedish office, where the waters and facilities do not favour yachts much above eighty feet.

^ Simon sailing Swan 66 FD – TOUCAN, May 2008 Finland

Of course, it was also a time of changing communications with telex being overtaken by fax and then the gradual growth of the internet, first a clunky computer in the corner of the office and gradually expanding to every corner of life – and yacht brokerage was no exception. It made international sales easier and the pace picked up. However, the one thing that does not change is that people buy from people, and that good yacht brokerage relies on sound product knowledge and experience of the business – neither of which will be replaced by ChatGPT any time soon.

As Simon says – “Brokerage is always an interesting business – you never quite know who you’ll meet or how an initial contact will pan out. I’ve worked with clients for up to three years finding them the right yacht. Other times a sale may be completed in three weeks! I’ve sold the same yacht three times and have on occasion sold a yacht I have never seen without meeting either buyer or seller! I sold a Swan 65 in Mexico this way, only meeting the buyer and seeing the yacht years later when I was asked to sell her!”

^ Tim and Andrew at Simon’s Retirement Party

In 2020, Joost and Simon decided to sell their business and so we were delighted to welcome Simon back to Berthon. It has been a happy time, developing the business in Spain and responding to changing market conditions. Simon has been a key part of this. His gift to Berthon after nearly fifty years in the business is dubbed the ‘Turner Files’ at Berthon. Not only is his knowledge of the market detailed; through the years he has methodically catalogued data about any large sailing yacht you may care to name. He has been involved with the sales of many of them and his personal notes bring them to life on the page.

^ Henk, Simon and Nathalie at Simon’s Retirement Party

The 2026 Palma Superyacht Show, was the last that Simon attended as an exhibitor – on the deck of (yes, you guessed it, a Swan) the Swan 77 INVICTUS. Simon’s farewell party was a great event full of people who, like him, have worked in and shaped this great industry of ours, and always for the better.

Great yacht brokers don’t ever really quite retire. Hence, Simon’s desk in our waterfront sales office remains there for Simon to use, when old clients and favourite yachts are in search of the doyen of large sailing yacht brokerage.

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