Caroline Blatter: Trust, Loss and the Superyacht Services Guide Story
- Yachting International Radio
- Jan 7
- 3 min read
From Love to Life at Sea
Caroline Blatter entered yachting because of love and stayed because of standards. Trained as a physiotherapist in the eighties and working in London hospitals, she never planned a maritime career. Meeting Andrew Blatter changed that. She stepped onboard with both feet and learned the industry the way most crew do, on the job and under pressure.
It was a pretty big passionate love story of falling in love with a yachtie, and suddenly I found myself leaving St. Georges Hospital and joining him onboard, running the boat two handed.
Life onboard as a couple is often painted as easy. Caroline describes a different picture, one of rhythm, competence and listening. They managed passages, handled sails, folded a 90-foot yacht mansel in silence and built trust without dramatic speeches. That quiet efficiency later became the backbone of the Guide.
Why Yacht Reputation Matters
In the early 2000s captains were emailing Caroline and Andrew from across Antigua, Palma, Antibes and Monaco asking who could be trusted. They wanted engineers to arrive on time, provisioners who would not inflate a bill, refit yards that understood deadlines and advisers who knew crew life. No one was asking for clever branding. They asked for names used by people they respected.
Caroline believes the term yacht tax is real and validation is harder in an era of AI. The Superyacht Services Guide was built to counter that risk. Recommendations come from within the industry, from chefs, mates, stewardesses and captains. Every recommendation is followed up directly. If quality concerns persist, services are removed to protect integrity.
We absolutely check every single recommendation that comes in. It is not scraped from yellow pages or Facebook. It is verified through conversation and context from people onboard.
This approach is adult, not flashy. It reflects common sense and respect for both sides of a story. Caroline does not name and shame publicly. She investigates what happened, whether a vessel paid the bill, whether the service had missing information, and then she decides.
When the Personal Became Unavoidable
After moving back to England in 2012 the family faced Andrews diagnosis with young onset dementia under 65. Caroline's background in neurology told her something was not right even before hospital confirmed it. The diagnosis landed on her shoulders alongside a business and four children at home.
I need to feed my family. I need to run the Superyacht Services Guide. I am also needing to care for my husband and I do not know which symptoms will show next.
The last decade was survival, not theory. Caroline speaks about exhaustion, spreadsheets she never learned at university, and the team who tightened their grip when COVID hit and Andrew deteriorated and later passed away. Legacy kept the mission alive.
Legacy in 2026
Tristan Blatter has now stepped into the Superyacht Services Guide on his own terms. He travelled to the Antigua Charter Show and met captains who once recommended Andrew years earlier. The connection looped back in a very human way. Caroline believes Andrew would be thrilled that the Guide continues twenty three years on.
Caroline still questions print versus digital and sees specialist handbooks on the horizon. She is a connector first, bringing people together so jobs get done and crew confidence remains steady.
You never know who you are going to meet, and every skill gathered along the way can suddenly become useful.
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About Superyacht Services Guide
The Superyacht Services Guide is built on verified feedback from professionals working onboard yachts. The platform connects captains and crew with trusted maritime services across global destinations and investigates every recommendation to protect real reputation and fair pricing.
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