Gentlemen's Yachts is a personal service. We find classic American yachts worth owning, and we work for you, the buyer, from the first conversation to the closing table.
Reuel Sample
PRINCIPAL BROKER | Wilmington, North Carolina
When you work with Gentlemen's Yachts, you work with Reuel. Not a call center, not a rotating desk. He takes your call, learns what you want from a boat and what you want from the life that goes with it, and does the searching, the reaching out and the legwork on your behalf.
Reuel brings more than 45 years of sailing experience to every client. He grew up aboard: his family sailed home from Brisbane, Australia in 1973 and made another transatlantic crossing in 1985. A former Navy officer, he owns an Irwin 46 that he has sailed up and down the East Coast, and he knows bluewater sailboats, inshore sailboats and power craft firsthand.
He also brings a background in digital marketing, which helps him find the boats that are quietly for sale, and reach the brokers and owners who know about them. Every client is treated as a guest, and every search is handled as if it were his own.
Associated Team Members
Buying a classic yacht takes more than one set of eyes. These are the independent professionals we recommend to our clients, and the people Reuel trusts with his own.
Please note: The people below are independent professionals. They are not employees of, and are not part of, Gentlemen's Yachts. We recommend them exclusively for full-service buying, and each is engaged and paid separately for his own services.
Dale Davis
OWNER, INTEGRITY YACHT SALES
Transactions and paperwork
Dale makes sure that all paperwork and transactions are done legally and completely.
A Marine Veteran, former University Professor, CEO of a NASDAQ listed company and venture investor, Dale is an avid sailor who cruises extensively on the Chesapeake Bay and has completed multiple offshore passages to Cuba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean and New England.
He has owned and refit a number of classic blue-water yachts, and has particular experience with Cabo Rico, Hinckley, Valiant, Pacific Seacraft, Island Packet, Bristol, Shannon, Passport, Morris and Rustler. Dale particularly enjoys representing buyers in their search for high-quality bluewater yachts.
Steve Smith
MARINE SURVEYOR
Pilothouse Marine Services, Beaufort, NC
Steve is an accredited marine surveyor and ABYC Master Technician, and a member of the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 GT Master's license and is a Level 1 Thermographer.
He spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer, and has boatbuilding and wooden-boat restoration experience. His pre-purchase surveys cover sailboats and powerboats and are written to explain clearly what he found, and what he could not examine.
Captain John Rahm
DELIVERY CAPTAIN
Third Wave Sailing, Oriental, NC
Captain John holds a 50-ton master license with sailing and towing endorsements, and has been a Coast Guard Auxiliary member since 1974. He served 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, flying Harriers and Hornets.
He and his wife Julie cruised for twelve years aboard their Island Packet 485, and his crew won the 2012 Bermuda Ocean Race. He has taught more than 300 sailors as an American Sailing Association instructor.