West Nautical celebrate CEO Andrey Lomakin’s 25 years in the superyacht industry, West Nautical UK 10-year anniversary plus a new office opening in Monaco at the start of 2025

This year has been remarkable for West Nautical, showcasing significant milestones in the superyacht industry. The group’s CEO, Andrey Lomakin, proudly marks 25 years of excellence in the sector. Additionally, West Nautical is excited to announce the opening of two new offices in Dubai and Monaco, further expanding its global presence. The UK branch is also celebrating its 10-year anniversary, reflecting a decade of dedication and success in luxury yacht services. These incredible achievements are a testament to the company's growth and commitment to excellence.

Pictured: Andrey Lomakin, West Nautical's CEO

Andrey Lomakin began his yachting career in 1998 when he ordered a dayboat from his local Bayliner dealer. A year later, he traveled to the Czech Republic to purchase 10 boats from a friend who represented Regal, marking the start of his journey in the yachting business.

Lomakin credits his success in the yachting industry to his prior experience in the automotive sector, where he worked as a car dealer since 1995. In 1999, he founded a boat-selling company and within a year co-founded the Burevestnik Group. By 2013, after 14 years in the yachting industry, Lomakin acquired West Nautical, a French company established in Cannes in 1994. He later founded West Nautical UK, assembling an experienced team to provide personalised yacht brokerage and management services with offices in the Mediterranean and the UK.

Pictured: Andrey Lomakin at a build project at Sanlorenzo's shipyard in Italy

In summer 2004, Andrey Lomakin completed his captain’s licence at the RYA in Southampton. Two years later, he ordered a Fairline Squadron 58, scheduled for delivery in spring 2007. In May 2007, Andrey, his wife, and two friends traveled to Ipswich to take delivery of the yacht. Their plan was to cruise from Ipswich to London, Amsterdam, Germany, Sweden, Finland, St. Petersburg, and finally Moscow. However, the journey faced several challenges, including a storm in the North Sea forcing them to dock in Dunkirk, early morning canal navigations, electrical system damage in an Amsterdam marina, speeding fines in Germany, and a near-collision in thick fog. What an adventure!

The trip's highlight was cruising the River Thames in London on a sunny 22-degree day, a perfect way to celebrate the yacht and capture some unforgettable photo moments.

Pictured: The Thames that Andrey and his wife and friends travelled through in 2007

As well as Andrey having his yachting qualifications, he also studied management at Jefferson University in USA and received an MBA in Management in Germany.

One of Lomakin’s first big commitments was the commissioning of a yacht with the intention to be involved in the project from the design and construction stage, all the way through to the sale of the vessel to her first owner. Andrey called upon his existing relationship with Dutch shipyard Mulder to build the first 94 Voyager, named Firefly, together with Omega Architects, Vripack and John Vickers of Vickers Studio. “A lot of shipyards rely solely on renderings, but to sell on pictures just isn’t going to happen. The idea was simple; to gather the best people from the industry and to build the best boat possible.”

Pictured: Motor Yacht Firefly, available for luxury charter holidays with West Nautical in Malta and Italy

Over the years, Lomakin has personally owned a number of Fairline yachts, something that gives him a strong understanding of the fundamentals of yacht ownership. “My own ownership experience has made me appreciate the build quality, sea-keeping performance and cutting-edge yacht technologies that are available,” he says.

Andrey was a master candidate in 100m swimming and is still a keen ice hockey player. In his spare time, he rides bikes and has a big family with five children. Andrey now lives in Switzerland but spends his time between Monaco, Cyprus and Dubai and is taking the lead in recruitment for the company’s new Monaco office where he will base himself for a lot of the year.

Andrey’s favourite charter destinations are The Balearic Islands, Italy, Croatia and Turkey and one day would like to spend a few months travelling the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean.

Pictured: Beach in the Caribbean

As the yachting business has changed over the years to put a greater focus on customer relations and professional management, more and more clients are looking for their time on board to be managed appropriately. The group’s current strategic goal is to attract the best professionals to their company with a view to providing the highest level of service for their customers. This focus has seen West Nautical expand, with physical offices in the UK, France, Cyprus, Dubai, and remote colleagues in Florida, South Africa and Mallorca, with current company expansion being in Monaco where they are due to open in early 2025. “When it comes to superyacht clients, the business needs to focus more on service and not solely on selling,” Lomakin comments. “This means that the high-end yacht services on offer should not end once the yacht is delivered, but continue to offer constant, first-class service”.

Pictured: The Burj Al Arab in Dubai

West Nautical provides a wide range of yachting services from brokerage to charter, yacht owner services including operational and project management. Part of West Nautical’s sales division includes an established distribution service in which the company deals with brands such as Bluegame, Sanlorenzo and Sunseeker as their regional dealers. Since the company’s inception, West Nautical have worked closely with their partner shipyards and delivered a total of eight metal Sanlorenzo yachts, more than twelve Sanlorenzo GRP yachts, over 30 Sunseekers and three Bluegame yachts, a total of 53 new build projects in 11 years.

Pictured: KD, Sanlorenzo 52Steel, the build of which was managed by West Nautical. She was also successfully sold by West Nautical

West Nautical also have long standing relationships with European shipyards such as Benetti where they currently have one yacht in build and Sanlorenzo where they currently have two metal yachts in build, and in recent years have delivered yachts from Heesen, Cantiere delle Marche, Bering, Mulder, Turquoise, and Amels also. The West Nautical office in Cyprus are also the local distributors for both Chris Craft and Olympic RIBS.

The majority of the yachts over 30 metres by West Nautical then join the company’s yacht management division which has gone from strength to strength in the last 10 years as founded by Geoff, and those wishing to charter come into their charter fleet under the direction of experienced professional Tina Collins which currently has 17 CA’s ranging from 25 to 55 metres.

CEO Andrey says: “The first new-build we were involved in was with a Sanlorenzo 40 Alloy. When the time came to manage the vessel after delivery, I found myself not able to give my full attention to my biggest client. Managing was done in a very traditional and simple way, and it was then when I started looking for the right partner with the same vision to develop the company for the future. So, when I met with Geoff Moore in 2014, it was after only two hours together that we understood that we are on the same wavelength, and that we can do business together.”

Left to right: Managing Director Geoff Moore, Client Manager Paul Williams, Chief Operating Officer Neil Schofield) outside the company's Jesmond shop

Geoff Moore has been Managing Director of West Nautical for a decade. He joined the Merchant Navy and relocated from Kent to South Shields where he eventually qualified as a Class One Master Mariner along with a number of other qualifications alongside an Honours Degree in Marine Operations from Northumbria University. Geoff spent years working at sea on commercial ships including cruise ships, ferries, dredgers and cargo vessels, before an old acquaintance enticed him to try superyachts in 2007, starting his career in the luxury industry where he worked onboard seven different yachts ranging from 50 to 130+ metres.

Pictured: Sanlorenzo SP110 Anmax, being lifted out of the water in Fort Lauderdale by the management team

Geoff stopped working at sea and moved ashore in 2011 when his son was born and due to his knowledge of the maritime industry, he was able to transition easily into a shoreside management role.

Geoff’s career has since blossomed, founding West Nautical UK in 2014 and alongside Andrey, has developed it into what it is today; a well-established full-service superyacht company excited to celebrate its 10-year anniversary recently on 8th September 2024.

 In July 2024, West Nautical opened their new office in Dubai, a yachting market that has experienced remarkable growth in recent years. The office is located in the prestigious area of Business Bay, which was strategically chosen to strengthen their position as a leading player in the yachting industry. Located in the heart of Dubai’s commercial district, the new office offers a prime location for all of the companies’ operations. The Business Bay area’s dynamic and vibrant environment, modern infrastructure and excellent connectivity make it an ideal hub for conducting business and provides easy access to the city’s marina’s, yacht clubs and waterfront developments ensuring seamless connections with their clients and partners.

Pictured: The new West Nautical Dubai Office, in the prestigious Business Bay Area

Watch this space for West Nautical’s very exciting new offices in Monaco, due to open in early 2025 where they are currently recruiting a European Sales Director to head up operations in this prestigious location.

For any queries regarding West Nautical or future events, please contact us at info@westnautical.com.