YBAA U 2026 | Wednesday, July 15
Meet the YBAA University Presenters!
Peter Boyce
Peter Boyce is Principal Designer at C. Raymond Hunt Associates, one of the most widely recognized and respected names in naval architecture.
Boyce graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been with the firm since 1972.
Courtney Chalmers
Courtney Chalmers is Chief Brand & Communications Officer with 25 years in the boating industry, spanning Boat Trader, YachtWorld, and boats.com.
She specializes in brand strategy and product marketing, leading global initiatives that drive growth for brokers, OEMs, and dealers while building strong industry partnerships. Throughout her career, Courtney has launched new businesses, built marketing teams, and developed programs that deliver measurable results. She has been recognized as one of Boating Industry’s Movers & Shakers, a Top 40 Under 40 honoree, and part of Women Making Waves.
Jonathan Chapman, CPYB
Jonathan Chapman is Managing Partner, Worth Avenue Yachts. He boasts extensive yachting industry expertise, transitioning to brokerage in 1999 following a few years of hands-on experience crewing on large motoryachts worldwide. His brokerage portfolio casts a broad net and includes sail, motor, and classic wooden yachts. He has collaborated and worked with the renowned firms of Bartram & Brakenhoff, IYC, and Northrop and Johnson before becoming a managing partner at Worth Avenue Yachts. Currently he hold the position of Chair of the CAC board and is a YBAA past president. He has been a Florida licensed broker since 2001, is a member of IYBA, a certified arbiter on the International Yacht Arbitration Council, and a USCG licensed Captain.
Jason Dunbar
Jason Dunbar was raised in Ohio near Lake Erie and graduated from Heidelberg University. He moved to Miami in 1992, where he began his maritime career as a delivery captain and yacht broker at the Miami Beach Marina. In 1996, Jason joined Andrew Cilla at Luke Brown Yachts in Fort Lauderdale, where he specialized in yacht sales and valuations, eventually becoming a co-owner of LBY.
Following the sale of Luke Brown Yachts in 2020, Jason partnered with SAMS marine engineering surveyor Mark Geddis of Patton Marine to form Vessel Value Survey, a Condition and Value Survey firm specializing in Build Contracts and Milestone Inspections, along with Insurance, Finance, Maritime Litigation, Donation, & Importation Values. Over the past six years, VVS has expanded to include additional surveyors and continues to serve clients worldwide with trusted expertise in yacht valuation and condition assessment.
Tim Murphy
Tim Murphy is Education Director at American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC),
where he has been instrumental in enhancing ABYC’s certification resources. He has a
distinguished background in the marine industry as a journalist and has been a key figure
in ABYC’s educational initiatives since 1998.
Eugene Samarin
Eugene Samarin graduated from Roger Williams University School of Law. While attending
Roger Williams, Mr. Samarin focused his studies in the RWU Law Admiralty/Maritime
program. During his studies, Mr. Samarin’s course work emphasized Business and
Taxation courses. He joined the Lochner Law Firm, P.C., a Maritime and Admiralty Law
Firm, as an attorney in 2016. In 2020, Mr. Samarin was lead counsel for the revisions to
all Yacht Brokers Association of America contracts, including listing and purchase
agreements.
Currently, Mr. Samarin is the firm’s lead counsel for Xquisite Yachts and HH Catamarans
matters, which range from corporate governance of a multinational corporation, to
assisting with vessel purchases and sales, as well as documentation services.
During his collegiate career, Mr. Samarin was a member of the St. John’ College Rowing
and Sailing teams.
Garrett Schwartz
Since 2010, Garrett Schwartz has been at the forefront of technology in the yacht brokerage industry, helping shape many of the platforms that power today’s marine marketplace. He has collaborated with hundreds of brokerages, north American yacht broker associations, technology partners, and advertisers to bring yacht listings to a global audience.
Under his leadership, Garrett and his team have developed APIs, integrations and websites for more than 300 brokerages, alongside custom CRM systems, behavioral analytics, and document management solutions designed to streamline operations for brokerages of all sizes.
As founders of the YachtOne platform, Garrett and Domagoj are pioneering the application of artificial intelligence in yacht search and marketing—introducing AI-driven discovery tools that modernize how buyers explore inventory, improve brokerage efficiency, and transform a traditionally tedious search process into an intelligent, answer-driven experience.
Jim Taylor
Jim Taylor has been sailing since childhood. Born in 1949, he was soon “messing about in boats” on the Delaware River and on a Rhode Island salt pond. He earned a B.A. from Haverford College, (Haverford, PA), and a graduate ‘degree’ from what wags called the ‘Ted Hood School of Yachting Technology,’ where he worked for five years on a variety of ocean racing, America’s Cup 12-meter, and production cruising designs. He is married to Anne, has an adult son, and has been a professional yacht designer for since 1974.
Jim Taylor Yacht Designs was formed in November of 1978. For 35 years, the office was located in historic Marblehead, Massachusetts at the foot of State Street, overlooking the scenic harbor that once laid claim to be the ‘yachting capitol of the world.’ During the covid pandemic, the business went full circle, and returned to a home office across town in what is still an active and prominent East Coast yachting center.
Domagoj Lalk Vidović
Domagoj Lalk Vidović is a senior software engineer turned entrepreneur focused on building technology that modernizes traditional industries. After years of developing software tools and founding Second Brain, he met Garrett Schwartz and recognized an opportunity in the marine industry: to bring a more unified, intelligent technology experience to yacht brokerages. Together, they founded the YachtOne platform.
Today, YachtOne is Domagoj’s primary venture — an all-in-one operating system purpose-built for modern yacht brokerages. Combining bespoke websites designed for the AI era (optimized for discoverability across Google and AI search), an AI Search Concierge that reimagines traditional yacht search through conversational, answer-driven discovery, and an integrated backend spanning CRM, inventory, deal pipelines, API integration, and visitor analytics. YachtOne helps brokerages operate with greater efficiency and scale. Domagoj leads product and engineering as the company expands across the marine industry.
Liz Walz
A 26-year veteran of the marine industry, Liz Walz has spent the past 13 years serving and supporting marine dealer success and excellence at the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA). During this time, she has focused on developing results-based education and training products, services and systems for retail owners, managers and employees.
Liz brings passion and experience to solving dealer pain points and improving performance by developing first-class education and professional development opportunities. During her time at MRAA, her work has included key roles in the development and evolution of Dealer Week education, the MRAA Industry Summit education, the Marine Industry Certified Dealership program, the Continuous Certification curriculum, the MRAA Resource Center, Spotlight, Ask the Expert webinars, the MRAA’s Position Specific Certification program, the MRAA Succession Planning Toolkit, MRAA Mastermind Groups, the MRAA Educational Foundation, and more.
Doug Zurn
Zurn Yacht Design is known for the fine aesthetics and performance of its designs in power and sail. Since our beginnings in 1993, we have won acclaim for more than 725 launches of designs commissioned by a growing list of custom and production clientele.
“All our boats are the result of taking advantage of design and materials for optimal handling and performance,” says founder Doug Zurn. “Having grown up sailing I have an appreciation for the ocean and understand the limits it imposes: How do you make the onboard experience more comfortable? How do you make it more enjoyable from a standpoint of performance? How do you protect yourself? The reward for me is to see the way my clients enjoy using my designs no matter what mother nature throws their way.”
Based in Marblehead, Massachusetts, we offer end-to-end design and engineering services. Our services include conceptual mockups, shop drawings, three-dimensional visualizations, and material specifications.
“We also can manage the build project,” Zurn says. “We don’t just set a client loose with designs to try to find someone to build it properly. We work with the builder, and we’re there every step of the way, helping make sure the vision of the design translates to reality.”
Thank You, Sponsors!
