Oil, Water and Boats Can Mix

News Release
10 March 2017
Charles Clark

Oil, Water and Boats Can Mix

They say oil and water don’t mix – but local yachtsman and former top car salesman puts the lie to that.

Gulf Harbour based Charles Clark has years of experience in selling and driving cars – and as a yachtsman, he has covered many thousands of coastal and blue water miles.

His love affair with cars has kept him busy in the motor industry for a good part of his working life. He’s spent 22 years with Toyota NZ, responsible for marketing, sales and profitability of fleet sales to major corporate and government clients.

When Charles left the car industry to ‘retyre’ he went into yacht broking, building a reputation as an experienced, honest and no-nonsense yacht broker, guiding buyers into the right boat and sellers through the often complex boat sales process.

Now that he has joined Auckland-wide yacht broking firm City of Sails Marine as northern Auckland’s sales representative, Charles brings this extensive selling and nautical experience to local boat owners. Living only five minutes away from the busy Gulf Harbour Marina, he is well placed to advise buyers and sellers throughout the Hibiscus Coast and to northern Auckland.

City of Sails Marine owners Blair Harkness and Janis Marler are very pleased to welcome Charles aboard – he comes at a time when the brokerage has extended its dealership to include a range of new luxurious power and sailing catamarans; and is expanding its consultancy and sales arms to include a range of advanced and environmentally friendly boat hull paint systems.

Read More about Charles:

In his rare spare moments, Charles Clark heads either for the road with his Lexus 250c or MGB V8 Roadster – or the local yacht marina to sail his Elliot 10m Einstein or to talk boats.

Charles started sailing at the age of 8 when his father assisted him in building a P class, and he soon progressed through all the dinghy classes including Flying Dutchman, trailer yachts and eventually to a high performance Davidson 780 & 1/4 Tonner Stormrider. Later again, he campaigned a Spencer 40 Peridot for 22 years with the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and Mana Cruising Club.

Charles then moved to a Lotus 10.6 that he used as a liveaboard and cruising and now has an Elliot 10metre Einstein, a sporty fun-to-sail keeler that is raced weekly as well as cruised.

Charles is also very experienced on restoration of yachts having kept a plywood Spencer in top condition for over 20 years including deck replacement plus re-engine he commissioned a full Osmosis repair on his lotus 10.6 and rebuilt his Elliot 10 over 3 months including keel and bulb. So his knowledge of yachts and their construction is comprehensive.

Charles has cruised and raced extensively in coastal and offshore events including the Tasman Triangle, Wellington to Sydney and Sydney Hobart races, and has assisted in a number of yacht deliveries between Fiji, Auckland and the South Island.

Charles is an enthusiastic Club Member and has held the rank of Vice Commodore at RPNYC and Rear Commodore at MCC as well as Gulf harbour Yacht Club, and has trained his daughter-in -law’s women’s crew to successes.

Charles retired in 2009 from Toyota New Zealand where he was for 22 years responsible for marketing, sales and profitability of fleet sales to major corporate clients including the New Zealand Government. He helped to reach a significant sales record, selling direct to clients vehicles to the value of over $30 Million per annum. Prior to his career with Toyota he was employed in the meat export business, specialising in the trade to the Emirates and Middle East, with responsibilities in Europe and the USA.

Starting his Marine Broking career in 2010, Charles has worked with Vinings Marine Brokers, with Terry Needham to assist in the sale of new yachts from the Danish Firm of X Yachts, and more recently with Don Salthouse and Gulf Group. Charles’ Wife passed away last year and he took seven weeks leave of absence and then joined City of Sails Marine.

Over the past 5 years working as a Marine Broker Charles has sold yachts & launches to the value of over NZ$4,500,000, despite the difficult market conditions.

With his experience at corporate level sales and marketing, legal matters, negotiating contracts and closing deals between many and varied people, Charles is an expert at not just smoothing the many complexities of the buy/sell process, he is also skilled at supplying the after sales service, deliveries and advice on boat construction, handling etc when needed.

In summary Charles with his corporate background and attention to detail can plan a marketing campaign to maximise the return and benefits to his vendors as well as identifying his new clients’ needs and requirements.

Ends

© Scoop Media