John grew up in the English countryside in the south of the country and later moved to the picturesque town of Bath. With a lust for travel John set his sights on sunnier destinations and travelled to Australia, Indonesia and central America on surfing trips.
His love for the mountains was fuelled with four seasons in the European Alps working as a ski instructor. He later joined the British Army working in Ariel Surveillance and joined the winter sports team becoming the Army Snowboarding champion.
He started his yachting career in 2017 and has worked on a mixture of motor and sailing vessels, mainly in Europe, and has spent two years in the Bahamas. He holds his Chief Mate 3000gt licence and is working towards his Mater 3000gt.
John enjoys fitness and in his spare time likes to take part in Triathlons, Jujitsu, road biking and freediving.
John Ford
First Officer
Natasha was born and raised in the wild outdoors of Zimbabwe.
At the age of 18, having never left Africa before, she was Inspired to travel and learn about new cultures and cuisines. Along the journey she found her passion for the yachting industry. In the past 5 years Natasha has worked on various boats and travelled to some exciting places such as Dubai, Egypt, the Maldives and the U.S.
Having previously worked on Vertigo as a junior stewardess, She has now come back to share her experience and skills as Chief Stewardess, providing the best experience for any guest who comes onboard.
When not creating exciting table scapes or making delicious cocktails, Natasha likes to do any outdoor activity, but her favorite hobbies include fishing, wakeboarding and running.
Natasha Odendaal
Chief steward/ess
Melissa is from a small town called Thornhill in the heart of Yorkshire UK. She has been in the yachting industry for 6 years and has served a further 2 years onboard cruise ships. Melissa has worked onboard several vessels ranging in size from 50m to 100m and has travelled extensively. Her background is in Spa management and education, she is currently working towards her degree in Psychology and counselling. With a passion for health and fitness Melissa’s hobbies consist of yoga, nutrition, and meditation. Melissa has an outgoing and adventurous personality, always striving to create a memorable experience for the guests.
Melissa Johnson
Stewardess
Jamie has extensive experience in fine dining in both the UK and Europe. After his
training he decided to move to France to broaden his experience.
After working in high-end restaurants including Michelin level establishments and at gastronomic events for Mer et Vigne Salons he opened his own restaurant, catering for corporate clients of multinational businesses based in Tours, France; four successful years later he sold the restaurant and moved into yachting.
Jamie Kershaw
Chef
Finn was born in 1983 and raised in the beautiful north of Germany. Growing up near Hamburg, close to the North and Baltic Sea, sailing, fishing, and many other outdoor activities came naturally. After his apprenticeship and having worked for a few years in the wood business in Germany, in his mid 20s he moved to the US and travelled around as a tour guide for Harley Davidson before joining the yachting world over 12 years ago. When he is not aboard, he enjoys travelling, working on project cars, riding his motorcycles, and spending time with friends and family.
Finn Krippeit
Chief engineer
Katy hails from the wild west coast of Scotland where she grew up on the shores of the River Clyde. She has always been surrounded by water and started keelboat sailing at 11 at her local yacht club. After graduating from University she left for the USA to teach sailing on dinghies for a few seasons. In-between this she started on super yachts and has been in the industry for 12 years. She has worked mainly on large sail yachts and travelled to far flung corners. Alaska being her favourite and a bucket list item of taking a super yacht back home to cruise in Scotland. Discovering the Pacific Ocean has been her stand out moment in yachting, from the warm tropical climates of uninhabited atolls, visiting the remarkable Kiribati Island chain, and then heading north to cruise in the chiller climes of Alaska. Katy has been onboard since 2019 and when not at work she will either be fly fishing, riding her motorbikes or tending to her modern classic cars.
Katy McGilvray
Captain
Born and raised on the Atlantic coastline of France, Romain has always been very inspired by the maritime environment and so he chose to study Marine Engineering at the French Merchant Navy School. After graduating in 2014, he worked on fishing vessels and commercial passenger ships, supply ships and tugs, until moving on to yachts in 2018. Yachting was a new industry to Romain and he really enjoys it. Working as Second Engineer on the most prestigious yachts is something! When he is not at sea, he spends his time skateboarding, cooking and socialising.
Romain Prono
Engineer
Mattia grew up on an island in the Venetian lagoon. He has always been passionate about the sea thanks to his family who have lived off of fishing for many generations. This pushed him to study and attend the Nautical academy. At the age of 19, Mattia joined the merchant ships and was on there for 3 years until he decided to switch to the yachting industry. Vertigo is Mattia’s second yacht and he hopes to progress in his engineering within the yachting industry. During his spare time Mattia likes to play sports and has recently taken an interest in power lifting at an amateur level.
Mattia Padoan
Engineer
Tom was born in Cornwall, in the South of England. In his teenage years, his family immigrated to America and he finished his high school studies in Texas.
After finishing school, Tom returned to the UK and completed an apprenticeship in hairdressing in London. In the last 18 years he has been honing his skills and knowledge, earning recognition in national British hairdressing competitions. He has also owned a successful wedding hair business whilst working in luxury salons offering the most up to date styles and treatments. Despite his bustling career, Tom found time for personal challenges, completing two marathons, triathlons and similar races. His early years in Cornwall by the sea, have always given him a love for the ocean, that is what has eventually drawn him to the Yachting industry. Tom is the newest member of the Vertigo crew and looks forward to this new adventure. He is sure to take put a smile on any guests face.
Tom McDougall
Steward
Born and raised on the south coast of England, we introduce George our 1st Officer. Sailing from an early age in the blissful Poole Harbour he worked his way up from Topper sailing and 420 racing to Bowman on cruiser racers and keelboats in the Solent.
Leaving school at 16, he worked in France as a Senior water sports instructor for 3 seasons whilst studying towards qualifications in Outdoor and Adventure.
Shortly after, George engaged on a Professional Yachting Cadetship, aiming high towards his Yacht master Offshore, Yacht master Ocean and then up to Chief Mate 3000. He also has a Foundation Degree in Operational Yacht Science. He loves nothing more than chasing horizons with good friends and company. After having recently been to Brazil, he has switched “to the dark side”, from windsurfing to kitesurfing and looks forward to learning more freestyle tricks. On the rare occasions he is not on the water, George enjoys spending unnecessary but “always justified” amounts of money upgrading his pride and absolute joy, a very shiny Land Rover Defender.
George Gibbs
First Officer