For captains, yachts and management companies
Search by the job. Book the person direct.
Tell us the work, the role and the dates. See who is free for all or part of them, ask the person you want and agree the booking with them.
Example request, as a checked captain sees it
- How she works
- Both referees would hire her again · rated 4.7 on 6 jobs, 5 of 6 would hire again
- Work
- Relief, Chief Stew
- Yacht
- M/Y Seafern, Antibes
- Dates
- Mon 16 to Fri 27 Nov, 12 days Free all 12 days
- Payment
- Bank transfer on Clara's invoice, 14 days
- Certificates
- As Clara declares them. Copies of STCW BST and ENG1 asked for, for your own checks
How it works
Search
Once you've signed up, pick the type of work, role, place and dates. Crew free for all of them come first, then crew free for part, with the date each last confirmed. Every profile shows whether they've worked on sailing yachts, motor yachts or both, and a search for a sailing yacht puts sailors first.
Send a request
The request shows the person's rate, how you'll pay them and our fee before you send it. Nothing is charged unless the booking is confirmed.
Booked
They accept and the dates come off their calendar. After the job you confirm the days worked and review them, including whether you'd hire them again. They invoice the yacht or are paid in cash, as agreed.
Six types of work, every department
- Relief
- Delivery
- Yard period
- Daywork
- Racing
- Private home
See all roles
- Deck
- Captain, First Mate / Chief Officer, Second Mate / 2nd Officer, Bosun, Deckhand
- Deliveries
- Watch Leader and Delivery Crew, as well as the deck roles
- Engineering
- Chief Engineer, Engineer (including 2nd Engineer and ETO)
- Interior
- Chief Stew, Stew (any interior role, from purser to housekeeping)
- Galley
- Chef (head or sole chef), Sous / Crew Chef
- Racing
- Helm, Tactician / Navigator, Trimmer, Bowman, Pit, Boat Captain, Race Cook
- Daywork
- Dayworker, in deck, engineering or interior. Crew list their skills, from varnishing to provisioning runs, so you can ask for them. No minimum yacht size.
See an example of each type of work
- Relief
- A chief engineer covering a rotation while yours is on leave.
- Delivery
- A delivery captain and an engineer to bring the boat from Palma to Antigua.
- Yard period
- An extra engineer for the weeks the boat is out of the water.
- Daywork
- A deckhand for two days of wash-down before the owner arrives.
- Racing
- Bow and pit for a regatta week.
- Private home
- A chef for the owner's villa while the yacht is laid up.
How crew are vetted
What we check
- References
- Two, each one called and asked how the person works: would you hire them again, can they be trusted on board, how good is their work, are they reliable. One for daywork.
- Reviews
- After every job the captain rates the crew member and says whether they'd hire them again.
- ID
- Confirmed on a short video call.
- Experience
- Reviewed by our network team and confirmed by references. No minimum sea time.
- Certificates
- Declared by the crew member as genuine, theirs and current. We don't check them, for any yacht: check the originals before they join. Need copies for your insurer? Ask for them with your request. Dayworkers need none.
How you get checked
- Work email
- Confirmed. A private household can confirm a phone number instead.
- Reference
- One, called by our network team.
- Approval
- Our network team approves you before you can send a request.
- Your team
- Once you're approved, invite your officers and heads of department so they can book for it too.
Qualifications are information. You decide.
We never hide anyone over certificates. Each row compares the certificates the person declares with what you asked for, and Best match puts those who list everything first. Where a flag's rules might apply, you get a heads-up, and sending a request is never blocked. For a strict list, turn on Only show crew who meet all of these.
Searching and browsing crew needs an account. Until your checks are done you see an anonymised preview, with no names, profiles, exact rates or requests. Crew only hear from checked employers.
Questions captains ask
What if the crew member declines?
Nothing is charged. The fee only applies when a booking is confirmed, so you can ask the next person on your list.
What if the booking falls through?
Full refund if the crew member cancels, can't join or we remove them. No refund if you cancel after confirming.
What if the job is shorter or longer?
After the job you confirm the days worked and the crew member agrees. A longer job, or crew leaving early, adjusts the fee. Ending a job early yourself doesn't. Any cancellation pay you agree goes on the crew member's invoice.
Can I book someone for part of my dates?
Yes. Results show who is free for all of your dates and who is free for part, with the days each person can cover.
Can I look without dates?
Yes. Once you've signed up and been checked, you can browse crew by department, role and base, and ask about their availability.
Do I pay crew through you?
No. You pay crew directly, in cash on completion or by bank transfer on their invoice, as agreed in the request. Syntor Crew never handles crew pay. Our fee is invoiced to the yacht separately and never appears on a crew invoice.
Who employs the crew member?
You do. Agree the terms with them directly, including a seafarer employment agreement where your flag requires one.
Do you check certificates?
No. Crew declare their certificates as genuine, theirs and current. You check the originals before they join, and you're responsible for crewing lawfully, including flag rules and insurance. Our vetting is about how crew work: ID, references and captains' reviews.
Need copies for your own checks or your insurer? Ask for them when you send a request. Only you can open them. We don't keep copies. They're deleted 7 days after the crew member joins.
Can my heads of department book their own crew?
Yes. Once you're approved, invite them from your account. Owner-drivers, managers and households book the same way.
Photos: Jerome Rançon and Christian Palau on Pexels.