Graeme Lord

Graeme Lord | Founder of PYC Cayman

In the engine rooms and crew quarters of the superyacht world, certain problems have existed for so long that people stopped noticing them. Graeme Lord noticed. And then he fixed them.

Where others focus on yacht sales, design, or spectacle, Graeme specialises in something far more essential: making crew employment work . From payroll compliance to tax protection, MLC requirements to liability management, he works in the space where operational discipline and legal expertise mean everything.

It's not glamorous work. But it's the work that keeps the industry legally compliant and financially protected.

Graeme's story begins far from any yacht marina. Born and educated in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), he completed a four-year apprenticeship in diesel and petrol mechanics with Ford UK before transferring to Ford South Africa.

The work was precise, demanding, and entirely land-based. But something was calling him toward the water.

After his time with Ford, he served with the National Sea Rescue Institution of South Africa along the Cape Coast — volunteering for the kind of work where mistakes cost lives. It was here, pulling people from rough seas, that Graeme developed the calm under pressure that colleagues still talk about today.

From there, he worked for Mariner Outboards South Africa , then spent years travelling throughout Africa, England, Europe, and Australia. Eventually, the travel led him to yachting — not as an owner or a broker, but as crew.

Rising Through the Ranks

Graeme started aboard yachts as a Second Engineer. Within seven years, he'd risen to Chief Engineer — responsible for everything mechanical on vessels worth tens of millions of dollars.

The role suited him perfectly. His Ford apprenticeship had given him technical foundations. His rescue work had taught him crisis management. And his travels had shown him how systems worked across different cultures and jurisdictions.

But it was the human side of yacht operations that increasingly captured his attention. He watched captains struggle with crew payroll. He saw owners exposed to liability they didn't understand. He noticed how social security laws, tax regulations, and the emerging Maritime Labour Convention were creating complexity that most yacht management companies couldn't handle.

When his first son was born, Graeme transitioned ashore. But he wasn't leaving the industry. He was about to reshape it.

Building Fairport

Before founding his own company, Graeme made his mark at Fraser Yachts , where he established the first comprehensive crewing and compliance management division. It was pioneering work — creating systems that didn't exist, solving problems that had been ignored.

In 2003, his leadership helped transform IYC from a local Florida entity into a global presence.

But Graeme saw a gap that still needed filling. The industry needed an independent yacht management firm — one that prioritised integrity over volume, expertise over expansion.

In October 2011 , he opened the doors to Fairport Yacht Support . The name carried meaning: Fairport was the vessel commanded by his great-grandfather, Captain Armstrong, in 1898 — a three-masted cargo sailing ship that travelled the seven seas. His grandmother and her sister were raised aboard, telling tales of rounding Cape Horn in storms that required cutting down the masts to survive.

That heritage — resilience, seamanship, family — informed everything Fairport became.

The company grew to manage over 100 yachts and 700 crew worldwide, providing services spanning financial management, crew administration, maintenance, and regulatory compliance.

Source: https://fairportglobal.com/news/yachting-industry-veteran-graeme-lord-starts-shore-support-company-march

The PYC Innovation

But even as Fairport succeeded, Graeme noticed a problem growing worse.

The traditional model — where crew were employed by the yacht's owning entity, with management companies acting as payroll agents — was creating serious risks. Payroll sent from US-based bank accounts exposed owners to American employment disputes and Jones Act claims. Non-US crew faced immigration and visa complications. The liability exposure was enormous, and growing.

In 2019 , Graeme founded Professional Yacht Crew (PYC) Cayman with an innovative solution.

Using a Segregated Portfolio Company (SPC) structure in the Cayman Islands, PYC employs crew through a separate legal entity — one with no assets or links to any company or individual — and leases them back to the yacht owner.

The structure protects owners from frivolous litigation while ensuring crew receive all MLC benefits, proper tax compliance, and P&I coverage. It's been vetted and approved by the industry's leading maritime attorneys.

The Evolution Continues

In 2024, following Fairport's merger with IGY Marinas and subsequent acquisition by MarineMax , Graeme made a decision: his sole focus would be building PYC into a comprehensive crew HR solution for the global yachting industry.

Today, PYC operates from dedicated offices in George Town, Cayman Islands, with a Cayman National Bank account for payroll and full compliance with both MLC requirements and European GDPR regulations.

Expert Witness to maritime law firms (since 2022)

A Problem-Solver Who Never Stopped

Graeme Lord doesn't talk about disruption or innovation. He talks about problems — and how to solve them. His journey from a Zimbabwean workshop to the helm of one of yachting's most essential service companies follows a consistent thread: seeing what others overlook, and having the discipline to do something about it.

The great-grandson of a sailing ship captain, the son of Africa, the engineer who became an entrepreneur — Graeme has built his career on a simple principle: when something doesn't work, fix it.

In an industry where captains face mounting compliance burdens and owners face increasing liability exposure, his reputation comes from something enduring — quiet competence, genuine solutions, and four decades spent doing the work that matters.

To find out more about PYC click the link here: https://pyccayman.com