Delivery Services
Survey Services
Owner Orientation and Training
Delivery Services
Survey Services
Owner Orientation and Training
Meridian Yacht Services was conceived during a transatlantic delivery from France in 2008 by Bruce MacBain and Jorge Ventura. By the time they arrived in Florida, they had a completed business plan, marketing plan, and budget. People thought they were crazy to launch a new business in the middle of a nationwide financial crisis, but they figured that they really had nothing to lose and all the opportunity for growth! Holding themselves out as a "shared resource" for dealers, brokers, manufacturers and owners, they would generate enough business to succeed.
Now, sixteen years later, Jorge has retired and is now back on the island of Flores in the Azores and Bruce has moved away from long-haul deliveries into the role of Catamaran Tutor. Having a Masters Degree in Education, Bruce tapped into his teaching skills (his course of study focused on Adult Education and Curriculum Development) and his sailing experience (see below), he created an educational program exclusively for catamaran owners, called EDUCats.
EDUCats is a unique, comprehensive, immersion course of study conducted on your own catamaran, wherever she may be. Bruce will travel to you and become your professional tutor for the duration of your course of study.
The core program is a 7-day, live-aboard, immersion course that covers not only the typical sailing techniques, chart navigation, and passage making, but Bruce has fashioned the program (including manuals and with a trove of information not typically found in standard training manuals) that emphasizes the 5 skillsets needed to master a sailing catamaran. He comes to you and you learn on the waters you will be sailing. The course is modular and can be customized to fit your goals and needs, whether it is week-end day sails, coastal cruising, or passage making, Bruce will equip you with the knowledge you need to have a safe and enjoyable sailing experience. Advanced courses are also available to prepare you for transoceanic blue water passages, transiting the Panama Canal, or a circumnavigation. The fully-documented education program is recognized by major insurance companies, many of whom offer a discount on boat insurance with proof of training. As a graduate of the program you also receive a Certificate of Completion suitable for framing.
Bruce D. MacBain is the son of a career U.S. Naval officer and made his
first trans-pacific crossing to the Philippines aboard a US Navy transport ship at the age of 5 and as he grew up, he was always near a body of water. His first experience with sailing was when he was 8, on Mission
Bay in San Diego.
He has sailed recreationally throughout his adult life and decided to go
"pro" in 2003. After selling his business and home he signed onto the
Picton Castle, a sail training ship out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He arri-
ved at the beginning of April, 2005 and at the end of May, 2005 he em-
barked on a 13-month circumnavigation to sharpen his skills and accu-
mulate the necessary sea time to qualify for his USCG 100 Ton Master license.
Upon returning to the USA and receiving his ticket, he moved to Fort Lauderdale and began delivering and commissioning sailing catamarans. He met and teamed up with Jorge Ventura, a portuguese delivery captain, and in 2008 they formed Meridian Yacht Services.
Jorge decided to retire in 2011 after 20 years in the delivery business, and Bruce continued the company. By 2012 he had begun offering orientation and training classes for new owners of sailing catamarans, gradually moving more into teaching and away from all those long-haul deliveries and with that, EDUCats was born. Bruce continues to base out of Fort Lauderdale, thoroughly enjoying being on the water and teaching new catamaran owners.
