Queenstown woman savours life at sea

GRANT BRYANT /The Southland Times

SAILING AWAY: Sophie Gibbs at the Queenstown waterfront before leaving for southern France, and more superyacht adventures.

Working on a superyacht owned by a top European financier sounded like a dream job – and for 24 year old Queenstown woman Sophie Gibbs, it was.

Ms Gibbs completed her Queenstown Resort College course in April and went to France, where she started working as a sole steward on MM, a 30m superyacht owned by German businessman Carsten Maschmeyer, which was built for his 16-year-old son Maurice.

"Not many 16-year-olds have a superyacht," Ms Gibbs said.

"But Maurice is a great young guy and working on the yacht was a pleasure." Her duties involved looking after all the cabins and being a chef for the crew, Maurice Maschmeyer and his guests.

"I lived on the boat and cooked every day for the crew, but Maurice was at school during the week so we were busy on weekends," she said.

Ms Gibbs has been at home in Arrowtown for the past three months, and attended her Diploma of Hospitality Management graduation on Friday.

She left for Antibes, in southern France, yesterday to start scouting for another superyacht stewardess role.

"MM was sold, but I've had four different offers so I'll get straight on to the boats once I get there and see what each one has to offer," she said.

The Diploma of Hospitality Management had set her up well for a career working on superyachts Ms Gibbs said.

"You get hands-on experience from QRC and lots of five-star experience, which is great because you have to be so professional in this field."

Highlights of her employment so far had been watching the Monaco grand prix from the superyacht, and sailing to Malta on her first Mediterranean crossing to get the vessel re-registered, Ms Gibbs said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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