Pilates Instructor

The core of the work is one-to-one sessions. Owners who train seriously ashore expect the same standard at sea: a reformer, a programme built around their injuries and goals, and an instructor who remembers what worked last trip. You will teach on the reformer, mat, chair and small props, sometimes on a moving deck. You keep the equipment clean and serviced, track each guest's sessions, and adjust classes for swell, heat and late nights.

With guests aboard, the schedule follows them. Sessions might be at 07:00 before breakfast, mid-afternoon after a swim, or not at all if plans change. You need to be ready and stay out of the way when you are not wanted. On a long owner trip you may teach the same two or three people every day for weeks. Between trips, most yachts expect you to work as part of the interior or spa team, and crew classes are a common extra.

Captains and spa managers hire comprehensively certified instructors, ideally from STOTT, BASI, Polestar or a similar programme with full reformer training. Two or more years teaching private clients in a high-end studio, clinic or hotel spa counts for a lot. Rehabilitation experience is valued because many owners come with back or joint problems. A second qualification, such as massage, yoga or sports therapy, makes you far easier to place, because a yacht cannot always justify a cabin for one specialist.

Progression usually runs through the spa. Experienced instructors who add treatment skills and learn to manage stock, rosters and guest bookings move up to spa manager on large yachts. Others build a freelance business, flying in for a single owner trip or charter at a day rate. A few move into interior management or set up wellness programmes for yachts ashore. Your references from owners and spa managers matter more than anything else when you look for the next job.