Charter yachts support local youth with the annual Newport Yacht Rendezvous.
The 2026 New England yachting season is kicking off, and a major highlight is the Newport Charter Yacht Show, June 22 to 25, for industry professionals to peruse about a dozen boats in the show ranging in size from 92 to 180 feet.
Among the three dozen yacht charter companies and their brokers will be Newporter Jennifer Saia. Like the Energizer bunny, she is always in motion and her phone is always ringing.
Saia she meets a lot of people who have become uncomfortable traveling outside the U.S. “For a couple of charters, I’ve convinced people to explore instead places like Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard or Maine, and they fall back in love with New England,” Saia said. “They’re thinking why were we traveling the world and not in our backyard?”
A quick scan of the charter market coming up reveals about 50 boats ranging in size from 75 to 206 feet, will be based in New England each with multiple crew members. For Newport, the economic impact is significant, with yachts operating here from May to October. Besides the crew spending money on their down time off the boat there are docking fees of up to $17 per foot or higher per day, plus electricity and water fees.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Jennifer Saia by Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County former CEO Joe Pratt.
More money stays in town with average expenses taking about 35 to 40 percent of the base charter rate, said Saia. “We have a 130-foot Westport yacht coming into town whose charter rate is $115,000 per week, so the provisioning and other consumables is about $40,000, and that’s from just one yacht.”
Beyond the commercial benefits the charter yacht business brings to Newport, many owners believe in giving back for a good cause. Several of the yachts in the charter show remain in port and help host the Newport Yacht Rendezvous benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County. This year’s event is June 26 at the Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard.
Saia was involved with the South Florida Boys and Girls Clubs for 20 years, so when she relocated to Newport in 2013, she wanted to connect with the local club. Funding at the time was an issue, so she brought some board members to see how the yacht rendezvous was organized in South Florida, and she says “it was like a light bulb went off in their head.”
It has become a signature event of the season. Each year it raises $500,000 with anonymous donors providing matching grants. To date they have raised $24 million to renovate and expand the club, which will reopen in January 2027.
When asked why she chose this particular charity, she said, “I don’t have any children, so I guess this is my way of giving back to the kids.”
After 37 years in the yachting industry, she has a loyal following. Her career goal was initially in the aviation industry. After graduating from Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University with a degree in aviation business administration, she planned to get a master’s degree in international business. However, fate had a different plan. Her friend had taken a job living the glamorous life aboard an impressive yacht and urged her to take a break and give it a try. Enticed, Saia worked on board a 167-foot Feadship, a Dutch luxury yacht for many years, traveling extensively around the world.
Meanwhile, whenever she came ashore, she worked for The Sacks Group, a yacht charter business. “After about four years, my dad said, ‘All right, it’s time to get off that damn boat and get a real job and use your degree.’”
The owner of The Sacks Group saw something in her. When he heard she was in the job market, he offered her a job as a receptionist, with plans to move her up in the company. It was here that she received training from some of the best in the industry.
After owning her business for several years, in 2022 she joined the Denison family of yachting as a charter specialist.
For Saia, Newport is home after growing up in Florida. She relishes the change of season, and she started sailing in earnest, buying a 22-foot O’Day with her boyfriend Bob Kerr. Free time is spent on board, learning how to sail and finally shutting off the phone. Her parents are from New England, “So perhaps it has been in my blood all these years and it was time to come back and go full circle.”
