CREW
JAMES OLLEMANS
Captain
James has been a part of the Odessa fleet since 2010 and in the yachting industry since 2004. He joined during his gap year before he was meant to return home to Natal, South Africa, to study architecture. Now, 10 years later, he finds himself reaching different career goals as Captain, leading an energetic and professional crew on board Odessa. He has cruised on Yachts ranging from 50m‐74m in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Baltic, North American Atlantic, the English Canal, the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal. Off duty, James is a keen squash player, loves all water sports, snowboarding, having a round of golf with mates and spending quality time back home with friends and family.
SILVIU MARCHIDANU Chief Engineer
Silviu was born in Constanta, Romania, one of the busiest ports in Eastern Europe. After finishing in the Romanian Naval Academy in 2007, he started his career as an Engineering Officer in the commercial navy. He progressed in the navy until he was ready for a new challenge and joined the yachting industry. Compared to the commercial navy culture, Silviu enjoys the tightknit crew on smaller boats. His interests are science, technology and mechanics. He enjoys family time, skiing and travelling.
ANDY FLANAGAN Chief Mate Andy grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. It was here that he developed a passion for the sea and water sports spending his days surfing, fishing and lifesaving. After high school, Andy went to the University of Cape Town and did a 4‐year business degree with honours in Marketing. Throughout university he travelled around Africa, Europe and the States and his love for experiencing new places and cultures developed. His love for the ocean and travel drew him to the yachting industry in 2010 and he hasn’t looked back since. He has just completed his Chief Mates licence and is aiming to get his Master 3000t licence in the next two years.
Mario Orban Chief Engineer Mario was born in Constanta, Romania, one of the busiest ports in Eastern Europe. After finishing the Maritime University in 2007, he spent 6 years as an Engineer & Second Engineer Officer in the commercial navy and after joined the yachting industry. He comes from a family of engineers and likes to spend time with them in various engineering projects. Live each day to the fullest and is a big fan of the mountains, rally driving and concerts.
MARIAN BERTHET Second Engineer Marian was born in Brest, on the Atlantic coast of France. He comes from a sailing family and his father is a captain on yachts. Marian has been working on yachts for five years and attended a maritime school in Corsica for three years where he studied electro‐mechanics while working as a deck/engineer and sole engineer. Marian has recently joined the Odessa team and is our youngest crew member. He is interested in new technology, expanding his knowledge in all areas of engineering and enjoys all kinds of sports activities such as wakeboarding, snowboarding, Thai‐boxing.
BRENTON GORDIE Chef Brenton was born and raised in Adelaide, Australia. He began cooking 16 years ago and had a passion for high end food where he gained experience from top hotel chefs from around the world and celebrity chefs working along the coast of Queensland and islands .He has been in numerous cooking competitions and won medals in every competition. He joined the yachting industry 10 years ago and has worked 6 years in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Taking a 4 year break from the industry in yachting, he returned back to Australia for further self‐development and also became a personal trainer in fitness. Now back on the yachts, Brenton has returned to Odessa where he wants to excel and have fun travelling.
GARY PHILSON Bosun Gary was born in Auckland, New Zealand. From a young age he spent most of his time playing sports and being active by boating, water skiing, wakeboarding and tubing every summer. Gary is very people orientated and has followed a career path that has kept him in the outdoors and working with people. He has worked previously as a water sports instructor in America, an outdoor education instructor for the YMCA in New Zealand, and Post University began a career as a primary school sports teacher. Gary enjoys all sports and taking on new challenges. He has been involved in yachting for 1 year now and would like to work his way towards being a chief officer himself one day.
SAM HAMERSLEY Deckhand Sam grew up on the Western coast of Australia. Living on the coast he grew to love being on the water. Sam was sailing small Mirror dinghies as a youngster and qualified for the Mirror world championships in Cape Town. Sam’s family owns a small motor boat he learnt to drive and navigate around the coast of Perth which is where his passion for working on boats developed. Sam is an active person being heavily involved in AFL, football and basketball and still gets involved when he can in his spare time. He enjoys getting to know and meeting new people from all different backgrounds and this is why he loves the industry he is in today.
ASH EDWARDS Deckhand Ash is from Tauranga, New Zealand. Ash spent the first 10 years of his professional career in viticulture, where he worked in Wineries in NZ, Australia and America. He’s an outgoing guy, so naturally seeking the next challenge he turned to Yachting. This is his first season in the industry and he’s incredibly keen and enthusiastic about the new experiences that are to come. Ash’s is passionate about music. He writes music himself and plays the bass guitar. He was in a band in his home town for 4 years where he performed at local bars.
GENEVIEVE FLETCHER Chief Stewardess Gen previously worked on Odessa II and has been on boats since 2012. Previous to working on yachts, she studied and worked as a chef in the Cape Wine‐lands of South Africa. She was born in Durban and moved throughout her formative years to coastal towns and cities, which is where Gen gained her love for the ocean and passion for travel. Gen has cruised the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Bahamas, Florida, the Panama Canal and has completed one Atlantic crossing. Gen is passionate about food and loves to bake. She has also completed her PADI Open Water and will take up any opportunity to scuba dive in new locations.
MINNA PEAKE Second Stewardess Minna comes from the rolling hills of the English countryside and has worked on yachts since 2011, during her university holidays. She has recently joined Odessa after graduating in Spanish and Business and is looking forward to continuing her career in the industry. Minna has spent a year living and working in Spain which she adored and hopes to return to Spain later in life. She has been sailing with her family since she was young and loves being out on the water. She loves wake boarding and water skiing and her other interests include fitness, interior styling, playing cards, horse riding and exploring new
places.
AIMEE HILL Stewardess Aimee grew up in Cardiff and moved to North Wales for University where she discovered a love for the outdoors, hiking, kayaking, canoeing & climbing. After 4 years of University, she decided to move to the French Riviera to become a Nanny, for 1 year with intentions to explore Europe. This is when Aimee discovered the yachting industry! Aimee feels at home in the South of France ‐ her French is excellent so she fits into the French way of life. She’s not planning on moving back to Wales any time soon as she loves the excitement of the industry, meeting new people and exploring new destinations. KATE ANDERSON Stewardess Kate grew up in the small coastal town of South Shields in the North East of England. She studied Human Geography at university before completing a hospitality internship in Arizona, America. Here Kate gained a passion for travel after moving around various states and came to work on yachts in order to combine this with her interest in the hospitality sector. Kate enjoys the fast pace of the yachting industry, the opportunity to explore new locations and the chance to meet
people from all backgrounds. She has always been an active individual with a love for hiking and Irish dancing.