CAPTAIN: Jon Jeffreys, Welsh
Captain Jon’s passion for sailing started with his father teaching him the ropes as a young boy in Wales. He began his sailing career as a flotilla skipper for SunSail and then spent five years as a skipper for The Challenge Business organization racing and training crew volunteers for round the world ocean races. He has been skippering private yachts since then. Jon has worked exclusively on sailing yachts including Elysian, Naos, Rebecca, Whisper, Sleighride and most recently, the classic Endeavour.

Jon has many years of experience and has made a career out of sailing yachts that has taken him around the world. Thus far Capt Jon has logged sea time hours in the Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, South Pacific and North Pacific Oceans, the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas the East Coast of the United States, Europe, Cuba, Newfoundland, Japan and New Zealand. In his repertoire of education, Jon holds an RYA Commercial license, a MCA Master Yachts 3,000 tons and an engineering degree from Imperial College in London. Before taking up a captains position fulltime Jon worked in engineering.

Captain Jon has logged over 115,000 miles at sea and has dealt with some extreme environments. High latitudes, ice, strong tides and stormy seas have all been part of Captain Jons tenure, as well as the relaxing cruise style of calmer warmer waters. Jon is a very capable yachtsman and loves to sail, but more importantly he is a regular guy who enjoys meeting new people, exploring new places and enjoying all that life has to offer. When enjoying time off he is likely to be found scuba diving, exploring, reading a good book or hanging out with his wife Bridget. With Captain Jon at the helm you are guaranteed to experience sailing and your chosen cruising grounds in unique and exciting way.

FIRST MATE: Tom Hustler, New Zealand
Tom grew up in the City of Sails, Auckland, New Zealand. He was first pushed towards independence and adventure when his mum packed him off to boarding school as a teenager. After graduating, he was not quite ready to settle down to another four years of academia, so he set of for a year of traveling. He traveled through the U.K. and most of Europe, including Greece, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and France. Tom spent six months of his gap year working at the National YMCA centre for the U.K. on the South Coast of England, where water sports and other outdoor activities were the main focus.

When Tom returned to New Zealand after his year abroad, he still had itchy feet and was lured into the yachting scene. Sailing came naturally to him and he has turned this passion into a career. He is particularly keen about sailboat racing. He competed in the Sydney to Hobart Ocean Yacht Race in 2005, as well as numerous other ocean races while working aboard the legendary Kialoa III during his three year tenure aboard. Eight years later, he has logged over 90,000 miles at sea and is a step away from earning his 500 ton Masters license.

Tom has sailed in the Indian Ocean, the North and South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. He has also sailed the east and west coasts of the U.S. He is a certified Rescue Diver and spends as much time as he can at recreational Scuba in order to hone his underwater videography skills. He also enjoys constructing scale models of classic cars and ships.

Tom is far from done exploring and traveling the world. He hopes to one day visit and come to know many more parts of it, including India and Antarctica to name a couple. Tom is a fun-loving and skilled sailor. With Tom aboard Axia as First Mate, guests are guaranteed to feel relaxed, safe and well looked after topped off by a bit of fun and excitement!

ENGINEER: Nick Macnae, UK
Nick has been sailing since he was a young boy. After following a traditional path through the British education system and graduating from University, he decided what he really wanted was to make a full-time career and home in the maritime field. He dipped his toes in the water doing yacht delivery work and finally found himself in the Super Yacht industry as an Engineer.

Outside of Yachting, Nick has travelled extensively including Poland, Turkey and India. He enjoys spending his spare time outdoors – he’s currently learning to play golf.

Qualified as both an engineer and a Yachtsman Nick will help to ensure that your time aboard AXIA is enjoyable!

CHEF: Brigid Rafferty, American
Brigid developed a passion for cooking early on. As number eight out of nine siblings Brigid found herself helping her mom in the kitchen preparing meals for many from scratch.

While an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado her love of food and quality culinary experiences was heightened during a year abroad in Bordeaux. This is where Brigid says here pallet was born and the delicate way food is flavored gained her admiration. After ten years in corporate America as a financial consultant, she took the educational steps toward her career of choice; a Cordon Bleu chef.

Brigid has now been tearing it up in the galley for eight years and enjoys preparing a wide variety of cuisines including; fusion, Asian, Mediterranean, Italian and Greek just to name a few. But, what really makes her happy is cheffing for those who love to eat and appreciate fresh and flavorful cuisine. Her career in yachting has taken her throughout the Caribbean, Cayman Islands, Cuba, the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Mediterranean. Married to Captain Jon, Brigid is a competent sailor. When shes not in the galley she can be found on in or near the ocean. Brigid loves to scuba dive and snorkel. She also enjoys hiking and loves experiencing different cultures and languages. While onboard S/Y Axia Brigid is a sure bet on decadence, flavor and variety in your dining experience.
Download Brigid’s sample menus – Flavors from the Galley.

SENIOR STEWARDESS: Kristin Brock, Rhode Island, USA
Kristi has spent most of her life in Rhode Island where there are more than 400 miles of coastline and over 100 beaches. Needless to say, she was a bit of a water baby. She was raised in Narragansett, not far from Newport – the “Sailing Capital of the World”, and attended the University of Rhode Island. During her senior year of college she caught the travel bug and enrolled in the Semester at Sea program. During her semester afloat, she sailed virtually around the world visiting 15 ports in 13 countries. The experiences she had during this time of her life are what drives her to seek new experiences today.

Most of Kristi’s jobs on the mainland have involved service on some level. She loves people, new experiences, the ocean and staying active – the sailing industry seemed the perfect fit to combine these attractions! Kristi has been at sea for a little over a year and still loves it. She is sure to bring a smile, a laugh and a great experience to you aboard AXIA.

STEWARDESS: Rachel Slade, England, UK
After completing a degree in Geography at Nottingham University Rachel has traveled the world pursuing a career on the water. Working as an assistant dinghy instructor for Sunsail in Turkey, and later in Antigua, furthered her passion for sailing which grew to include a keen enjoyment of windsurfing and kite surfing. As long as Rachel is in, on or under the water she is sure to be happy.

Eager to continue leading an active and adventurous lifestyle and to expand her travels Rachel progressed from dinghy sailing into the super yacht industry in 2008. She first joined the industry as delivery crew on a crossing of the Atlantic on S/Y Andromeda La Dea, a 154 Perini Navi. She was hooked. Before joining Axia’s team she was a stewardess on S/Y Savannah. With experience in the service industry and a love for sailing Rachel will make sure your time spent on S/Y Axia is extremely comfortable, enjoyable and good fun.