My Present
Greetings seafarers! I’m Bob Leslie, Yacht Broker, CPYB. I have been a prior owner of N&J and I am now working out of the Newport office servicing my old clients and referrals.
My Past
I guess you can say I grew up on the water. I found my first boat abandoned on the Hampton River when he was 11 years old. It was a 10-foot dory that I fixed up and used for several years. I lived aboard my Allied Sea Wind Ketch for several years in the early 80s in Boston Harbor. I attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst in ‘69 and after graduation, did a brief stint in the Navy. I entered the boat business as a broker for Graves Yacht Yard in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1971.
In 1985, I bought the Massachusetts Northrop & Johnson office and have been with N&J ever since. I have been an industry leader throughout my 50 years as a broker. I was president of Yacht Architects and Brokers Association (now Yacht Brokers Association of America) and also served on the board of directors for six years. I was a member of the development design team that wrote the Certified Professional Yacht Broker exam which has become a national standard for the Brokerage Industry. I’m an active member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association and Yacht Brokers of America.
My Future
I plan to remain active in the brokerage field and continue to serve my clients, most of whom have become personal friends.
My Motto
I am not a salesman. My job as a broker is to find the best boat that my client wants for the best price possible. I don’t sell but rather advise and inform. When I research a yacht for a client, I try to dig deeper than the written listing, finding out as much about the boat's history, the seller's motives and anything comparable on the market and what comps have recently sold for. My aim is to bring added value to the client in the form of information.
My Outside-office Life
I am an active sailor and ocean racer, having competed in numerous Newport to Bermuda races, Marblehead, Halifax and SORC races in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I have been a lifelong member of the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead. I am also an active alpine ski racer competing in four different leagues in the Mt. Washington valley and have competed in USSA Masters regional championships. I am an avid cyclist averaging 125 miles a week in the summer months.
