Larry Rutter – Founding Partner & Yacht Broker
Larry began his career in yachting in 1966 where he sailed for the first time as cook aboard an 88′ ketch called The Tyger. (He says he knew how to fry an egg, and so he was hired). The vessel belonged to Sir Myles Wyatt, Admiral of the UK’s Royal Ocean Racing Club. Larry’s first trip to sea was sailing from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Southampton , England, where a few days out from Las Palmas, they ran into seas recorded in excess of 80′ and winds in excess of 100 mph. Throughout this introduction to sailing, Larry was still able to cook for the owners and crew, even though Sir Myles, and Larry, were the only ones able to eat.
Throughout that summer, The Tyger cruised the North Sea, Irish Sea and English Channel, including being the finish line off Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, for the Admiral’s Cup, where Larry will admit to being on watch in the middle of the night and not noticing the first place finisher cross the line. Consequently, race aficionados will be sorry to note that the time recorded that year was a “best guess”.
From there, Larry joined a motor yacht, The McOwl, heading for the Mediterranean. He joined as chef, something he knew he didn’t really qualify for. Several adventures later he left the McOwl and joined The Mathilde, a yacht based in Monaco, as deck hand. There Larry stayed until the summer of 1967 when he joined the Forbes’ Magazine yacht, The Highlander, and crossed the Atlantic headed for New York where Larry eventually became First Mate.
In 1969, Larry left yachting as a profession and began a career in high tech where he eventually learned as much as he could about the internet and current trends toward social media. During his career ashore, Larry rose through the ranks to become Global Sales Director for a Fortune 200 company. He has managed sales forces on a global, national and local level carrying revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Never leaving boating behind (who ever really leaves?), Larry raced aboard, Ensigns, J-30’s, Tartan 30’s, Swan 44’s, and is currently racing aboard a Sea Sprite. Larry is a qualified OUPV Captain, and finally came back to yachting as a profession a few years ago as a broker and now as owner/partner of Rudders & Moorings Yacht Sales.
Needless to say, Larry’s boating experience includes many adventures, far too numerous to mention here. Drop him a line – he’s always happy to tell a story (or two).