Yacht Story was written in May 2021 in Antwerp, Belgium, encouraged by the need for a professional Partner for yacht charter services in the Benelux. The increasing demand of travelling and private escapes on a yacht organised from A to Z by a single contact person was a key factor in creating this boutique charter company with a personal approach. 

Jill Zwaans is the proud founder of Yacht Story, and with over 20 years of experience in the yacht charter business, she has the perfect idea of what clients desire when chartering a yacht, or chartering out their yachts. The passion for yachting yachting runs in the family as her grandfather, Jan Zwaans, built the first Carlo Riva yacht in 1973. In 1991, Jill’’s father bought his first sailing yacht where she spent every holiday sailing. After receiving all of her sailing certificates, Jill became a sailing instructor herself, and is still active in Snipe sailing and Superyacht regattas. Jill started her career as charter assistant in Monaco, attending every Monaco Yacht Show. After that, she met the director of a great shipyard in Australia and was appointed to Sales and Marketing, travelling between Australia, America and Europe. Spending a summer in Sardinia for the dealer of the shipyard she started to focus on yacht chartering with much success and continued her business in St. Jean Cap Ferrat and London.

In 2010 she moved back to Belgium where she developed the charter business in this part of the world for yachts based in many locations. Armed with great local knowledge and a fleet of 5 yachts based in the area, Yacht story is the specialist in charters in the Maldives. Other yachts in the Yacht Story Fleet are spread between the Mediterranean and Caribbean, Indonesia, Northern Europe, Cabo Verde and South Pacific(French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, etc.)