Capt. Shelley Morton holds a USCG 100-Ton License and has packed a lot of boating into her young life. Shelley's love of the ocean began as a child and has resulted in many years of diving and boating both on the East and West coasts of the US and throughout the Caribbean. She moved to Southern Florida in 2018 from Colorado to be a part of the yachting community, and has done so in a big way. She and her partner purchased a 40’ sailing catamaran and cruised around Southern Florida and the Bahamas for over 3 years, living aboard with their labradoodle in tow.

Capt. Shelley is passionate about living the boating lifestyle and has made a career out of it. In addition to being a USCG Licensed Captain, she holds a Florida Yacht Broker License as well. When not testing and inspecting boats for BoatTEST, she can be founding haunting boatyards looking for her next liveaboard vessel, which she says will most likely be a 55’ powerboat.

Capt. Gregg Clark holds a USCG 100-Ton Master / 200-Ton Mate license with sailing and towing endorsements. He has over 3,000 documented days of sea service. He currently owns a 56’ Vicem, a 40’ racing sailboat and a 17’ Mako. Capt. Gregg has powered and sailed over 50,000 miles offshore and has raced in many of the world’s premiere distance sailboat races. He is a graduate of Purdue University with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Business from the Krannert School. He has captained motor yachts up to 120’, sailboats up to 100’ and is active teaching both teenagers and adults boat handling skills. He splits his time between Greenwich, CT; Newport, RI and Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Capt. Kelly has a USCG 500-Ton license and has captained vessels up to 160’ (49 m) and is well-known in the megayacht and superyacht world. She is currently the Captain of a 106’ (32 m) megayacht which ranges from the Great Lakes to the Caribbean. She has a B.S. and an M.S. in chemistry and literally knows each item of equipment from the bilge to the mast head. She is certified to teach basic safety and firefighting, and is also a certified emergency 1st responder. Capt. Kelly is also active in the marine industry having been a charter captain, a yacht manager, as well as being in charge of new builds and refits of large yachts. She is also a columnist for the professional captains’ trade magazine Dockwalk.

Capt. Trip Smith recently obtained his USCG 100-Ton license and joined BoatTEST as a testing Captain. With 22 years of experience navigating various types of boats, such as center consoles, runabouts, wake boats, small cruisers, and luxury yachts, he has honed his skills. He now owns a used 22’ C-Dory, which he bought using his earnings from YouTube. At 36 years old, he is living the dream of escaping the typical 9 to 5 job and has become a popular boat adventure video creator with 73,000 YouTube subscribers. Capt. Trip Smith's expertise is evident in his 434 videos, where he shares his experiences spearfishing, collecting scallops, cooking fresh grouper on his boat’s grill, and planning his next adventure. In his most recent videos, he showcases operating a fireworks barge and delivering a 70 Bering offshore expedition.

Capt. Trip has an impressive background as a firefighter, outboard engine mechanic, boat rigger, fiberglass repair and restoration expert, and kayak safety teacher. Most importantly, he brings an irrepressible sense of good cheer, a passionate love for boating, and an infectious enthusiasm for life to the BoatTEST team.

Eric Brandon is well-known to saltwater anglers in south Florida as host for the last 17 years of the “Weekly Fisherman Show” every Saturday morning which is a “must-hear” program for anyone going fishing offshore. A life-long boater (starting at age 8), Eric has owned boats all his life and has gained a keen appreciation of what boat owners and boat buyers need to know. Eric served in the U.S. military where he debuted as an Army radio broadcaster and found his calling. Upon discharge he quickly became a top professional national on-air broadcaster.

For the past 15 years he has also worked in the boat industry getting to know boats inside, working for some of the most popular brands on the market. When working with boat buyers he draws on a lifetime of boating experience to guide boat buyers to the most appropriate boats for their specific applications.

Captain Justin Qvarnstrom, holds a 100-ton USCG captain and has over 18 years of experience in the boating industry working with owners and boat builders. He is also a boat broker and consultant to boat buyers. Most recently in his career he worked for a major premium-boat manufacturer to train and teach the fine points of boat operation and boat usage to some of their customers. Because of this experience, he brings a wealth of not only boat knowledge, but also insight into what new and used boat buyers need to know.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of the BoatTEST team after years of seeing its reviews,” Capt. Justin said. “Most of the boat buyers I work with are very familiar with Boat EST, and many cases it was influential in their buying decision.”
“My passion for the yachting industry runs deep, and my goal is to provide unparalleled insight and support to clients looking to embark on the journey of luxury day boating or motor yachting. Having specialized knowledge in top-tier marine equipment including Mercury, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda outboard engines, as well as inboard and sterndrive engines both gas and diesel, I can offer guidance beyond the normal point-and-see video walkthroughs. Because I have used most of the equipment being put on modern powerboats, I know the advantages and disadvantages of most equipment and gear. I look forward to providing valuable suggestions to guide boat buyers towards the best choices for an excellent boating experience.”

Barry Thompson lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and is BoatTEST’s man on the other side of the world. Barry and his good mate Glen Urquhart are the only Kiwis to have won a UIM World Powerboat Championship, winning the title in Guernsey in 1986. While Barry is not one of our younger boat testers, he is certainly one of the most experienced boat handlers and has seen it all.

In 2009, he was initiated into the New Zealand Boat Show’s Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the sport. For more than 50 years, Barry has tested hundreds of boats for boating magazines he either worked for or started and is thoroughly comfortable with all types from small runabouts to large luxury motoryachts. Nevertheless, his heart has always been with offshore powerboat racing, even though he nearly died in one during an accident years ago. Barry will be testing boats along the Pacific Rim for BoatTEST.

Keep an eye out for the new team at BoatTEST because they will be making videos and writing reports to help with your boat and equipment buying.

Frank Sargeant, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Boating and Sailing along with nine other books, is a former charterboat skipper and long-time outdoors editor of the Tampa Tribune, where he founded the Frank Sargeant Outdoors Expo, Florida’s largest outdoors show for more than 20 years. He is also former editor of SEA Magazine, former boating editor of Bassmaster, retired senior editor of Florida Sportsman and former contributing editor of Boating Magazine. His writing has won more than 60 national awards, including the 2022 Traver Award, one of the nation’s top fly fishing awards. Sargeant earned his B.A. and M.A. at Ohio University, and was an English teacher before becoming a full-time writer. He now lives on Lake Guntersville in northern Alabama, where he continues his life-long passion of fishing.

Alistair's water journey began with a childhood shipwreck in the Irish Sea. He then traveled the world working on fishboats and entered the seafood business, which made him realize the importance of sustainable fisheries management. Growing up by the Mediterranean, he learned to sail and build boats. Alistair is a bilingual writer, editor, and translator of nautical books. He also does weekly research reports for BoatTEST. In his free time, he races a Farr 40 in Acapulco Bay, which was the site of the 1968 Olympic yacht racing events where the U.S. won two gold medals.

Capt. Ken Kreisler is a well-known figure in the marine industry, with extensive experience testing boats for major boating magazines. He holds the USCG 100-Ton License for 40 years and has served as a delivery and charter fishboat captain. As the project manager for two small passenger ferry catamarans, he meticulously oversaw their design, engineering, and construction to meet stringent USCG build standards.

Capt. Ken is an accomplished writer, having received several BWI awards and the John Burroughs Association certificate of commendation for his children's book, "NATURE SPY," published by Macmillan. He resides with his family on the Shrewsbury River in Monmouth Beach, NJ, where he enjoys boating on his 24-foot Grady White Explorer.

Kelly comes to us from outside the boating industry and brings a breath of fresh air, new perspectives, and ideas to our 23-year-old company. She is a veteran of B2B digital media, operations, marketing & management. She comes to Boat TEST with 15 years of experience with the Laser Institute of America where she was Director of Marketing and Sales. There, she worked with nearly 100 clients to promote their businesses to both the wider laser industry, but also to consumers.Her attention to detail and professionalism makes her an important asset to BoatTEST’s growing staff.

Justine is the CFO of BoatTEST.com, overseeing various aspects of the business. With BoatTEST.com since 2001, she has held roles such as Managing Editor and Director of Video Productions. Coming from a boating family, Justine has a rich background in cruising and sailing. Her boating journey started at a young age, sailing an Opti in Long Island Sound. As an avid boater, she has explored numerous locations from the Caribbean to New England, Nova Scotia, and the Inside Passage of Alaska. Currently, she owns a 62' tug boat named the Wallace Foss, adding to her previous ownership of a 19' Grady-White and a 22' Regal.

Jaclyn is a veteran BoatTEST employee and content manager and production coordinator, where she plans and formats the daily newsletter and keeps the newsletter going out on time. When not wrangling reports and articles she handles numerous special projects. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Manhattan College. When she can get away, she enjoys spending time with her family in Vermont.

Danette manages various projects for BoatTEST and Sovereign Boat Club, including all the daily administrative tasks for its boat owners and members. Experienced in the marine industry, Danette previously held positions at The Moorings & Sunsail and Dream Yacht Charter.

An avid boater and sailor herself, she and her husband currently own a 43’ sailboat that they cruise regularly.

Dannette has 20+ years experience working with data, from apparel with Fanatics Inc to the public education system and now boating. Thanks to Dannette’s good work, BoatTEST newsletter readers get a potpourri of content each day ranging from new boat introductions, how to videos, and seamanship content from our 15 partners. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son and family in Florida.

Dan joined the BoatTEST team as a video editor in 2005 and helped the company move from the early days of streaming videos and low bit rates, through numerous upgrades of encoding video protocols as this new streaming technology went through its growing pains. All along the way, Dan helped helped BoatTEST produce quality video well suited for increased Internet bandwidth. Dan is also one of BoatTEST's primary cinematographers. He enjoys the creative process of working with our Captains to carefully craft compelling video content and capture boat brands in creative and interesting ways. Dan’s love for boating began in high school while maintaining an 18' Boston Whaler center console as a summer job and enjoying boating trips on the Sound.

Kurt Rotter is a professional commercial videographer and is well know in professional circles for his body of work and numerous awards. Kurt has shot hundreds of BoatTESTs video tests over the last 15 years, and for many years was BoatTEST’s only videographer. Currently, in addition to shooting boats tests, he is also working on Boat TEST’s Boating Course, adding a new lesson every couple of weeks. When not flying around the country and shooting boats, he fishes and hunts in his home state of Minnesota. He owns a bass boat that he used for multispecies fishing as well as bass.

When not working on her film projects, Alex helps with creating new video content for BoatTEST like: BoatTALKS, BoatTEST reports, breathing new life to our tests and producing videos at the boat shows. As a director and producer her films have been on Netflix, Amazon, PBS and studied film at NYU, and graduated from Cal Arts. From a young age she has sailed and cruised around with family, exploring the inside passage, the Caribbean, Maine, Nova Scotia and most recently traveled to the Antarctic on a NYYC cruise. She dreams of owning a Grand Banks and vintage Riva.

Jeff is a 51-year veteran of the boating industry, and over the years has been an editor or publisher of 7 major boating magazines in America, including Boating, Yachting, Motor Boating, The Skipper, Motorboat, and Motoryacht International. He was the founder of Power and Motoryacht and was co-founder of BoatTEST.com, where he is now the CEO. Recently Hammond started Sovereign Boat Club, a limited membership club with premium boats.

Jeff has owned a number of boats over his career ranging from a 15’ sailboat to a 92’ motoryacht, with fishing and cruising boats in between from 19’ to 55’. He has sailed, raced and cruised all over the world in both sail and powerboats. He has written three books on boating, including one on the America’s Cup. In 2020, he founded and created Sovereign Boat Club, a premium boat club that is affordable and exclusive. He currently lives in Newport, Rhode Island and is a member of the New York Yacht Club.