Oh captain, my captain: Who’s running things below deck?

For those who don’t know, Below Deck is a Bravo Network series that follows the captain and crew on a luxury superyacht, as they attempt to serve their demanding charter guests and navigate living with each other. Each season features a largely new crew, and each episode a new set of guests.

Below Deck has been such a success for Bravo that not only have they kept the series going for 9 seasons, but they’ve also spun the show off into four other series (Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Below Deck Down Under and the soon-to-be-released Below Deck Adventure). While the guests and the crews may change, there’s one thing (technically four) that doesn't change: The captains!

In this article, we’ll explore who they are and how they got to the helm of their respective vessels.

Captain Lee Rosbach – Below Deck (main series)

To begin with, let’s take a look at the career of fan-favourite and Below Deck veteran, Lee Rosbach AKA Captain Lee!

Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Stud of The Sea’, Captain Lee has been sailing the seven seas since obtaining his captain’s licence at 35 in 1984. But before his great love affair with the sea began, Captain Lee was actually working in the restaurant industry. It wasn’t until he was invited to be a mate on a sailboat delivery for some extra cash that he discovered his passion for life on the water.

While he was seasick during his first time on a yacht, Captain Lee has clearly since gotten over it. With over two whole decades of experience in the yachting industry, Rosbach has captained over a dozen superyachts in his career.

When you think about what a staple Captain Lee is on Below Deck, it’s hard to believe that he wasn't actually supposed to be the captain of the series’ first season. According to the man himself, season one first officer Aleks Taldykin was originally intended to be captain. When the yacht owners expressed discomfort with Taldykin being captain, Rosbach was asked to stand in, and the rest is history.

Captain Sandy Yawn – Below Deck Mediterranean

Captain Sandy Yawn – Below Deck Mediterranean While Captain Lee and his crew were off traversing the high seas, Bravo was so impressed with the performance of Below Deck that they spun it off into two other shows: Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck Sailing Yacht. To start with, let’s meet the first captain of Below Deck Mediterranean.

With over 30 years of experience under his belt, Below Deck Med’s first captain, Mark Howard, was one of the most experienced captains across Below Deck and all its spin-offs. Prior to joining the BDM cast, he had spent years travelling the world on both private and chartered vessels and enjoyed flying helicopters recreationally in his free time. He departed the series after the first season for a life away from the cameras. Unfortunately, Captain Mark Howard passed away in October 2021 from Cardiovascular disease.

After Captain Mark’s departure from the show, Below Deck Mediterranean found a new captain in the form of Sandy Yawn, who has gone on to establish herself as a beloved member of the cast.

Captain Sandy is Below Deck’s first female captain and she views this as a strength, using her own experiences to inspire the other young women she comes into contact with. While Captain Sandy embraces being a woman in the yachting industry, she also makes sure that her crew knows she is their leader and NOT their mother. While she believes in fostering a supportive, friendly and compassionate working environment, Captain Sandy stresses the importance of setting boundaries and letting her crew know she's in charge from the beginning, to prevent anyone from crossing the line later. She is respected by viewers and her crew alike, but they also acknowledge her sternness and leadership skills – her nickname is “Bada** Captain”.

Growing up in Florida, Yawn spent a lot of time in the water and started cleaning boats for extra cash at the age of 13. However, that’s not when she got into the yachting industry. In fact, it was a whopping 11 years later when she was 24 that Yawn began her voyage into the deep. While she didn't initially intend to become a yacht captain, she noticed that the first captain she worked for wasn’t great at their job and she believed that she could do better.

After impressing the owner of a 20-metre (67-foot) yacht, she was hired and given the chance to prove herself when the yacht owner paid for her to get her captain’s licence. Yawn stayed and worked for that yacht owner for almost ten years before Bravo contacted her about becoming the captain of Below Deck Mediterranean’s second season.

Captain Glenn Shephard – Below Deck Sailing Yacht

Below Deck’s other spin-off series, Below Deck Sailing Yacht is helmed by Captain Glenn Shephard. While Below Deck Sailing Yacht has only been around since 2020, Captain Glenn is another seasoned veteran of the yachting industry, with over 20 years of experience (12 of them spent as a captain).

Shephard has always felt a desire to travel the world, so when he saw an ad for work onboard a 15-metre (50-foot) sailboat, he couldn't help but apply. After that, he never looked back. Considering the nature of this particular Below Deck spin-off, it shouldn’t surprise readers to learn that Captain Glenn actually prefers to captain sailing yachts over the regular motorised versions. He finds them more fun, more physical and more romantic than traditional yachts.

As the latest member of the Below Deck captains club, it’s nice to hear that Shephard reached out to fan favourites Captain Sandy and Captain Lee for advice on how to behave during the show. Seasoned sea vets that they are, they gave him some words of wisdom which can be boiled down to: Be yourself. Considering how well that philosophy has worked for both of them (and Shephard since Below Deck Sailing Yacht started in 2020), it seems like pretty good advice to follow for any future Below Deck captains.

Captain Jason Chambers – Below Deck Down Under

With Below Deck Down Under having launched in March 2022, the ‘be yourself’ advice will likely prove especially helpful to new captain Jason Chambers. Chambers has over 20 years of yachting industry experience, and is the youngest captain to get Below Deck in the history of the whole series! Just to top it off, Captain James is already attracting attention for his dashing good looks.

Having earned the nickname ‘Captain Cutie’, the promotional footage shows that Captain Jason’s good looks are not lost on his crew members, either. It sets up what promises to be yet another season of the highly entertaining nautical drama.

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