Speaking with Bianca Denham, Ray White Marine CEO Brock Rodwell shared insights into the unique world he operates in — one that spans continents, custom vessels, and clients with global tastes.
“It’s a bit different to property because boats can be moved,” Brock said. “So yeah, it is a bit of sort of gypsy living because you go where the boats are and usually they’re quite nice destinations as well.”
Ray White Marine’s origins lie in brokerage — the resale of pre-owned boats — and auctions, which Brock helped pioneer in the luxury vessel space.
“We started the business with brokerage, which is secondhand and also auctions. So luxury vessel auctions. Covid stalled that for a little bit and we’ve ramped that back up recently.”
In the past six years, the business has expanded to include exclusive distribution rights for a number of high-end brands, and the company’s activity isn’t confined to Australian waters.
Brock and his team source and sell vessels worldwide.
“We actually go and source the boats from destinations like the Mediterranean, Miami, the Bahamas, so Southeast Asia as well,” he said.
“There’s not many corners of the globe where we haven’t been to source the boats.
“Our median price, it typically ranges from $600,000 to about $1.2 million …. but we’ve sold boats in excess of 50 million as well.
When asked where the true heart of the yachting world lies, Brock narrowed it down: “It’s a two-headed race between basically the Mediterranean and Florida.
Registrations wise, it’s probably Florida. The Americans love to spend, as we know.”
A business built from scratch
Brock’s path into the industry started early. Born in Adelaide, he moved to the Gold Coast with his family at age nine — a move that sparked a lifelong affinity with the water.
“We owned a marina up on the Gold Coast and had another new boat brand at the time, but I ended up going overseas and working on the boats for quite some time around the south of France and Monaco,” he said.
He later worked in advertising before launching Ray White Marine Sydney at the age of just 23.
“I sort of wanted to do something a bit more entrepreneurial, and be my own boss. So I took a bit of a leap of faith and that’s how we kicked off Ray White Marine Sydney, which I can’t believe it’s over 10 years ago now. I just got the LinkedIn reminder the other day and it’s absolutely flown.”
Those early years were far from smooth sailing.
“It was a risk for sure because we were actually in a down market when we started,” he recalled. “It was a lot of hustling. It was getting kicked off marinas where other brokers were, letterbox dropping going for runs in the morning.”
He also had to fight off early scepticism: “Everyone sort of said what do Ray White know about boats, to be honest.”
Auctions on water
Brock helped adapt Ray White’s auction model — long trusted in real estate — for the marine market.
“It was a different method that only lesser tier vessels, like houseboats, tinnies, jet skis, like high volume assets would go under the hammer. So we really saw a gap that luxury boats could be auctioned under the hammer.”
Clearance rates sit at around 80%, with campaigns lasting 30 days and five-day settlements standard.
The day-to-day and what lies beneath
Now as CEO, Brock’s role is less about sales and more about strategy and a recent merger with Ahoy Club has expanded Ray White Marine’s presence in charter and management.
“It’s probably the closest to like a Flight Centre operation where you’ve got dedicated brokers booking your charter, your itinerary, and everything’s quite automated.”
With global operations come long hours, rapid travel, and logistical juggling — often overlooked by outsiders.
“There can be some misconceptions with how easy the job can be. We often use the phrase, it’s not all sun pads and rosé because that’s usually what’s portrayed,” he said.
“You can get 98% of the deal done and then you can get a bad survey report and the deal’s off… There’s a lot of highs and lows. And there’s peaks and troughs as well. You can have a good month and then a bad month.”
