Laurence Thary

The art of hospitality at sea

by Caroline Sempé

Striving for excellence – The Academy Monaco’s objective and its founder Laurence Thary’s ambition. “I’ve always wanted to transmit values that tend to get lost – elegance, etiquette, savoir-faire...,” she confides. So, in September, Laurence launched the world’s only establishment offering yacht crews total immersion training in a palace, with operational and academic courses run by MOFs (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France) bringing hotel excellence to yachting. To provide impeccable onboard service, The Academy Monaco imparts the essential basics and high standards of a 5-star hotel by immersing students in the Château Saint-Martin & Spa or onboard a yacht in a series of modules from November to May. Table service, housekeeping, cooking and pâtisserie, an introduction to wine waiter’s duties and mixology... a rich programme that encourages you to cultivate your essential ‘palace attitude’.

The entrepreneur has been able to count on the support of one of the world’s most experienced yacht brokers, Burgess Yacht CEO Jonathan Beckett, who is acting as her ambassador for this ambitious project. Laurence’s new adventure follows in the wake of 

a career linked to the sea. After ten years as a shipping agent, she founded Logic Yachting Solutions in 2017, a Monaco-based entity offering management and support services to yachting professionals. Where does this love of the high seas come from?  “My grandfather founded Setaf Saget, an international shipping company. 

He would take us from Sainte-Maxime harbour to the Iles de Porquerolles on his boat, which seemed huge to me back then. We always went by the harbour master’s office on the way back to say hello to the harbour masters.”