Kelly Bennett – A Distinguished Yachtsman

Kelly Bennett is a renowned and accomplished businessman, with a career holding positions at some of the most recognisable global organisations in industry and government. As a passionate outdoorsman and sailor, he has turned his professional successes into the creation of the perfect vessel for the next chapter in his life: exploration through single-handed offshore sailing. Bennett approached Rustler Yachts, to design, build and outfit the ideal boat for his future adventures and selected Raymarine to provide his marine electronics. Here is his story.

Bennett’s most recent position was serving as the Chief Marketing Officer for Netflix for seven years, orchestrating two of the company’s defining accomplishments: becoming the world’s foremost streaming entertainment service and pivoting strategically to the creation of original content. During Bennett’s tenure, the company grew from 26 million subscribers, mostly in the United States, to 139 million subscribers in 192 countries. Bennett was regularly recognised by major media outlets as one of the most influential and innovative marketers in the world.

Prior to Netflix, Bennett rose within the Warner Bros Entertainment Group of companies. He directed new media and interactive marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa while based in London before moving to Hollywood to lead Worldwide Interactive Marketing, where he headed up global campaigns for franchises such as “Harry Potter”, “The Dark Knight” and “Sherlock Holmes”. Bennett also served as a digital media advisor to President Obama and the White House Communications team in 2015. Bennett is currently the Deputy Chairman of Zalando, Europe’s largest fashion retailer and is an executive advisor to the leadership teams at Spotify, Xbox and the co-founders of Nubank.

An avid outdoorsman, Bennett spends his time trail running, back country skiing and sailing the Pacific. He decided to pursue his dream of building a custom sailing yacht and after extensive research chose Rustler Yachts based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. The boat is a Rustler 42 model, and Bennett worked with the yard to create many bespoke features and finishes. He chose Raymarine for his marine electronics as a leader in marine navigation and for its proven reliability and ability to instil confidence. His intention is to use the vessel for solo adventure sailing. The boat launched in August 2024.

“I selected Rustler because they had a reputation in the sailing community of building beautiful boats that are extremely seaworthy and safe and capable of going anywhere in that I want to go,” said Bennett. “When I went shopping for my boat, I visited all of the main manufacturers in Europe and around the world and Rustler was the one that embraced my idea of building a semi-custom boat. In the almost two years I went through the process of building this boat, I got to know the people behind it including the engineers, woodworkers and all the folks involved. It was a really great experience for me.”

Rustler Yachts is renowned for quality, service and value. The company is passionate about the yachts they build, and the methods and materials used to build them. Every one of their boats is hand-built – superlative quality is found from every curve, surface and detail. Built for real-life cruising, all Rustler designs prioritize comfort and safety at sea within inspiring and attractive designs.

“So, for me, sailing is seeing the world at a walking pace,” continued Bennett. “Even on a good day, a sailboat will travel between five and ten knots. I think you really feel the size and scale of our planet when you travel at that speed. I also love to be outdoors and feel the power of the wind pushing me anywhere I want to go. It sort of feels like it was meant to be. I do most of my sailing single-handed, so having a robust and reliable autopilot is essential for any solo sailor. We spec-ed out Raymarine for this boat and I can control the autopilot from down below or the cockpit. Really, the autopilot is my second crew member. I carry paper charts, as you should, but I rarely use them because the charts on the plotter are so accurate. I can plot waypoints to wherever I want to go, and I feel safe and confident.”

The Rustler philosophy for selecting outside suppliers is simply to use the very best components available to ensure the highest quality. It is this level of detail that guarantees the yachts are produced to the exact specification of the customer.

“We’ve worked with Raymarine all the time that I’ve been at Rustler,” said Nick Offord, co-owner and co-director of Rustler and twenty-year member of the team. “We’ve always found the service and the kit to be fantastic. Ninety-five percent of our clients choose Raymarine as an option on their boats and it’s been wonderful working with them all this time. Long may it last into the future.”

At Rustler, the team is passionate about the yachts they build, and know that this passion is shared by their enthusiastic owners. They are proud that the company is personal and small with its own distinctive character, which is evident in their yachts. Each Rustler owner enjoys a close relationship with the team that builds their boat, beginning with the process of individually tailored design and build, to hand-over trials and maintenance throughout their ownership.

The customer journey throughout the creation of a Rustler should be enjoyable from the initial decision to the hand-over. Rustler designers like customers to sit in their new half-built boat and discuss the process with engineers and joiners to have a true understanding of the whole boat and confidence in their design. Each owner has different ideas and requests, which are incorporated to make their boat unique and enjoyable. In the hundreds of models built, no one boat has ever been specified the same.

“I chose Raymarine because when I was building this boat,” said Bennett. “I had to make many choices of products, and I wanted to go with the very best at every opportunity. For me, Raymarine is the best in the business at what they do because they build high quality products that instill confidence in me. The clarity of the products is exceptional, and I find them very easy to use. No matter where I am in the world, there will be someone there to help me if I need it. I know that when I’m at sea, across an ocean, Raymarine is going to look after me.”