Matt Rockman

HOME TOWN: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
AGE: 57
FAMILY: MARRIED WITH TWO DAUGHTERS
CURRENT YACHT: 30M CUSTOM FAROCEAN SEA RAES
HAPPY PLACE: “THE OUTSIDE BAR ON THE AFT DECK. IT’S GREAT JUST TO SIT THERE AND ENJOY A COCKTAIL WITH FRIENDS"

It’s a story that began in 2016, when Rockman spotted an advertisement for a South African built motor yacht with more than a little of the charm of a classic Feadship. Her pointed bow, elegant shear and low-profile superstructure all recall northern European design of the 1980s.“I fell for her straight away,” he says. “As I’ve got older, I’ve been drawn to things of a bygone era. What attracts me is a timeless look – like classic cars, classic yachts don’t date.”

“My yacht is 29 years old and built like a tank. She uses good materials and is designed to go to sea. The quality of the kit is amazing”

She was lying in the Netherlands under the name Viking Legacy when he found her, having been cruised for years in Scottish waters by shipping magnate Angus Sinclair. “I had a Moonen at the time and tried to buy this boat, but couldn’t agree terms with the vendor,” he says. “But my good mate Antony Catalano wanted a boat and I said, ‘Why don’t you have a go at this one?’”

So, in an odd twist, that’s just what happened. Catalano, who owns an exclusive Byron Bay restaurant and private hotel called Raes on Wategos, bought the boat and renamed her Sea Raes. In his ownership, she became a floating extension of the hotel, offering charters and round-the-bay dining tours for those in the know. But Rockman never took his eyes off her.

At the end of 2023, he had the opportunity to take joint ownership and just six months after that, he bought Catalano out. “She needed a lot of work, from paint and rust remediation to some mechanical work,” Rockman says. “Ant was done with investing in her, so I said at that point I’d take it on. She’s just had new teak decking as well as the full mechanical works.” I can feel him beaming down the phone.

This winter he undertook a second-stage refit to fit zero-speed stabilisers for greater comfort on board. “Doing the hull cuts, the fabricators just can’t believe how heavily this boat is built. It’s been a bigger engineering job to cut through the hull than they expected,” says Rockman with relish. “My yacht is 29 years old and built like a tank. She uses good materials and is designed to go to sea. The quality of the kit is amazing – from anchors to fi ttings – it’s proper, proper stuff .”

Part of that pedigree comes from her builder, Farocean of Cape Town, South Africa. The yard’s owner launched her in 1997 under the name Greybeard for his own use, shared with another prominent local family. Between them, they took her across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, Bahamas and the US East Coast, as well as through the Panama Canal. She also explored parts of the Baltic, proving her oceanic mettle many times over.

She remained close to her original state until Catalano bought her in 2019. Once delivered down under in 2021, he determined that some changes were necessary to adapt her to Australian conditions and yachting custom. “Sea Raes has had three structural elements added to her, explains Rockman.

“One is a swim platform, which is great for tenders, toys and accessing the sea. Then, he added a staircase between the sundeck and the aft deck – a lot of older yachts were designed with access only via the bridge. And we’ve had a hard bimini structure added on the sundeck, which we think is complementary, and definitely necessary for Australian yachting.”

They took care to use a yard that had experience of older motor yachts and would respect the original lines from Dutch maestro Pieter Beeldsnijder. “It’s very simple and inoff ensive,” says Rockman when I press him on the details. “It’s a nod to the Dutch designer – we haven’t done anything too leery or cute, such as painting it silver. We just kept her simple lines.”

As often happens between owners, the interior of Sea Raes has had a freshen up, too. There’s still timeless mahogany panelling and real teak underfoot, but Australian designer Tamsin Johnson has gone back to the source with snow-white upholstery and minimal black highlights. The overall effect is disarmingly calm.

Rockman makes good use of her and enjoys taking the helm himself occasionally, but admits that she is fi rst and foremost a charter boat. “I use her as a hotel in Sydney when I’m there on business because I live in Melbourne,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of business meetings on board, then I often have the family on too because Sydney harbour is just beautiful.

“Then again, I’ve definitely jumped off to take charters. She’s currently in the yard, and we’ll be heading up to the Whitsundays soon. I’m considering sending her to Fiji as well; that’s on the maybe list. I’m told that remote parts of Indonesia are fantastic, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. You need a skipper with local knowledge. I’ve also heard that Tasmania’s west coast is amazing.”

It’s time that Rockman may well have to spare. Although he’s still busy with various projects, he formally retired 17 years ago, at the age of 40. That was shortly after he stepped back from SEEK, the online jobs portal he helped to found and whose sales and marketing he drove relentlessly.

“You only need one aft table or sundeck sofa, and I’ve already got a comfortable owner’s cabin, so why go bigger?”

“When I went to start my career, my family had lost the family business through the property crash and too much leverage,” he tells me. “That was the impetus to start SEEK and do something diff erent. It was an incredible thing to build it from an idea into a $12 to $13 billion business and a global leader.”

“When I went to start my career, my family had lost the family business through the property crash and too much leverage,” he tells me. “That was the impetus to start SEEK and do something diff erent. It was an incredible thing to build it from an idea into a $12 to $13 billion business and a global leader.”

“As a kid, my father was one of the pioneers of the Australian scuba diving scene,” he says. “He dived with Henry Bource, who lost a leg to a great white shark and was one of four or fi ve greats of 1960s underwater photography. When I was a little boy, he took me out a lot on dive trips and I developed a love for being at sea.”

Australian waters are also unique in their limiting of the size of yachts that can access key cruising grounds. So, for example, there’s a 500GT limit in the Whitsunday Islands, with some places even stricter at 180GT. And Sydney Harbour’s hotspots are best accessed in shorter, shallowerdraught vessels.

“I could just about see myself in a 45- to 50-metre,” Rockman says. “Besides more costs, I’m not certain of the benefi ts.” Either way, it doesn’t sound as if he will ever part with his beloved Sea Raes. Built to the high standards of another era, he has found his ideal yacht, and it has become part of the family. “Sea Raes feels like a yacht that I could pass down to my kids – timeless, and with such amazing build quality. She is like an heirloom.”

First published in the November 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.