The yacht commission lawsuit isn't over. It just got bigger.

In this episode Maryline Bossar and Amanda Haley walk you through every free resource they've built for boat buyers and sellers, starting with a vetted, owner-reviewed Marine Directory of surveyors, insurance and finance contacts, delivery captains, riggers, canvas makers, divers, CPAs and charter managers, searchable by region. No charge, no obligation, and you don't have to work with us to use any of it.

Resource & Contacts

⬇️ Download and review the original complaint (YA MON EXPEDITIONS vs IYBA, 2024) and amended complaint (YA MON EXPEDITIONS, LLC, BLUEBERRY ENTERPRISES, LLC, PRIDE CONTRACTING, INC., and KIP LAMAR SNELL vs IYBA, 2026):

⏯️ The warning from Bob Allen to the yacht brokerage industry: (2018) https://youtu.be/n68wS0Iweao?si=v4wDvudtVOnHPcTa&t=1875
🔎 Commentary from Todd Lochner: Vessel Brokers are Not Real Estate Brokers
🔗 Learn more about our guest: Hannibal Travis, FIU Professor of Law
⚓️ Work with Current Yachts: 🛥️ Want to sell a boat? Visit our Seller Calculator to understand the service-based approach of listing your boat while protecting your equity: https://currentyachts.com/sell/calculator

👏🏻 Choose a yacht broker who cares as your buyer's broker. Current Yachts will defend your interest. Read more: https://currentyachts.com/buy
📅 Come find us at the boat shows: Annapolis, FLIBS, and TrawlerFest in September. RSVP links are on the events page: https://currentyachts.com/events

In this episode:

✔️ THE CASE IN ONE PARAGRAPH. A Sherman Act Section 1 antitrust class action filed February 29, 2024 against roughly twenty of the largest US yacht brokerages, along with the trade associations IYBA and YBAA and the MLS platform YATCO. The core allegations are that sellers were pushed to pay the buyer's broker, and that commissions were held at 10% through a co brokerage mandate and agreed splits. Alleged, and unproven.

✔️ WHY IT IS NOT OVER. The court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss on July 14, 2026 and gave the plaintiffs seven days to re-plead. The amended complaint docketed July 21, 2026 is not a tidy-up. The original ran 31 pages with one plaintiff and 16 defendants. The amended version runs 92 pages with four plaintiffs and roughly two dozen defendant entities.

✔️ WHO LEFT AND WHO ARRIVED. Boats Group and its private equity parent, the owners of YachtWorld, Boats.com and Boat Trader, were the centerpiece of the 2024 theory and are gone from the amended complaint entirely. S&J Yachts was dropped as a defendant, and its produced transaction data is now cited as evidence. Tournament Yacht Sales, the firm that sold the lead plaintiff's boat, is now referred to as an unnamed co conspirator rather than a defendant. Hannibal walks through why smaller players peel off in antitrust cases, and what an arbitration clause has to do with it. Going the other way: OneWater Marine, the restructured Denison entities, Fraser, MarineMax East, Worth Avenue, Burgess, Brewer, SYS, 26 North, Miles Yacht Group and Atlantic Yacht and Ship.

✔️ THE THEORY CHANGED. The 2024 complaint rested on a single mechanism built around control of the MLS platforms, essentially the yacht version of the residential real estate theory. The amended complaint adds a second and arguably sharper pillar: a co brokerage mandate combined with agreed 50/50 and 60/40 splits between houses. With Boats Group gone, the alleged hub of the conspiracy moves from a private equity owned listing platform to the industry's own trade associations and their standard documents.

✔️ THE CO-BROKERAGE MANDATE. To advertise on the largest MLS platform, at least 75% of a brokerage's listings have to be open to co brokerage. Amanda explains what that means in practice for a broker who wants to offer a seller something different, and why many brokers will not show a listing that is not open to co brokerage or that offers less than 5%.

✔️ THE EVIDENCE CHANGED TOO. The amended complaint opens by declaring that it does not rest on inference alone, and quotes video recorded association sessions, trade newsletters and emails produced under subpoena. We play the clips, including a warning delivered to the industry from an association stage seven years ago that it needed antitrust counsel.

✔️ WHAT ANTITRUST LAW ACTUALLY SAYS ABOUT THIS. Hannibal walks through the precedents that decide cases like this one. County bar associations in Virginia setting minimum fees for title work. A professional engineering association banning competitive bidding on the argument that cheap engineering is unsafe. Both went to the Supreme Court, both lost, and the reasoning is the same one at stake here: it is for the market, not the association, to decide the balance between price and quality. Then the doctrine running the other way, from the Colgate line of cases to Duty Free Americas v. Estee Lauder, on how much freedom a business has to simply decline to deal.

✔️ THE EUROPEAN BENCHMARK. The commission Hannibal found most interesting in the whole filing. In several European markets the structure is lower and flat fees are available. He also points at brokerage industries that already went through this: stock trades that used to cost a percentage of the transaction now cost a few dollars or nothing.

✔️ WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Each defendant decides whether to answer or move to dismiss. The plaintiffs decide whether to amend again. The judge can rule quickly or sit on the papers for a year or more, and can push the parties to mediate in the meantime. If claims survive, discovery can run for years. Hannibal's estimate for a potential trial: six months to six years or more. Under 5% of suits ever get there.

Who is Current Yachts?

We are a full service yacht brokerage company located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Annapolis, Maryland. Our licensed and bonded professional brokers assist yacht sellers and buyers every step of the way.
We are revolutionizing yacht sales by offering a transparent, service-based pricing model that puts yacht buyers and sellers first. How?
1️⃣ Our flat-rate selling expense replaces inflated yacht brokerage commissions. And the buyer-side commission (called co-brokerage) only gets paid if a co-broker is present.
2️⃣ Our buyer-broker representation agreement means our yacht buyers receive the unbiased guidance they need to protect their interests.
3️⃣ Our modern platform streamlines the listing intake process including an listing agreement you can generate and signed digitally within minutes. Our platform ensures real-time communication with a dedicated team and provides analytics for all parties.

🏁 The result? More transparent yacht sales, and faster, more efficient transactions.

We've set out to build a genuine community that offers exclusive insights and resources, empowering yacht owners and buyers alike.

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