Apr 13, 2021

Daniel Zilkha, CEO, Sabre Yachts recently sent the following newsletter to their customers and dealers.

The end of March brought a big change at Sabre and Back Cove: after almost 30 years, Bentley (Collins) will complete his retirement, and, while remaining on our Management Committee, will relinquish his day-to-day sales and marketing responsibilities to Lynn Beaudoin at Sabre Yachts and Jamie Blomquist at Back Cove Yachts and Jamie Governale.
 
My relationship with Bentley is, literally, as long as my tenure at Sabre: shortly after I had become Sabre’s CEO, our Sales Manager Brenda Collins (she was Brenda Amato then) told me that she would soon be resigning and moving south to be with one Bentley Collins, in South Carolina. As Brenda and I talked further, and as she described Bentley and his career in the boating industry, it felt obvious that I should meet him and see whether he would be a good addition to our then very small team at Sabre. We arranged a visit to Maine, at the end of which he joined the company. It was a decision that catapulted Sabre into a premier US builder, at first with sailboats and later adding two brands of powerboats. Bentley’s knowledge of the market enabled us to very successfully grow our market share and image, successfully introduce new models every year, and, with his unparalleled relationships in the industry, to create a dealer network, national and international, second to none. And as a spokesperson for Sabre, then for Back Cove Yachts, he projected the image of excellence and quality that our boats have come to signify in the marketplace. Bentley set the pace and the tone for our team to take into their capable hands the future growth of our brands.
 
We enjoyed some wonderful times along the way: an efficient yet relaxed working relationship at Sabre (we always joked that we made our best decisions over a BLT lunch at our local diner); being able to communicate in French (when needed for confidentiality and sometimes just for showing off); to sharing newly discovered restaurants in Portland or reminiscing of old haunts in Montreal. 
 
The French novelist Victor Hugo wrote that “melancholy is the happiness of being sad”. That this chapter now closes truly brings a tinge of sadness, but knowing that our paths will continue to cross, remotely at monthly meetings but in person during Maine summers, is the offsetting happiness. Thank you, Bentley, for all you did, for all you contributed, for all your help and counsel. And happy (partial) retirement!
 
All the Best,
Daniel Zilkha
CEO, Sabre Yachts