Captain Grant du Preez is just the guy to keep up with the energetic owner on Dunya Yachts’ 153ft custom build.
It may be surprising to hear that the captain of a 153ft yacht is only 30, but once you meet Grant Du Preez things start to make a bit more sense. The Durban, South Africa, native has been training for this his whole life.
“My dad had several fishing boats growing up,” he says. “I was exposed to the ocean since I was a kid, so this has been a great career path for me.”
Grant was a lifeguard in his youth, no joke when you consider that Durban is a stone’s throw from the Agulhas Current, one of the roughest stretches of water on earth. He often competed in lifesaving contests, including the South African championships, and believes the endurance events helped him not only build his physique and an understanding of the life-and-death nature of the sea, but also to hone what he calls “a calloused mind.” If that phrase sounds familiar, it’s because it is a common refrain of the US Navy Seal turned motivational speaker David Goggins, of whom Grant is a devotee.
“During Covid-19 I headed to the Pyrenees for 37 days,” the captain says. “I brought [Goggins’ book] Can’t Hurt Me and I couldn’t read it for more than 10 minutes. I had to put it down and go for a run. For me it’s all about pushing past barriers of mental strength.”
It’s a mindset Grant brings to his work. “I love to push the team and lead by example.”
The captain’s path in yachting has been partially accelerated by the fact that he has hopped around a lot. His résumé is filled with shorter stints on a variety of vessels. He used the time to meet as many people as he could and learn as much about the industry as possible. One person he credits as being a boon for this career is Captain Dave Andrews, who he met while working as a bosun on the 168ft Palmer Johnson Helios 2. “Dave has been such an inspiration in my career,” says Grant. “He let me handle the sticks, and that’s when I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted my certifications and my captaincy and to follow the same steps he did.”
In November of 2023, Grant received a call regarding King Benji, and jumped at the chance to be a captain. “I stayed at a hotel with the team during the build process,” he remembers. “By the time she launched we knew the boat really well, and we had all our checklists and safety procedures in place. We were ready.”
Grant says he likes working on King Benji because the owner is just 43 and a hard-charger like himself. “He is go, go, go, all the time,” he says.
Unsurprisingly, a wealth of toys and tenders are a main thrust of the action. King Benji has a Nor-Tech 400 Supersport that does 75 knots with triple 400-horsepower Mercury Racing engines, launched and recovered via a large crane on the aft deck. Her (slightly) slower toys include: four jet skis, two Seabobs, two Fliteboards, a FunAir rock-climbing wall, FunAir slide and a FunAir golf island. There are also four sets of scuba-diving equipment and a 317-gallon gas tank that can fuel the Nor-Tech and jet skis. Uber-competitive Grant likes to point out that King Benji also has a jousting arena.
In the immediate future, Grant will be helming the yacht as she charters hard in her first few years. After that, itineraries are on the docket for far-flung ports in Alaska, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. “Going to off-the-beaten-track destinations is something I am extremely excited about,” says Grant. “I like to be constantly learning and seeing what else is out there. Having an owner like King Benji’s is wonderful.”
The owner is already thinking about going much bigger, to the tune of 420ft. “That is definitely something I’d like to be a part of in the future,” says Grant. And just like that, it’s on to the next boat, and the next challenge.