Our cadre of marine professionals continues to grow as we welcome our newest members to the team. Fresh off the plane are Raymond and Sonya, latest imports from the Taiwan boating scene.

Back in 2012, Raymond and Sonja met while both working for Hudson Yacht & Marine in Xiamen, China. At the time, Sonja was a Project Leader for the company and Raymond started the rigging department and has done 20+ high performance sailing boats during his time at Hudson Yacht & Marine. In 2015 they moved to South Africa for a bit, before deciding to pack up again, heading to Taipei.

During their second tour in Taiwan, Sonja grew even more familiar with the yachting industry by helping setup various training courses, and assisting with one of the local yacht clubs. Raymond seized the opportunity to start his own company, Rope Monkeys, specializing in rigging. It was the first rigging company in Taiwan.

So how did these two find themselves in our beautiful neck of the woods? As it turns out, Raymond built the rigging for Cheekee Monkee, a full carbon 45ft racing and cruising catamaran owned by Kim Alfreds and based out of Vancouver. Kim knows Cooper, and Cooper knows Kim, who recommend we meet this master rigger. One thing led to another, and the opportunity was perfect for Raymond and Sonja to make the move to BC.

We’re excited to see what the future holds as both bring a ton of professional experience and love of boating to Cooper Boating and the NW Yacht Group. We’re sure there will be a fair bit of “monkey business” mixed in here and there!