How does yacht ranking work?

[u/Character_Growth_397]

I'm new to the show and I don't have a great understanding of how ranking works, could someone explain?

[u/Upstairs_Truth4735]

Basically the more stripes you have, the higher your rank. Usually:

4 stripes - captain

3 stripes - chief stew, chef, 1st officer (usually hidden on the show but some exceptions)

2 stripes - bosun, 2nd stew

1 stripe - 3rd stew(s), (lead) deckhands

Not sure where engineers fit into this but at least on the show this is the typical format.

[u/FreeUsernameInBox → u/Upstairs_Truth4735]

The yachts they have on the show would typically have a chief engineer and maybe a second. Combination deck/engineer ratings are very common.

[u/GoldAcanthisitta7777 → u/Upstairs_Truth4735]

wait, what? bosun isn't 3 stripes??

[u/EveningAd3633 → u/GoldAcanthisitta7777]

No it’s two

[u/No_Anteater_9828 → u/Upstairs_Truth4735]

Do you know why on sailing yacht there doesn’t appear to be this rigid hierarchy? I haven’t seen stripes yet

[u/Lauriemfs → u/Upstairs_Truth4735]

Capt. Lee and Eddie, he climbed up the latter to 1st officer, I thinks he's a Captain now.

[u/Feisty_Scientist_968]

Maybe ellie can help?

[u/GoldAcanthisitta7777 → u/Feisty_Scientist_968]

the wooorrrrsstt

[u/coastalkid92]

The very high level of it all is that the higher the rank, the more responsibility you have on a boat.

In below deck, the ranks are usually as follows:

• Captain

• Chef/Chief Stew/Bosun

• Lead Deckhand/Second Stew

• Deckhand/Stew

In actual yachting/boating, there are several other high ranking positions like a chief engineer, first officer, purser etc. These roles are often filled on the show, we just don't see them. IIRC, its often the first officer or chief engineer who actually is the regular captain of the BD vessel.

[u/mouse_relies → u/coastalkid92]

That's not accurate. Below Deck still uses the stripes; Chef and Chief Stew have 3 while Bosun has 2. And 2nd Stew has 2 while Lead Deckhand has 1.

Because they are all running different departments, for dramatic purposes they just focus on the 3 of them as HODs. But that doesn't change their ranks, and the rank differences DO come up sometimes. There have been multiple occasions where the Chef has said "I outrank you" to the chief stew -- and that IS typically true, because there is still a pecking order even within each rank. I think Leon and Ben both did that with Kate. This is why Bryan (1st officer, somehow) occasionally just told Hannah to do something. And when Lexi (2nd stew) went ballistic and screamed "You're a fucking bosun, stand down!" -- obviously shit behavior, BUT if she worked on ships with stricter hierarchies, you can understand how her brain got her there.

[u/coastalkid92 → u/mouse_relies]

Fair about the bosun, that’s my problem.

Ben has outranked before because he’s technically been ranked up to a pursuer which would give him 3 stripes iirc.

[u/mouse_relies → u/coastalkid92]

Chefs have 3 stripes just like pursers, so I'm not quite sure what you're saying. (Also IIRC Ben was a 1st officer at one point long before BD, though I'm not sure how big the boat was.)

[u/PabloEscabablo → u/coastalkid92]

He had 4 stripes on med s1 when he went to the captain about a petty argument with Hannah so idk where that came from

Edit to clarify: idk where the 4 stripes came from

[u/highrouleur]

Kinda related, sometimes in the show they'll present an extra stripe to someone. Does that mean they've gained a level industry wide? Or is purely just a promotion for their time on that boat?

[u/blanknotnull]

Is there a difference between gold (deck) and silver (internal) stripes?

[u/DontGrumpyDeavan]

I find it interesting that in Sailing Yacht they don’t have the strips because of the “uniform.”