Micah Lane

Micah Lane is an owner and senior leader of Flagstaff Marine, one of Australia's established yacht brokerage and new-boat dealerships. Based around Sydney and working across Flagstaff Marine's NSW and Queensland network, Micah has spent more than two decades in yacht sales, brokerage and the Australian marine industry.

His connection with sailing goes much further back than his career. Micah spent part of his childhood in South Africa before moving to Australia in 1988. His first real obsession on the water was windsurfing around Balmoral and Clontarf, but after moving to Sydney's eastern suburbs he discovered the dinghy sailing scene around Watsons Bay. He began sailing at around eight years old with the Vaucluse Amateur 12ft Sailing Club.

Sailing quickly became much more than a weekend activity. Micah went on to race dinghies and high-performance boats, with his own Flagstaff Marine biography listing victories in both an 18ft Skiff National Championship and a 420 National Championship. He has continued racing 18ft skiffs and has also competed aboard larger yachts, including sailing a Sydney to Hobart with the Wild Oats team. BENETEAU has separately described him publicly as a world champion sailor.

Professional Background

Micah entered the marine industry professionally in 2003, starting with Vicsail Sydney as a brokerage assistant. From there he moved into new-yacht sales, including Beneteau, before taking responsibility for the brokerage operation in 2009. Following a period travelling overseas, he returned to Australia and purchased Vicsail Sydney's brokerage arm, which also included the sale of new Beneteau yachts.

The business ultimately came together with Graham Raspass's Beneteau operation to form what became Flagstaff Marine, combining new-boat representation with a substantial brokerage business. That gave Micah exposure not just to one style of yacht, but to everything from family cruisers and performance yachts to catamarans, larger cruising vessels and powerboats.

A significant change occurred in October 2025, when Flagstaff founder Graham Raspass retired from the business. Ownership transitioned to existing co-owners Micah Lane and Alex Vicinanza, joined by Wes McKnight. Flagstaff's current website consequently describes Micah as an Owner, rather than simply Director.

Yacht Brokerage and Sales Experience

Micah's background is particularly relevant to people looking at cruising and performance sailing yachts.

Through Vicsail and Flagstaff Marine he has been involved with new and pre-owned yacht sales for more than 20 years. His experience includes representing and selling Beneteau sailing yachts, working with larger bluewater yachts from Amel, and more recently the Excess catamaran range.

He has also worked extensively within the general brokerage market rather than being limited to boats supplied by Flagstaff. Flagstaff describes its brokerage history as covering racing yachts, cruising yachts, catamarans and motor yachts across a wide range of manufacturers and price points.

That experience is useful for buyers comparing very different ownership paths. Someone considering a new Oceanis, for example, may have very different priorities from somebody buying a ten or fifteen-year-old offshore cruising yacht. Brokerage experience becomes particularly valuable when discussions move away from the sales brochure and towards age, equipment, intended cruising, maintenance, resale and what a particular boat will actually be like to own.

Beneteau Experience

Beneteau has been a major part of Micah's career.

He began selling Beneteau yachts during his time at Vicsail and later became part of the team responsible for representing the brand through Flagstaff Marine. His exposure has consequently covered multiple generations of the Oceanis, First and larger Beneteau sailing ranges, rather than simply the current model lineup.

BENETEAU itself has featured Micah in its international dealer content, highlighting his relationship with the manufacturer and his role connecting the European boatbuilder with Australian owners.

For someone buying a used Beneteau, that long history can be particularly useful because it means familiarity with older generations of the marque as well as the boats currently being delivered.

Excess and Multihull Experience

Flagstaff Marine also represents Excess Catamarans, giving Micah direct exposure to the newer generation of performance-orientated cruising catamarans produced within Groupe Beneteau.

His involvement is not limited to showroom presentations. Published Australian boat reviews have documented Micah sailing and demonstrating models such as the Excess 11, giving him practical product exposure alongside the commercial side of the dealership.

For buyers moving from a monohull into a catamaran, this makes his background interesting because Flagstaff operates on both sides of that decision rather than specialising exclusively in either monohulls or multihulls.

Amel and Bluewater Cruising

Micah has also been involved with Amel Yachts, a very different proposition from mainstream production cruising yachts.

Amel's focus on larger, systems-heavy cruising yachts designed for extended passagemaking gives Micah exposure to some of the issues that become increasingly important as buyers move towards serious offshore cruising: equipment specification, redundancy, onboard systems, owner comfort, long-distance capability and the realities of managing a significantly more complex yacht.

That broader exposure is useful for buyers whose eventual objective is not simply weekend sailing around Sydney, but extended Australian coastal cruising or international passagemaking.

Racing and Offshore Experience

Micah is unusual among yacht brokers in having a substantial competitive sailing background of his own.

His published racing achievements include:

• 18ft Skiff National Championship winner
• 420 National Championship winner
• 18ft Skiff racing
• Yacht racing
• Sydney to Hobart participation aboard Wild Oats

His Flagstaff biography makes it clear that high-performance sailing remains something he genuinely enjoys, describing 18ft skiffs and dinghies as the type of sailing where every movement and adjustment can be felt immediately through the boat.

At the same time, he describes himself as equally happy cruising and dropping anchor somewhere comfortable. That combination is useful in a brokerage environment because performance and cruising priorities often pull a buyer in completely different directions.

Vessel and Brand Exposure

• Beneteau Oceanis
• Beneteau First
• Beneteau Oceanis Yacht
• Excess Catamarans
• Amel Yachts
• Performance sailing yachts
• Offshore cruising yachts
• Production cruising yachts
• Racing yachts
• Pre-owned brokerage yachts
• Sailing catamarans
• Powerboats

Why Micah May Be Relevant to a Yacht Buyer or Seller

For a sailing-yacht buyer, the strongest part of Micah's profile is that he is not simply someone who entered yacht sales from a conventional sales background.

He has sailed since childhood, raced competitively at a high level, sailed offshore, worked in brokerage since 2003, sold both new and used yachts and subsequently became an owner of the dealership in which he works.

That combination means conversations can extend beyond basic specifications into areas such as how a yacht sails, the compromise between cruising comfort and performance, how different models compare, what equipment actually matters to an owner, resale considerations and whether a particular yacht genuinely matches the type of sailing a buyer intends to do.

For sellers, his long involvement in brokerage also provides significant exposure to positioning yachts in the Australian market, dealing with inspections and negotiations and understanding what prospective buyers tend to focus on when comparing similar vessels.

Current Company

Flagstaff Marine

Flagstaff Marine currently operates from locations including Sydney Harbour at Rushcutters Bay, Pittwater, Port Stephens and the Gold Coast, with new and brokerage boats offered across monohull, multihull, sail and power categories.

• Primary sailing brands:
• Beneteau
• Excess Catamarans
• Amel Yachts
• Silent Yachts

Role: Owner, Flagstaff Marine

• Sydney Harbour: d'Albora Marina, New Beach Road, Rushcutters Bay NSW 2027
• Pittwater: RPAYC, 16 Mitala Street, Newport NSW 2106
• Port Stephens: Soldiers Point Marina, 2 Sunset Boulevard, Soldiers Point NSW 2317
• Flagstaff Marine general phone: 1300 998 662

A current Flagstaff brokerage listing also publicly lists Micah Lane on 0414 307 766 as the contact for yacht enquiries.

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