Yacht: Starfire

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Richard Fuher | 1 st Officer
Richard (Rich) grew up in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and alas, his position as 1 st Officer on M/Y StarFire is not exactly typical of someone who grew up surrounded by snow-peaked mountains and 3 million acres of national forests! An avid snow skier since youth, Rich’s all-around love of the outdoors ultimately led him to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1993. Rich spent his undergraduate years at the Merchant Marine Academy not only gaining his knowledge of marine engineering and navigation, but also participating as a Varsity member and Fleet Captain of the Offshore Sailing Team. He still enjoys racing sailboats in his leisure time; and yet, since leaving the Academy, he has applied his skills & knowledge to a variety of professional marine positions on both charter and privately used vessels. After logging 130,000 nautical miles in deck and engine cadet positions on unlimited tonnage cargo ships, Rich eventually found his way to the yachting industry in 1995. He has since worked on many high-profile sailing and motor yachts, not only in First Mate and Engineer positions, but also as a Captain. With many impressive marine licenses and certifications under his belt—among them a U.S.C.G. 1600-Ton Inland Master, a U.S.C.G. 100-Ton Upon Oceans Master, and a Cayman Islands 3000-Ton Mate license—Rich’s sailing experiences have taken him all over the world. From South American to Alaska, Egypt to Singapore, and throughout the Caribbean and the Eastern shores of the U.S., Rich has certainly made the most of his career at sea. Rich obviously has a passion for sailing…but his talents don’t stop there. He is also a PADI-certified diver, and he shoots rifles, pistols, and shotguns competitively. And of course, Rich will always find the time to fit in some quality snow skiing when he can – especially when he can make it back home to visit Colorado.

Carl Thomas Sputh | The Captain
Captain Carl was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1974. He has one brother, Ryan, who is a 200 Ton Captain. His father, Ted, is also a Sea Captain; one family, three men of the sea, and over 550,000 nautical miles of combined experience. StarFire ’s Captain, spent a portion of his childhood on Water Island in the United States Virgin Islands, alternating with time spent in Indianapolis, Indiana. His recreational life was focused on water sports. He is a competitive water and jet skier, a certified water ski instructor, and a certified rescue scuba diver. Captain Carl's other interests include all types of snow sports and flying helicopters. In 2004, he completed the hours for his private helicopter license — a hobby that gives him as much joy as driving yachts. After graduating from North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1993, he went to work in the yachting industry and became the Captain of a mega yacht at the age of 22. Three mega yachts later, Carl became the Captain of the prestigious M/YStarFire. Captain Carl holds a 1600 Ton United States’ Coast Guard License with a 3000 Ton British License. He is certified in Advanced Radar, Shipboard Fire Fighting, and STCW trained. He also completed a six month Emergency Medical Technician course, which gives him the knowledge to handle a variety of ship health emergencies. His medical expertise expanded with a MedAire Advanced Medical Certification. Captain Carl was the individual winner as “Best Captain of a Mega Yacht in 2001” at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. This accolade was given for his ability to be a “can do” positive leader. StarFire ’s Captain takes special pride in imparting his knowledge and love of the sea. In an effort to share his passion with others, he set up “The Captain Carl Sputh Seafaring Scholarship” at his Indianapolis high school alma mater, North Central. Each year, five fortunate students are sponsored to attend a sailing school course aboard the restored A.J. Meerwald Tall Ship in South New Jersey’s Delaware Bay. The scholarship recipients receive full tuition, all travel expenses-paid, $100-a-day spending money — and this year, even foul weather gear donated by the outdoor sportswear company, Patagonia. Captain Carl enjoys the possibility that the experience may introduce some of these students to an entirely new career path they might not otherwise have discovered (in landlocked Indiana, that is!). Captain Carl’s motto for yachting is that “there are no problems…only solutions , ” and he governs himself and his crew accordingly.

Mark Scurrah | Chief Engineer
Mark was born in Bradford, England. He began his yachting career in February 1984 and spent two years “testing the waters” of a career path in yachting by taking on various engineering positions aboard megayachts. With travel being one of his great passions, Mark then took several years to explore various jobs around Europe, including a year handling maintenance in 153 villas on the island of Corfu, Greece. By 1990, the sea had called him back. Mark accepted engineering positions doing yacht delivery and refit work—including a sailing yacht refit in Auckland, New Zealand— and spent two busy charter seasons in the Mediterranean before he decided to take an extended holiday to travel Australia by camper van 1n 1993. After this adventure, Mark pursued his Class IV marine engineering certificate in 1994 while he simultaneously took on various relief work engineering positions until his studies were complete. With his Class IV certificate in hand, Mark stayed very busy holding an impressive list of engineering positions on motor and sailing megayachts all over the world —from Singapore and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean to the Med, and from Noraway to Dubai (Arab Emirates) . To say that StarFire’s Engineer is well-traveled is certainly an understatement! In October 2000, Mark began his Y2 Chief Engineering ticket studies and over the next four years he completed this training while remaining steadily busy doing delivery and refit work in such places as Israel, the Adriatic Sea, and the U.S. Mark successfully completed his Y2 Engineering certificate in 2004 and came to take on Starfire’s state-of- the-art engines in summer 2005. Mark’s talents don’t just stop at traveling and engineering though. M/Y Starfire’s Chief Engineer is also a musician and plays both the banjo and piano! During his adventurous traveling career, he has also managed to learn both French and Dutch. As a PADI Certified diver, Mark has also completed over 600 open water dives! Quite impressive!