DAMON Hostetter surrounded himself with ships long before he entered the boat and yacht insurance business. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he served as an officer aboard destroyers, making several tours to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. When his tours of duty ended, his love of the sea continued and he cruised from California to Hawaii and back by sailboat, and participated in many racing events on the West Coast. Later he directed the offshore sailing program at the Naval Academy, raced extensively on the East Coast and crossed the Atlantic under sail. Thirteen years ago, Hostetter's background led him to the marine insurance business. He said he initially spent five years organizing and directing the marine claim department of Zurich Marine Specialty. He was subsequently promoted, assuming responsibility for marketing, operations and product management of Zurich's marine program throughout the U.S. In 2003, Hostetter left the large corporate environment to join Jack Martin & Associate Inc., a marine specialty agency based in Annapolis, Md., as CEO.

Hostetter's division of Jack Martin focuses entirely on writing boat, yacht and watercraft policies. "In Annapolis, boating is big and, in consequence, so is the demand for watercraft insurance," Hostetter said. The bulk of his division's premium volume comes from insuring what one would consider "standard" pleasure boats and yachts that ply the waters of the U.S. However, sometimes Hostetter's clients call on him to insure their high performance, antique and charter boats, and other types of "nonstandard" vessels as well.

Though the East Coast accounts for 70% of Jack Martin & Associates' boating business, the agency has clients in all English-speaking countries, so it considers the globe its marketing territory, said Hostetter. To reach prospects, the agency places a limited number of ads with a few nationally circulated trade publications. "Advertising in print to a large, diverse demographic population can be expensive, though, so our main marketing tool is word of mouth," he said. More than 30% of the agency's new business comes from referrals, he added.