Wiley Sharp
Co-Founder / Yacht Broker
wiley@catamarancentral.com 561.613.8985Catamaran Central is a boutique firm, created by husband and wife team, Wiley Sharp and Laura Jagielski. They have literally traveled the world because of their shared love of catamarans. Before founding Catamaran Central, the couple worked and lived throughout the Caribbean, gathering years of hands-on experience in the yacht charter and yacht management industries. Together, the couple has followed their love of multihulls and sailing, all over the Caribbean and east coast. Living and working in the Bahamas, Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Thomas, and Annapolis, before moving to Fort Lauderdale with their two dogs, Nomad and Sam, and founding Catamaran Central. Their passion is sharing their knowledge and love of catamarans.
Catamaran Central is a team of 3, Wiley, Laura and Peter. Wiley is the lead, licensed and bonded yacht broker who has been sailing since a child, and working in yacht sales since 2014. Laura is the lead charter yacht broker who has been helping clients charter crewed boats since 2016. Peter is a licensed and bonded yacht broker, liveaboard expert (he's been living fulltime aboard boats for the last 14 years), who has been sailing his entire life, and currently resides with his wife on his Leopard 40 catamaran, on the west coast of Florida.
Wiley Sharp
Co-Founder / Yacht Broker
Wiley Sharp lives and breathes catamarans. His first experience sailing on a cruising catamaran was circa 2004 on a Leopard 47 sailing catamaran on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
He grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, where he spent as much time as he could sailing. His mentor and the man who helped form the foundation for his love of sailing was his Uncle Jim. Wiley, from a young age would spend weekends on the water with his Uncle, sailing in and out of John’s Pass onboard The Badger.
In addition to time on the water with his uncle, Wiley also learned to sail dinghies at the Davis Island Yacht Club’s youth sailing program and raced J24 sailboats in college.
He had no desire to follow in the family business, so he charted his own course into the yachting world. Wiley has been professionally working in the yachting industry since he was 20 years old, and has held every position under the sun, from diesel mechanic to rigger, to customer service, operations manager, and captain. Wiley and his wife Laura have been fortunate to call places like The Bahamas, St. Vincent, Grenada, and the Virgin Islands home.
They have been based in Fort Lauderdale, the yachting capital of the world, since 2019. It was in 2021 that the duo took the plunge into starting their own business, Catamaran Central.
When not working, Wiley loves to travel with Laura. They have been fortunate to travel together across the Caribbean on catamarans, Europe by convertible, and Southern Africa by overland truck. In addition to traveling, Wiley loves the culinary arts and is particularly interested in cooking the only true form of American cuisine, BBQ. When not traveling with Laura or preparing BBQ at home Wiley is an avid fly fisherman and makes frequent trips to the mountains to fish trout. He has been fortunate to catch everything from Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout, to Redband Trout, Bull Trout, and even the elusive Zebra Trout. He is almost as comfortable in a pair of waders in a river as he is behind the helm of a catamaran.
Laura Jagielski
Co-Founder / Charter Yacht Broker
Laura grew up in Grand Isle, Vermont, on Lake Champlain with her parents, 2 siblings and family dogs. With summer days limited in Vermont, she would spend as much time as possible on the lake, swimming, water skiing, tubing and sailing with her Dad on their 17’ daysailer. Throughout Laura’s childhood she and her family would spend a week at the beach every summer and frequently traveled to the Caribbean during the cold Vermont winters.
In 2008, Laura met Wiley working at a Summer Camp in Vermont and the two got their first taste of working together. Laura then started her Masters program in Mental Health Counseling and Wiley went to South Africa to earn his RYA Yachtmaster. Laura spent what time she could traveling and living in various Caribbean countries with Wiley, while working on her MA. Her favorite place they lived in was the country of Grenada. She fell in love with sailing and the much slower island lifestyle. When she graduated with her Masters degree, she returned to the mainland to put to use her MA in Mental Health Counseling.
Laura worked for several years in various areas of the mental health field. She worked as a group counselor for adults with substance abuse, did in-home counseling with teens who had a dual diagnosis of mental health and substance abuse issue, and finally with young adults who had just experienced their first episode of schizophrenia.
With an opportunity in St. Thomas, Laura and Wiley left south Florida. They lived and worked on the island of St. Thomas for three years learning about yacht management and yacht charters. Laura first worked as an Operations Administrator for a busy day charter company and left that job to start her and Wiley’s first business, which eventually dissolved. Laura then joined a well-known yacht brokerage firm to work as a charter broker. Hurricane Irma and Maria hit the Virgin Islands, forcing Wiley and Laura to leave the island and return to the mainland.
Laura worked for several years as a charter broker focused on crewed catamaran charters. In 2020, Laura and Wiley left the large yacht brokerage firm to start Catamaran Central. She is a member of CYBA, VIPCA, and the Charter Yacht Society of BVI. When she isn’t working, you can find her spending time with her 2 dogs, Sam & Nomad, weight training in the gym and working on her PR’s, sailing, swimming, enjoying the beach, and traveling as much as she and Wiley can. Laura’s favorite trips so far are the safaris in Botswana and in South Africa. Her favorite catamaran is currently the Privilege 615.
Peter Obetz
Yacht Broker
Peter and his wife Christy currently live on their Leopard 40 sailing cat on the Gulf Coast of Florida. They have been living aboard full-time for 13 years and Peter can speak most things “cat” with you. He was bitten by the sailing bug as a young boy on Lake George, NY where his family spent their summers. Although you might not think of his boyhood home of Kansas City as a sailing mecca, it has quite an active lake sailing scene. Peter has raced Sunfishes, Lasers, J-boats, and a myriad of other cruising boats.
He spent nearly 20 years in the practice of law before an aggressive form of cancer presented him with exceedingly low odds of survival. Now 18 years cancer-free, he can proudly say he has beaten one of the most deadly forms of cancer. He never returned to the practice of law, simplified his life, and moved aboard a sailboat in Florida. Peter is an avid tennis player and a bit of a gym rat.
In addition to his work with Catamaran Central, he has worked as a commercial photographer. In the last several years, he has focused on yacht photography, video, and drone work to assist his clients in selling their yachts.
Peter has a deep knowledge of sailboats and the live-aboard lifestyle. Additionally, he is a licensed Coast Guard Captain with thousands of sea miles under his keel. Peter, as an International Yacht Brokers Association member prides himself on providing personable, trustworthy service to his clients who are buying or selling boats.