Give up being a yacht broker to become a deckhand?

That's funny..

I'd call that an oxymoron, rather than funny!

Ahoy, Ahoy. In spite of my friends cracking us up with their responses, I have a few questions: what is your boating background? Level of knowledge? Level of experience?

YF has been in existence for more than 20 years. If you are just now discovering YF, it makes me question your marine knowledge and experience.

Selling boats is not a sales job like working in the mall. If you can't answer clients' questions, you will lose credibility. There's a lot of $$ involved and a buyer wants to be assured he is spending it wisely (well, as best as "wise" can be used in purchasing a boat).

Commissions from a sale, the payoff, can be far in-between (not speaking from experience of course!) And there is a lot of time, work and expense invested to even get close to the payoff.

FLIBS is coming up. Maybe go to one of the big (there is no such thing as prestigious brokerage in case you couldn't tell by the responses) brokerages. You will get a lot of experience working on a boat at a show. Pay attention and learn how to and what to and the what not to's. And if you don't know what FLIBS is, try the mall.

As in all human fields, there's the rule, and there are exceptions.
Based on first hand experience - and I guess the same goes also for CR - you are firmly in the tiny group of the latter, with respect to my above comment!

And your circumstantiated reply also proves that, BTW.

We need a smiley emoji with a hug

Deckhand.

If you want the bottom line answer, that's my opinion. Do you also want to know the reasons behind it?

Or you could do both…. I doubt your current job is a full time position so you could also freelance / day work and learn a ton of things.

three years ago I hired a young guy as a crew on the 110 I run. He didn’t know much about anything like the typical 19 year old but was willing to work while getting a degree. Now he handles most of the maintenance on the boat with minimal supervision, making all the right decisions. He s also switched his major to engineering and probably knows more about boats than many brokers

Why "of course"?
While there's nothing wrong in setting yourself a goal to get rich, the world is full of remarkably successful people who liked their job to the point of creating an empire out of it. And for them, becoming financially successful was "only" a consequence, not the primary goal.
Let me ask you a question: what would you LIKE to do most, regardless of what can generate more cash?

This is a very friendly group here, so please don't be put off by the harshness of my answers. I am trying to sincerely respond to your question if you should be a yacht broker. Here's what lead me to the conclusion that this might not be your best shot at being a successful one after reading your post #7:
1. "I’ve been learning 24/7..." You just exaggerated if not lied = loss of credibility.
2. "learn everything I need to know..". There is no such thing. That's why YF has millions of readers. = you have now shown unrealistic expectations or perhaps that you don't know what you don't know.
3. "My sales skills are not a concern..." Your sales skills were never in question, so now it raises issues of communication, the ability to hear what the other person is saying.

Should you become a successful yacht broker, please let me know so I can apologize profusely. Otherwise, I am trying to spare you from charting a course full of hazards.