HISWA Superyacht Press Tour 2018

The word “yacht” came from the Dutch word “jacht” that means hunt and were light navy vessels to chase pirates. Wealthy Dutch people used them also as pleasure boats.

I was one of the lucky ladies and gentlemen to attend to the Superyacht Press Tour 2018, organized by the HISWA Holland Superyacht Group that represents members of the Dutch superyacht industry.

Some weeks ago, I got an e-mail that I was nominated for the Superyacht Press Tour in its 2018 edition – A special thank you goes to the Amels shipyard who nominated me – I checked my calendar, changed some appointments I had in the week from the 28th to the 31st of May.

I got a programme with a list of journalists who are also attending. It was like the who’s who of the international yachting media. Also, the participating HISWA members are the best of the best (Feadship, Amels, Heesen, Royal Huisman, Wajer Yachts) who opened their doors for us nosy people.

The day began in Amsterdam in a meeting room of the citizenM hotel Schiphol with a meet and greet with the organizers and the other participating journalists. Furthermore, representatives of Port of Amsterdam attended to give us first insights into the plans what the Port of Amsterdam is doing to be attractive for superyacht owners. Usually, superyacht owners come to northern Europe to inspect their yachts during the building and refit process or maiden voyages in Scandinavian areas. The main area to enjoy their yachts is in the Med or the Caribbean. But if you have been to Amsterdam, you know it is a beautiful city with great architecture and all that you need. Recently, more yacht owners discovered also northern areas like Svalbard (M/Y Kamalaya, M/Y Latitude or M/Y Gene Machine). Amsterdam is on the way for a stopover and Het Scheepvaartmuseum is an awesome picture background for floating arts.

There are also other secured capabilities to dock a superyacht right in the city center like the Passenger Terminal and the UNESCO World Heritage City Center.

After the presentation of the HISWA and Port of Amsterdam, we headed over to the little island Kaag to visit the Feadship facility. In a presentation, we saw some renderings of projects till 2021. Feadship has currently seven yachts from 58m to 110m (Project 1007) in the outfitting stage by famous designers like RWD, Bannenberg & Rowell, Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design, and Michael Leach. Another designer is Jarkko Jämsén of the Finnish design studio Aivan who worked for XO Boats, Axopar, and some private clients.

Furthermore, Feadship showed us a rendering video of their new facility in Amsterdam where they can build yachts up to 160 meters with better access to the north sea without the complicated transport from Kaag.

Following this interesting insights, we had a tour through the facilities and the support vessel SHERPA – a very impressive vessel. Outside the heavy duty industrial styled ship, inside the gentlemen styled interior with dark wood and an open fireplace in the saloon under the helipad.

Last but not least, Feadship invited us for a lunch at Tante Kee – a very exquisite restaurant in front of the shipyard with water view. Very professional service but it felt like eating at friends. Furthermore, we had the chance for a little cruise with M/Y AMMERLAND from 1966 that looks shiny like a new one. A nice detail for myself: Ammerland is a region next to my hometown Oldenburg and the first owners came from there.

In the morning, we arrived at the historic administration building of Amels and Damen. Although Amels is the yacht division and Damen the commercial ship part, Damen builds the support vessels and the SeaXplorer. Both brands co-exist in the superyacht industry and working together from research to sales.

After a short press conference about the Limited Editions, the Yacht Support Vessels, and the SeaXplorer concept, we got a tour through the shipyard. Speaking of SeaXplorer, there are many bold concepts in drawers of shipyards and designers but Amels sold a 65m (for 2019) and a 77m model (for 2020).

The success of the Limited Editions is impressive. The first unit of this series was delivered in 2007 (still under the same ownership), over 40 yachts were sold, six model from 55m up to 83m are available. According to Amels, every yacht was delivered on time and on budget.

Why should a UHNWI buy a semi-displacement without a custom exterior?

The owner of the 4th hull of the Amels Limited Edition 242 (sister ship here) gave the permission to tour through the hull. It is very interesting to see a semi-custom yacht concept in that size. Speaking again of saving time: The hull we saw arrived six weeks ago and will be launched a year later. Yes, we are still talking about a 74m superyacht. That’s super fast and the owner can enjoy the yacht with an interior of his favorite designer. When you prefer to own a yacht with a completely own exterior design, you have to wait some years.

During our visit, the third almost finished unit of a 242 was moored at the yard, a new hull of a 180, a finished and just delivered 180 and the first Amels 188 christened Volpini 2  (a repeat client with interior design by Reymond Langton). Glad to be there at the right time for a real life comparison of the yachts with almost the same size. Although the 188 is just five meters longer, the yacht has more hull volume. The Amels 180 has a gross tonnage of 671 and the Amels 188 has a gross tonnage of 970. Furthermore, the 188 got fresher lines that makes her more looking sporty but the 180 looks sleeker.

Yes, Amels can deliver full-custom too. The yard delivered 29 yachts since 1982. A 78m Espen Oeino design is currently under construction with a delivery date for 2021. Furthermore, 44 superyacht refits up to almost 100 meters are completed to date.

Later this day, we arrived at the Oceanco shipyard in Alblasserdam – the birthplace of one of the most exciting sailing yachts: BLACK PEARL. The massive 90m Project SHARK (unfortunately no pictures allowed – just the official pictures distributed by the yard) was still there. It was a beautiful view when our tour bus drove along the yacht. Oceanco’s administration building is full of very big yacht models and a paradise for people who are interested in yacht or ship models. The staff of Oceanco toured us also through project JASMINE that will be launched in 2019.

After that tour, we entered the new Oceanco building where another press conference took place on the foredeck of the 105m project BRAVO (Y718). A new strategic partnership with BMT Nigel Gee where announced. The core team of the large yacht division works now under the brand Lateral Naval Architects. Because of their new slogan is Ask new questions, my claim to see new innovations is very high-leveled.

James Roy, Managing Director of Lateral comments:

“We will continue to offer our services to a full spectrum of stakeholders in the superyacht yacht industry.  With our core competence in naval architecture and engineering, Lateral will remain part of the BMT group and benefit from access to the full breadth of BMT’s diverse capability, whilst at the same time strengthening its own expertise and knowledge through the strategic partnership with Oceanco.”

Moonen Yachts (known for their ocean-going displacement yachts) joined us at the hotel in Made for breakfast and gave us an overview in a presentation by CEO Johan Dubbelman of the latest/current refit (M/Y Ciao) and new build projects like 36m motor yacht BRIGADOON (a Martinique model of the Caribbean-series) and a sister ship.

Heesen Yachts welcomed us in a well-decorated drydock (I like meetings in an industrial environment) together with the naval architecture company Van Oossanen to give us an overview of the latest projects and futuristic yachts like Project MAXIMUS, the elegant Project AVANTI, (my personal favorite of motor yacht designs) and yachts with low noise and low vibration hybrid propulsion like M/Y HOME. During the lunch, we had the chance to talk with the Heesen staff.

Heesen Yachts prepared something for us. The tank test models weren’t just decoration – they were there for a tank test hull paddling contest. Kayaks with a bulbous bow and a semi-displacement hull by Van Oossanen are very rare but should be a must-have in each superyacht tender storage.

Later this day, we arrived Vollenhove – the residence of Royal Huisman and its subsidiary Rondal. Why do I call it the superyacht shopping mall? Together with Rondal, Royal Huisman builds all main parts under one roof. The yard is about one hour away (by car) from the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (with helicopter much more faster). When the owner wants to check his project during the building process, he can see the hull, the interior (will be build up first as a mockup before it comes into the yacht) and also all the other things Rondal builds for superyachts like masts, booms, doors, hatches and so on without traveling around to all subcontractors.

Royal Huisman gave us insights in both companies. The carbon booms of SEA EAGLE II are currently under construction – massive parts with about 15 meters in length. Looked like a kayak for 20 people – and the yacht will have three of them. In the joinery, they showed us the interior of the yacht with an awesome detail. Royal Huisman documents all interiors with numbers to deliver spares very fast. The crew gives the number to the yard and they can produce a replacement without flying down to check what is needed, flying back etc.

Another big project is the refit of the 39m Schooner-rigged sailing yacht VAGRANT from 1913. The hull has been completely stripped off (including all the interiors) and looked like a new build project in the first stage. There is a lot of work for the yard to prepare the yacht for the next 100 years. But they have experience with classic yachts like the extensive refit of the J-Class sailing yacht Endeavour (JK4).

On the last day, Wajer Yachts picked us directly at the hotel with a Wajer 37 and Wajer 38 for a sightseeing tour through Amsterdam with all the beautiful old canal houses and houseboats, houseboats and even more houseboats. By the way, a Wajer 38 had also a role in the movie “The North” together with the Amels 180 KAMALAYA. – a must-see video for yachting and Norway fans.

The destination was Het Scheepvaartmuseum (Dutch national maritime museum) where we got a video and scale model presentation of the new wajer 55S.

With VBH (Van Berge Henegouwen), we discussed entertainment and communication technology on yachts (exactly my topic as a technology-driven guy) and potential problems with state-of-the-art technology upgrades on refit projects.

We got also a guided tour through the museum. Unfortunately, the time was too short to see all but our tour guide explained really good and picked the cool things for our short timeframe – ask for Anna-Maria, capable and pleasant.

Het Scheepvaartmuseum has a virtual reality room in the replica of the EAST INDIAMAN AMSTERDAM (the original was lost in 1749). The tour starts at the place where you are but it is a time journey back to the Dutch Golden Age ca. 1650 built with historic documents to get a view of how Amsterdam looked at this time. A really cool experience.

The Superyacht Press Tour is an awesome opinion for the relation between media and the Dutch superyacht industry. Furthermore, it was also great to meet other well-known journalists like Marilyn Mower of Boat International Media, Diane Byrne of Megayachtnews.com and so on. It is like a preferment or to have a backstage ticket for a rock concert with exclusive insights and very much input. The Holland Yachting Group did a great organization. I am very thankful for the experience and the insights – I really enjoyed the trip and hope to get the chance next year again.