The time has come to lower the sails on the refit season within specialized shipyards. The Sestri Naval Shipyards are a choice of excellence, even with the final touches to the boats that are eager to return to the sea.
In an exclusive interview granted to SUPER YACHT 24, Fulvio Montaldo, the owner, reflects on the pleasure of another year of successes and shares ambitious future plans.
In the Heart of Numbers
The expertise of the Sestri Naval Shipyards has been tested on almost a hundred boats in the current year. This significant number includes about twenty yachts that approach or exceed 24 meters in length. Despite successfully completing two 50-meter megayachts (immense challenges), Montaldo reveals a preference for working on a larger number of boats, even if they are of smaller dimensions.
A Clientele Without Borders
Among boats ranging from 24 to 40 meters, about 60% of the clients come from beyond the borders. Owners from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States constitute a significant portion of the international clientele. Although the Russian market has experienced some notable turbulence, the shipyard maintains a well-diversified customer portfolio. Among them stands out Nave Va, a Corsican company that manages a fleet of commercial vessels with long annual navigation times.
Unstoppable Growth Amid Challenges
Even amidst challenging circumstances, the Sestri Naval Shipyards are poised to grow. With an in-house team of about 15 employees, they regularly collaborate with specialized external teams. On some occasions, there have been as many as fifty workers on the shipyard. Despite limited space, both on land and at sea, Montaldo expresses the hope of having more spacious facilities.
Sailing Towards the Future
The shipyard’s development strategy revolves around service quality and investments in infrastructure. The autumn will mark the beginning of the renovation works for the workshops, internal carpentry, refreshment areas, and the warehouse. This represents the second phase of the development plan, initiated with the acquisition of a 300-ton travel lift last year. This new asset has allowed the shipyards to work on large vessels, complementing the already operational dry dock.
The Genoa-based shipyard proudly holds three certifications – environmental, quality, and workplace safety – because excellence begins with respect for workers and the environment. This too is love and passion.
Charting the Future of Refits
Looking more prospectively at the refit sector, Montaldo maintains an optimistic outlook for the future.
While the growth of the global fleet is a positive signal, the owner of the shipyards “firmly believes that professionalism will be the true differentiator”.
With over three decades of experience in the industry, Montaldo knows that sometimes, to maintain excellence, it’s worth surpassing customer expectations and, on occasion, regretfully turning down certain projects.
As the Sestri Naval Shipyards sail towards the future, their commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction remains a cornerstone.
This steadfast commitment has brought them to the forefront of the shipbuilding industry.
At Cantieri Sestri Shipyard, you can get the most detailed, custom designed boat interior restoration and yacht refit in the whole of Europe.
Cantieri Sestri has the expertise to handle all kinds of yacht interior restoration. If it is yacht woodwork restoration you require or just yacht varnish restoration, you can be sure that these will be delivered to the best of quality.
Cantieri Sestri Shipyard is well suited for these tasks because it has acquired over 20 years’ worth of experience in the conservation and restoration of modern and antique yachts and sailing boats.
Aside from this, both boat interior restoration and yacht refitting services involve an advanced and expert staff specialized on each area of services.
Cantieri Sestri Shipyard takes care of any client request adopting the latest shipyard technologies, able to reduce the time delivery, the attention to details and the quality of service saving time and investment.
One of the most common requests is the boat interior restorations.
The Wonderful finished Interior Refit on the Sea Home Yacht – on 2016
When it comes to yacht interior restoration, there are different directions that the project can take. This will depend on a number of factors including the type of boat being worked on.
Before embarking on a boat interior restoration project, it is important that you take note of certain things. To make it easier to understand, we have broken them up into segments.
Costing
To properly project the cost of an interior refitting project, you need to have a good understanding of that project and of the current state of the yacht or boat.
Generally the cost vary It depends on what is the planned end-use of your boat is, the value and real boat condition prior the evaluation and restoration and from the size and full scope of work is necessary based on the level of quality you desire to achieve.
For some specific works, such as strip and refinish upholstery chrome gauges plank wood replacement, trailer work, new no-soak bottom, it’s important to consider the time and the cost involved to find original hardware length and beam of your boat.
Restorations can cost into the 100s of thousands of dollars for super yacht in high quality and original condition or they can be much less for a well maintained user quality boat.
Knowing what is important and what is not important is very critical in any boat restoration project. The systems that make the boat run are more critical than the beauty of the exterior or interior finishing. Some folks take on projects such as these and spend tons of time on the interior and exterior finishing without giving much thought to the systems that run the boat.
Many times a Surveyor will salute the beautiful exterior and interior of a boat only to look into the heart of the boat to find loads of outdated equipment. These are usually wasted efforts as the boat cannot be sold with such outdated systems. So planning to upgrade the important aspects of the boat is critical.
Skill Set
There are certain skill sets that are necessary if one is to embark on a boat interior restoration project. While you may not need an actual boat building experience, you should at least have some good experience building things. A knowledge of engineering, building, and a good understanding of materials will come in very handy in a project such as this.
Project Timeline
You do not want to get into a project without having an idea how long it will take to get done. In a boat interior restoration project, it is important to understand that the process involves tearing down and rebuilding. You first have to remove the old and replace with the new. This means that yacht restoration repairusually take a bit longer than fresh builds.
If you are in a position to choose a boat to be restored, look for one with superficial damages. Stay away from ones with fundamental system related damages. If a boat has a bad engine, bad wiring and bad plumbing, then you must be ready for a major restoration which will gulp a lot of money.
To save yourself this heartache, look for one in which these fundamental systems only require repairs and not total replacement. This will save you both time and money.
Painting
This is a major aspect of the final stages of the interior finishing. Despite being one of the last things to be done, you still need to consider it right from the start because this can cost quite a tidy sum.
Before making a purchase, it is important that you consider the type of boat, the layers and how much painting it will require.
Conclusion
The truth is that we at Cantieri Sestri Shipyard understand this more than most which is why we offer you our wide array of services. Contact us with your questions and we can get you started on the right footing. Visit us at cantierisestri.it to see the full complement of services we offer.
Yacht Restoration and Yacht Repair – Tips, Process & Advises
It is a perfectly normal thing to have a yacht owner hand over the responsibility for the repairs, routine maintenance or even total restoration of a yacht to a shipyard. While this is in fact the more common practice, it is also possible to have a yacht owner decide to get very involved in the yacht restoration, repairsor maintenance process.
There are one of two reasons why a yacht owner may decide to handle some aspects of the yacht’s repairs.
First, this can be a major cost saving decision. Certainly, cutting off the need to pay to have the work done by someone else will surely save cost.
Secondly, when a yacht owner handles the job by him/herself, s/he gets to know the ins and outs of the yacht in more detail.
Yacht Restoration or Repairs – Why Would this Be Needed?
If you look around today, you will see how things are quickly evolving. The same is applicable here. An owner may demand that certain refitting or upgrades be made to bring the yacht up to trending designs or simply to meet the owner’s current needs which may be different from what it was when the yacht was first built.
Aside from repairs or upgrades informed by changing personal taste, there are also statutory maintenance and repair schedule that by law has to be kept. Some of the combined reasons why a yacht may need a repair or restoration job include:
Emergency repairs
Overhaul of the machinery and engine
Upgrading of the interior
Vessel extension
Servicing and/or upgrading of the HVAC system
Superstructure repainting – required every 3 to 5 years
Hull repainting – required every 3 to 5 years
Antifouling repainting – required every 1 to 2 years
Statutory surveys – required by flag states every 5 years
The above are just some of the reasons why a yacht will need to be taken to a shipyard for repairs. There are many other reasons which can include a total conversion of the yacht, a total renovation and more.
Aspects of Yacht Restoration and Repairs
The process of repairing or restoring a yacht can be very demanding to say the least. For those planning to take on this project, it is important that you understand what you are signing up for.
The process of a yacht repair or restoration can be broken into several segments. These are:
Assessment of work to be done as a part of project pre-planning
Choosing the best shipyard to handle the repairs
Understanding the cost implication through quote sourcing
Technical input and logistic demands
Finding suitable contractors
Complete project supervision and management
What Services to Expect from A Shipyard
Every standard repair yard will have the capacity to offer many different services. As a result of the magnitude of a yacht repair or restoration job, there is usually the need to move to different facilities to get different aspects of the job done.
Ideally, any repair yard worth its salt would have the necessary facilities and capacity to handle these different aspects of the job. Be they minor repairs or major restoration or yacht renovations.
Below are some services you should expect from a standard shipyard:
Inspection of rigs and spars
Yacht restoration, renovation and conversion
Painting of the interior and exterior
Repairs and redesigning of the interior
Extensions and other structural conversions
Repairs of fiberglass and GRP
HVAC repairs and refitting
Carpentry work
Metal works
Electrical work
Repairs or refitting of the electronics
Repairs or refitting of the hydraulic system
Full engineering services and more
When embarking on a yacht restoration, repair or renovation project, being able to have the entire project handled in a single shipyard is something that every yacht owner should look for. Like any expert will tell you, this is very efficient and also highly cost effective.
Should I Go for a Totally New Yacht or Should I Opt for the Renovation or Conversion of an Old One?
When it comes to the acquisition of a yacht, there are usually two options before the buyer. You can either go for a totally new build or you can find an old yacht and have it converted and restored to your taste.
When you hear of converting or renovating an existing yacht, you may think that this is an inferior choice. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Experts actually recommend this over going for an outright new build for the following reasons:
First, with the level of technological advancement today, yacht restoration or renovation can be so complete and total that the finished product will in no way look like the original yacht from which it was restructured.
Experts say there’s actually not limit to what you can do when converting an existing yacht. It can be extended, have its interior and exterior totally redesigned and more. The level of expertise and creativity now available is such that a simple fishing vessel or an ice breaker can be converted into a super luxury yacht.
Secondly, this is a more cost effective option. Choosing the option to renovate or convert an existing vessel can cost a third of what it will cost to build a new one from scratch. Despite this huge savings, your end result can favorably compare with new builds.
Lastly, choosing to build totally from scratch can mean waiting for years to have the yacht completed. On the other hand, if you choose to convert or renovate an existing vessel, your project can be done anywhere between 3 months to a few years. This of course will be determined by the extend of work that needs to be done.
Watch this interesting story of a restoration job done over some years in a front yard – Restoring Shawnee.
Important Hints and Tips to Note In a Yacht Restoration Project
Never make the mistake of under-estimating the amount of time it will take to fully gather all the different parts you will need to complete the job. You may actually end up spending a lot of time on this. To be on the safer side, place your orders quite early because some of the items you may need are not always readily available.
When budgeting, be sure to make some allowance for unexpected expenses. Be sure that unforeseen challenges might arise. This should not be a problem especially if you are mentally and financially prepared to accommodate them.
When there is a decision to be made, be forthright with it. Do not dilly-dally. Take ownership and responsibility.
Be smart in determining the tasks that you will handle. A wise person picks his fights well. While it’s true that handling the project by yourself may save you some money, this may not always be so. There are some aspects of the project that will be more cost effective if handled by a professional who will use the right tools and get it done faster.
Try to quickly identify areas that may be more problematic than others during the project so you can give it attention.
It may be wise to assume the entire project will cost more than you earlier thought. In the same vein, you should also assume it will take longer.
The most important things to ensure you get right are the yacht’s structure and main systems. This should be your main focus.
This is a good time to ensure all essential systems have backups. Having a redundancy of these essential equipment will make your yacht more reliable.
For yacht owners handling the job themselves, you can increase your efficiency by having a store or workshop close to the yacht.
Finally, you need to understand that in the marine industry, spring time is the busiest. If your project will be carried out during this time, you should try to sort out all issues regarding the commissioning of the job long before this time. You should also define all the tasks that need to be done so you will not have to be adding new tasks along the way. This is a good way to avoid extra labor costs.
The Place of the Crew During Yacht Restoration or Repairs
Now that you have your yacht in the yard for repairs or renovations, what happens to your crew? It is common practice for some key crew members accompany the yacht on this trip. In most cases this will include the captain, chief engineer and the chief steward/ess.
If you are adding some new equipment to your vessel, then regard this as a great time to have your crew trained on how to use and possibly maintain such equipment. You need them to be fully up to speed when the yacht is ready to set sail again. You will usually find that most ship yards have facilities to accommodate your crew for purposes like this.
