You may have read my past article on the wonderful wooden sailboat of Jan von der Bank already? Well, of course I haven´t been in Kiel by chance: Along with my son, who enjoyed yet another Optimist sailing camp, I based myself in our “Sailing City” because in its vicinity are so many great destinations to visit from a journalistic standpoint to provide you with some exciting new stories. And as I´ve mentioned before, it´s literally impossible not to meet anyone familiar when roaming about in Kiel.
And so it happens that the one particular Jan von der Bank indeed is employed by Pure Yachts of Kiel, the new shipyard making high-class aluminum performance yachts. It´s a great occasion and always feels like a stroll through a candy store for me. I love shipyards, even more if the boats built are touching me emotionally. Their Pure 42 currently under construction is such a boat. So I asked Jan to give me a quick tour to check out the progress made from my last visit.
What´s the status of the Pure 42 build?
Boatbuilding is a big undertaking. Even the big series production builders like Hanse Yachts or Beneteau, manufacturing hundreds of units annually, having unified, simplified and industrialized all of the production steps, take roughly one to two months net to manufacture a yacht. Closely documenting the building progress of my own new boat, the semi-custom/one-off Omega 42 is the other end of this spectrum. Pure Yachts is somewhere in between.
Working on hull number #001 for their Pure 42 performance cruiser, production shows all characteristics of a one-off undertaking: Every part has to be manufactured from scratch, taking on myriads of challenges, having to cope with unforeseen hurdles, be them small of big. Yet, everything they do here is aimed at series production: Hull #002 has already arrived, more are in the making. This makes it even more complicated as everything they do here is meant to bring forward the completion of #001 but must take the following units into consideration.
To make things even more complicated: Whilst the staff – grown to almost 20 people here by now – is doing all they can to finish the boat and set up a code of conduct for the series production, a huge renovation project is pulled off on the premises of Pure Yachts in parallel. One of the big workshops has already been elaborately redone (the outcome is a modern, light-suffused “glass factory”), the second, even larger, hall is now under construction to being turned into a prime role model shipyard. As I said, this all is undertaken at the same time along the boat production process. This is a huge, huge undertaking! But let´s check out the boat now …
True size and the concept of the boat becomes fathomable
I climb into the cockpit and look down into the boat´s internals. The guys have already fitted the largest non-metal part of the yacht: The salon´s seating group. This big element is a complex 3D-component that has two main functions. For the deck salon-concept it forms the starboard side of the salon and features the U-shaped settee around the dinner table. For the VIP-guest cabin below, this part is the upper ceiling.
Apart from the deciding aspect of this component, one can finally fathom the true dimensions of the yacht, now that it is fitted. I can vividly remember my last visit here a few weeks ago when the whole interior of the boat was still a huge, empty gaping hole. Now, even though the corresponding portside part of the galley has not yet been installed, I can imagine quite nicely how the boat will feel when its finished.
Stakes are high: EOYTY-sea trials are on the horizon already
When I visit shipyards I try to come during off-time, like lunch breaks or very early/later afternoon. This way I can see a “living” working environment without bothering the workers too much. Same here at Pure, I arrived at noon exactly. But instead of taking a break, I found most of the guys working. Upon climbing down into the boat´s bowels, even one of the CEOs, Urs Kohler, was among the heavily sweating team.
Urs smiles: “No weekends. Overtime tours. Basically, it´s all hands on deck now …” No time for a short chat. The reason for the hurry is a clear set date. The Crème de la crème of the European sailing magazines has agreed to nominate the Pure 42 for the prestigious title. Becoming nominated is a huge boost in itself already, winning the title could be a deciding booster in Pure´s sales and worldwide recognition. No wonder the workshop is bristling with busy people …
Deciding (and later hidden) details
Trying not to be in their way all too much, I take a short tour inside the boat. I am interested in all details, be it the bigger or the smaller things. You don´t have to work hard to find those. Here´s an interesting one – it concerns the bathroom and head of the yacht. Most people won´t waste a thought on this, but for a yacht in Pure´s class, this is important:
All valves for freshwater, grey- and wastewater are placed above the waterline. Unlike most other and literally all series production yachts, Pure takes some effort to fix a riser/standpipe first and mount the valve on top of it. A 360-degrees laser is fitted inside the hull to mark the waterline. If you look closely onto the above picture, you can clearly see the green laser well below the pipe. But why this extra-effort?
Well, apparently, to prevent water ingress in case of emergency or damage of the valve. If you check boat insurer´s statistics, failing (cheap) valves are a constant danger, especially on elder yachts. The classic: With the owner being absent, a rusting valve finally fails and incoming water sinks the boat right there in its berth. In case of the Pure 42, that´s impossible. But don´t think as far as to a catastrophe. A simple maintenance or cleaning effort, even the whole replacement of a valve is now possible without having to take the boat out of the water. As I said: The yacht is full of such “little” – but deciding – details.
The cabins of the Pure 42
Let´s take a look at the bigger things. As mentioned before, the underside of the large seating group of the deck salon forms the ceiling of the VIP-cabin below. Here works have progressed quite nicely. As the ceiling is a single one piece part, it´s “just” the walls and a large cabinet missing. Standing inside the cabin I can fully appreciate the head clearance in the dressing/undressing area and the large volume of the cabinet that is in the making currently.
By the way: The large salon-piece I am talking about is one of the two only components of the boat´s interior which have not been made inhouse by Pure Yachts. Instead, they outsourced the task to nearby Knierim Yachtbau (a well-established and worldwide renowned shipyard for high class composite yachts, still on my “wish list” to visit). That´s due to the sheer size of it: Knierim can make it faster and probably cheaper. The second other part is the roof top of the deckhouse which is currently under construction at Knierim.
But back to the boat: Adjoining the VIP-cabin is the main bathroom, which is still empty (except for the standpipes for the valves) and will be fitted next. Vis-à-vis will be a day-head and the multi-purpose area of the Pure 42. Here, owners can decide if they want to have a pilot´s berth, double Pulman-berth, two Captain´s chairs with a little nice Cherry/Rum-cabinet in between or (my fave) a boat-office. And in front of those is the owner´s cabin in the bow section.
Here principal construction and fitting of the joinery has started. The main fresh water tank is installed, rough plywood sheets indicate the size of the double berth. Fist furniture parts are hardening with the help of screw clamps: These parts are too big to fit through the boat´s doors. Other than with GRP boats – like my Omega 42 – which get their interiors build into an open hull and deck joined afterwards (aka the “wedding”), an aluminum-yacht´s hull already comes with the deck attached. So they make it inside of the boat. On the floor you can clearly see where cabinet ends and floorboards start: Huge lockers here in the front, though!
A special approach for the boat´s joinery and furniture fittings
I leave the yacht as I feel a bit in the way of the guys frantically working here. Asking Jan to show me more details about the furniture and joinery is made exactly, he takes me through the large shipyard workshop to the carpenter´s workstations. Here I can see one of the large, presumably for the bathroom. It´s a completely different approach to making a boat´s furniture than for example in my Omega 42.
First of all, the Pure 42 is set to become as lightweight as possible. Shaving off a kilogram here and a kilogram there will add up in the end. Making the interior fittings out of heavy plywood or even massive wood is completely out of question: Of course, there will be some wooden highlights and accentuated fittings, but the majority of furniture is in fact high grade vacuum-hardened foam. A technique utilized in racing yachts, Matthias Schernikau, founder of Pure Yachts, has already fitted his private yacht, the BM 49, with this material completely.
Apart from the fact that every part needs to display a spotless perfectly fine surface – no scratches, no dents, no uneven parts accepted – every part will be lacquered and glossy painted. There´s no margin whatsoever for defects or even “individual” signatures we use to tolerate in most handcrafted products. To make things even more demanding, no hard corners are allowed on the boat: To form perfectly rounded edges like those shown above, it takes a lot of dedication and efforts. It becomes clear why progress is comparatively “slow” on this yacht – this doesn´t feel like your ordinary “Quality. Chocolate. Squared.” Conveyor belt boat. Not all. It´s more like your autistic cousin aiming for the absolute perfect result …
Unifying prototyping with series production
In this, as I mentioned, these guys need to find a balance between constantly amassing working hours and setting up an efficient series production. Making one part one time is one thing, coming up with an idea to making sure that this part can be made a second, third and X-time over and over again, is another story. This can best be seen in a different corner of the huge workshop.
Here, large and mid-sized moulds have been set up, some in use, some stowed away already. Instead of single-item-production, for parts which will be needed to fit in further boats ordered by Pure-customers, the guys have to find a way to make them in larger quantities first. This means: Raw prototyping, possibly with the help of the huge 1:1 mock-up of the yacht´s interior, followed by the production of a female mould, as seen in the pictures above and below.
For most parts, Pure Yachts utilized the vacuum infusion technology for hardening and fixing the base materials. That´s much more elaborate and of course costly than “just” classic wooden carpentry. I know this because the boatbuilders currently fitting the interior of my yacht are working that way: Single item produced plywood furniture. Much less elaborate, but in itself costly enough. Well, this is one of the reasons why the Pure 42 is ending up with an almost double purchase list price in the end.
But it is absolutely worth it: The parts coming out of the different moulds here are not just spotless, they are beautiful too. Seamless, soft edges, fluent flowing lines. A very modern approach that will surely set the Pure 42 apart from so many other yachts, especially in the aluminum sector, where the majority of yachts display a more conservative, wood-based furniture setup.
Apart from the design and weight issues, there´s another reason why utilizing synthetics is in favor here at Pure Yachts: Insulation. Jan shows the a big item freshly out of its mould. That´s one half of the keel-case panel. It will later completely encase the huge metal part inside which the drop keel will glide up and down. “Perfect insulation”, he says and smiles. Two flies with one shot.
The origins of Pure Yachts … metal!
But not everything is wood and foam. A large portion is still metal. Underneath the boat´s hull big sheets of offcut metal are placed. Like being stamped out, big pieces are missing. Well, Pure Yachts is a shipyard for aluminum yachts – and Matthias Schernikau´s origins are in the metalworking industry. In his “first life” he founded and ran a very successful factory for high-grade escalators. Working with metal is not just his profession, it is his passion.
No wonder, back in the day, when he had ordered his Berckemeyer BM 49 he decided to bring it to his lift factory to finish it himself. This is when I got to know him a bit better. He caught so much fire that he sold his company just to set up Pure Yachts in the following months and become a professional shipbuilder. His former life as a metalworker can be seen all over the place at Pure indeed: Milling machines, cutter, drilling stations and state-of-the-art lasers are there. This is not only a serious investment but makes the shipyard literally mostly independent from suppliers. There´s hardly anything they cannot make inhouse here.
This allows for an incredible production depth here at Pure Yachts. Instead of relying on third party companies offering the same odd parts and fittings you´ll find on any boat outthere, they just make their own. On one of the metal-worker´s stations I can find a nice example for this attitude. It´s a stainless steel drawer for the ship´s galley.
Yes, there are many dozen variants of fridges and freezers out there. Developed by large brands and well know companies to be fitted into boats. But if those items offered do not fit the ideas or demands of Pure, they make those themselves. Size, volume, quality of the material used or the finishing touches: It´s a 100 per cent controlled chain this way. Is it crazy? Yes! Will it increase working hours and hence the budget? Yes, of course. But there´s a simple reason behind: This way, there´s not a single compromise to be made!
Appreciating their efforts
And you have to acknowledge and appreciate these efforts, really. I mean, looking at the backside of this drawer, those little recesses, complex shapes and angled fittings – this is pretty elaborated stuff, really! It´s not any amateur fumbling, it´s industry-grade quality. Something any future owner of a Pure 42 will surely learn to appreciate, fully legitimating the huge efforts behind.
And because the guys have the opportunity to work with laser-cutters and prime tools here, even the gauge model panels for the SeaDek flooring are precision-cut into thin metal plates. Usually this is done by simply hand-marking on cheap single-use plastic foil. Those panels are durable, re-usable indefinitely.
But of course, not everything can be made inhouse. I peek into the front locker of the yacht. The large crash-box separates the bow section from the rest of the boat, even in case of a large collision with water ingress, the boat will be save. The locker contains a huge stowage area for sails and all sorts of stuff. Here the bow thruster and some electrics are installed. A nice stainless steel chain is already fitted into the galvanic insulated anchor locker.
When it comes to third party equipment, Pure makes no concessions. At least for hull #001. Only high grade upper shelf parts are utilized. Anderson winches for once, for all other parts it´s only serious, offshore approved quality and leading brands making it into the yacht. No compromise for the first boat, that´s the overall motto. And it surely makes sense.
Final sport for the “European Yacht of the Year” sea trials
This is where the circle is closing. Schernikau and his team are determined to deliver a spot-on, high-class yacht to Barcelona where the EYOTY-sea trials will take place. Competition in his class is tough: The Pure 42 will have to live up against the XR-41 by X-Yachts, the Excess 13 or Saffier 46 SL, to name just three other serious contenders. It makes sense to stand out.
Closing my visit to Pure, I roam the other halls of the premises. Next to the already finished (and pretty impressive) “glass factory” is the second workshop, still un-refurbished. Here the carbon mast for the Pure 42 is already set up and ready to be rigged. Stakes are high, time is running: The Pure 42 will already miss the first European Yacht of the Year-session which will take place in Ijmuiden, so she has to completely beam away the jury in Barcelona! That´s seven weeks from now …
Next to the impressive (and pretty beautiful) mast the even more awe-inspiring keel is located. It rests gracefully in a wooden stand, ready to be fitted at a any moment. The massive lead torpedo onto the aluminum fin is a testament to the performance character of the yacht. The possibility to reduce draft, on the other hand, a great feature increasing the cruising versatility of this boat. Not far from here, in a sealed part of the workshop, hull #002 is already treated after it arrived from the Dutch hull-maker.
So. Here we are. Seven weeks to go. I am crossing my fingers that you guys will make it! It will be a fantastic sight seeing the boat hitting the water. A spotless hull, a colorful deck house – speeding along under Gennaker. I will follow your social media on the final spurt to finishing the boat, sending this article to my own shipyard as well. Maybe it will motivate “my” guys to put forward one or the other over-hour as well …
Here´s more on aluminum boats & true metal dream yachts:
All articles on the Pure 42
Comparing GRP yachts and aluminum: Rudder trunk details
Sailing the Berckemeyer BM 50: What. A. Pleasure!