For me, roaming a shipyard is like entering a candy shop: It is a fascinating place, full of interesting things to discover. Like a giant amusement park, there is a new attraction in every corner. It´s a place of happiness and positivity for me. Cool people, skilled craftsmen, exerting their almost magic capabilities on amazing materials of all sorts to create one of the most beautiful and fascinating things humans invented: Boats. Ah, I love it!
For me, any shipyard is interesting: Be it the huge series production companies where boats come off the assembly lines literally at an hourly pace; or be it the smaller, manufactory-like workshops of brands which exceed in individual craftsmanship, semi- or full-custom building or which just produce the most elaborate or intricate yachts. I feel happy and, strangely, at home. I am not a boatbuilder or craftsman myself, I´ve learned it the hard way during my four year refit of the King´s Cruiser. Yet, that futile attempt to refurbish a sailing yacht was indeed a pretty insightful apprenticeship into what boatbuilding is like.
So, here´s a nice story I picked up a few weeks ago when visiting the Pure shipyard in Kiel. It was a wonderfully sunny day, which was amplified by the “glass factory”-concept of Pure. Working conditions but also the impression for visitors (or later: potential clients) inside the workshop where thus perfect. Natural light in abundance. There, in one of the corners, I saw a big life-sized mockup of the Pure 42 sailing yacht. The story of this model shows just wonderfully the whole range of modern boatbuilding and the set of skills needed to shine.
Deep level digitalization
Matthias Schernikau, initiator and CEO of Pure Yachts, shows me around. I´ve acknowledged in their social media channels that a mockup had been built quite some time ago and so I ask him to tell me the whole story: Why “wasting” time in constructing such a huge 1:1 model of the yacht? “Well”, he says: “it all starts at the computer.” Of course: As with almost all boats built nowadays, the naval architects and designer almost all work with modern technology. Even if some would do pencil sketches, the final design by the designer is submitted in form of bits and bytes.
As for the Pure 42, the designer of the yacht is Martin Menzner of Berckemeyer Yacht Design. You may have come across this name and his beautiful boats many times over on NO FRILLS SAILING, which is no wonder. For me, Martin´s designs will live rent-free forever in my head as being the most attractive aluminium sailing yachts there are. Be it the bigger performance cruising yachts – and yes, these boats are mighty powerful! – or the smaller boats, which by the way is even harder to design compact but beautiful, balance yachts. But back to the Pure 42: She is a Berckemeyer Design. And so the shipyard received the initial set of CAD designs by Martin Menzner.
As the approach of Pure Yachts is to utilize the latest technology and machinery for production, like laer-cutters or multi-axis CNC milling machines, much, much more data were needed. In essence, anything that was to be made by a robot needed to be defined and designed in 3D – maximum depth of detail. “We digitalized – and are still digitalizing – the yacht down to the tiniest detail. Every nook and cranny, every screw, if you will.”, he explains. So much extra effort. Why?
The need for a life-sized mockup
Unlike many of the Berckemeyer yachts out there, the Pure 42 is to be a series production boat. The idea behind Pure is indeed to serialize this product. Series production means that most parts are made many times over – handcrafting those makes no sense as working hours would pile up (ask me about this, I am just having my own new boat build like this!) thus increasing the price. Series production, if industrialized or standardized to a certain point, will get prices down.
For Pure, it´s not so much about getting the price down. With a minimum budget of one million Euros needed to sustain a Pure 42, she won´t be a bargain boat. The point is about customization within that standardization. What this means is simple: Customers ready to spend that amount of money for such a special yacht always certainly will want extras. Customizing parts, cabins, even details. Buying a Pure 42 is not about your ordinary “choose a cushion color”, but also about adding or seriously changing things. Therefore, total digitalization and thus the whole process from rapid visualization in the design-phase to easy manufacturing of the changed parts is needed.
The mockup they´ve set up in the shipyard´s sunny corner is fascinating. It is not the usual coarse “almost fit” model. I´ve seen many mockups so far, mostly interiors like here at Pure, on some occasions, for example for the then still in development First 36, just parts, like the cockpit to test winch and line layout. This Pure 42 mockup is different. First, their laser cutting machine produced the steel frame. Detailed 1:1 reproductions of the frame and bulkheads from bow to salon entrance.
But it wasn´t quite that easy though: Of course, the frames, the longitudinal stringers and all metal parts had to be re-designed. “You cannot just take the original parts as designed”, Matthias explains: “We had to come up with a system to connect them. Like a giant 3D-puzzle.” The frames were meticulously altered, tongue-and-groove joints were added, some needed to be partitioned to fit the cutter´s maximum size. Welding points, plug connections as well as screwed gusset plates added. “In reality, constructing the mockup from the yacht´s plans felt like designing a whole new product”, Matthias says. The whole building process lasted for more than four weeks. It´s a fascinating piece of craftsmanship. We begin our walkthrough by entering at the back – just as you would when leaving the cockpit to go inside.
A completely different yacht walkthrough
It´s a working model, Matthias insists. Not a high-glossy mock-up aimed at sales support. You may know those from private jet companies, elaborate, wonderfully crafted models that really feel like a real plane. This one is a tool: “Our designers, craftsman and boatbuilders really work with this mockup”, he tells me. Thus, as much as the metal frame is made with high-level precision and high grade steel material, as much more crude or rough the wooden interior is set up. “This is meant to give a real life impression how things are in reality.”, Matthias says.
I can understand that: As nice as drawings and renderings are, these are always just two-dimensional visualizations. How things really work out, how they really feel in terms of their size, their impression and real impact on an overall picture can and only will be seen when experienced in real life size and context of a three-dimensional volume. I´ve experienced augmented reality as well, but there is no comparison of this – undeniably fascinating – impression to reality.
This suddenly becomes so apparent as I found myself standing in the very salon of the Pure 42, comparing the feeling to the 3D-rendering of this area. First of all: The pictures cannot convey the true volume of the real thing! This is especially apparent in the boat´s salon, at least I feel that way. On the rendering, it looks of course very nice and the fisheye-lense-effect makes it appear even bigger, but only standing inside the mockup model in reality does really transfer the true size and feel of this all. “That´s why we do it”, Matthias says, but that´s only the first reason.
Testing new ideas
“We are also scrutinizing things, take nothing for granted”, he explains. Does the angled shape of the saloon´s table really work, or do they need to shove off some more material? Is getting oneself comfortable behind the table working just fine or do they have to adjust the seat height? “We are really testing things out. All of us”, Matthias explains: There are big guys, like him, and smaller people working at the shipyard. How does it work for different body sizes and even shapes?
Men and women may have different approaches and feelings. It´s about general impressions, but also about adjustments, be it bigger or smaller. Matthias points to a roughly ramshackle wooden construction: “We discovered that maybe a little fold-out seat for the galley, attached to the saloon table´s foot would be a great idea. Serving the ship´s cook when preparing a dinner.” Such an idea wouldn´t have emerged without the guys utilizing the mockup and “playing” how sailing and using these parts of the yacht would feel like in reality. “That´s the second reason why we set this thing up”, Matthias smiles: “New ideas emerge by re-enacting usage.”
The outcome: Optimized ergonomics
How this turns out in reality can be seen in the galley of the Pure 42. The rendering is already very nice, especially the little details like the recessed grabs for opening and closing the push trays. But how tall should it be? What´s a perfect height for worktop of the galley? Yes, there are standardized measurements, but do these work in the confined space of the boat´s saloon?
“When we had finished setting up the steel frame and bulkheads of the yacht, we started to make the wooden parts”, Matthias explains. As those aren´t meant to look nice or sell anything – and because of the fact that these get altered, changed and probably sometimes thrown away to being replaced, over and over again, the choice of material was easy: As cheap as can be! So, simple veneered wooden plywood had been utilized. In the case of this ship´s kitchen, it turned out quite nicely.
Standing in front of the galley, with the stove not assembled so far – I can really experience the feeling what it would be like. Preparing a full meal here: Do I have enough room for a chopping board, some vegetables and bowls? Do I have to bend down too much or is it good for my back? This situation is a like a stage, a theatrical production which enables me to really immerse into this place. Matthias points to one corner …
“… this is one of the not-so-tiny details, we´ve been discussing about a lot.” How and where to put the sink? One big or two sinks? Is there enough room for the tap? For the trash bin, is it really a good location? Vice versa, the top loader fridge: Opening of the lid in which direction? When placed on this very location, how deep can somebody reach down to the bottom of the fridge before it becomes unbearable? I begin to understand why the building process of the “real” Pure 42 appears to be that long. There´s so much to rethink and decide, still. “If we have asked these questions during building of the real yacht, time, effort and money would have went through the roof”, he says.
“We have the volume anyway …”
We proceed with our walkthrough. Going down a few steps from the saloon, to the portside a large cabin opens up. The main bathroom of the yacht. Matthias tells me that initially it was projected to have a complete bathroom, WC and shower. “Just like as we´ve done it in the galley, at some point during the design of the boat we somehow felt that the interior space in the bathroom may feel a bit cramped if we´d fitted the WC in here.”, Matthias explains. And so, he says, they played around a bit.
“Taking out the toilet in the first place freed the room instantly. Now it became clear how huge interior volume really was! Amazing!” As the Pure 42 has the volume anyway, they set up a dedicated WC-room vis a vis. “We have the volume anyway”, he says. To starboard side a little head had been introduced. Thanks to the mockup, I can go inside this room now. “It seems so simple, but its not. Really”, Matthias says. Because changing one detail often inevitably means that many other things have to be changed too: Just think of the piping for a head.
But it´s worth it, in the case of the wet rooms aboard the Pure 42. By separating the WC from the bathroom, it makes live aboard much more easier. A thing I have tested myself aboard the Oceanis 46.1 multiple times, and I really like it. In the morning, men can take their traditional dumps while the ladies get ready in the shower. No stink, no wet floor. As sailing the Pure 42 deck saloon yacht will preferably done by sailing couples, this is indeed a good thing.
The newly created toilet room can now be walked and tested. A toilet bowl is placed inside, the rough bathroom cabinet is made. “You can now really sit down here”, Matthias says: “Well, not really doing your business, but you can check and test how it feels inside.” Like, for example, is it comfortable to get down your pants and sit down on the toilet? I mean, I have experienced so cramped WCs on yachts in my life, in some, you literally had to open your zips before entering the toilet. Or just think of the first version of the First 36 head, where the door swung open inside the room, making it virtually impossible for plus-sized people to close it. (It´s changed now, by the way.)
This is the third reason for investing that much time, money and effort into a real life mockup: It can be a great tool to question a design, to come up with alterations and even new ideas. Thus refining the initial concept and produce an even better solution. For the separation of bathroom from WC it works beautifully. This example also shows how much intertwined the modern world of 3D-CAD-designing and life-sized models can be in reality. Proceeding the yacht´s mockup further to the bow, Matthias shows me the fourth reason for the mockup: Customization.
From pencil sketches to serialized custom production
Just forward of the head and vis-à-vis the bathroom, to starboard side, the Pure 42 features a multifunctional space. In the mockup, as well as in the first boat to be build, this room is dedicated to house a pilot berth and some stowage underneath. The mockup shows the berth in a rough manner. Again, the guys can test now if getting inside and outside the berth is comfortable. Is there enough head space when the occupant sits on his bunk?
But there is more: This area can be customized by future owners. Matthias shows three nicely done pencil sketches, showing different solution for utilizing this area. There is a double bunk configuration for example: If you sail with occasional or even frequent guests. The Pure 41 has as well a nice boat office-solution for digital nomads or entrepreneurs who want to utilize their yacht for maintaining their businesses: And to my delight, there´s also a nice design featuring two Captain´s Chairs and a little Rum-closet.
Matthias says that maintaining an approach that is focused on maximum efficiency through series production or at least rapid production methods utilizing digitalized data makes sure that the boat can be reproduced at the same high quality standards over and over again, it also makes it possible to agree to incorporating ideas from the owners. Moving around ones and zeroes for the design and testing it with rough plywood in the mockup is much faster, easier and in the end cheaper, than true 100 percent handcrafted customization. “That´s the core of the Pure-idea in the end”, he says.
A feedback loop
As fascinating and forward-thinking this approach is, there is always the danger of losing oneself inside the process. Positive feedback loops aren´t necessarily what you want in this respect: If every change will spawn the need for another change (or more than one change), the risk is there. “You need to focus”, Matthias says: “As much as we all love to being creative, in the end, we need to scale down, simplify and try to avoid chain reactions.” In the meantime we arrive in the bow. It´s fascinating how much rendering and reality differ.
The forward cabin rendering shows a classic V-berth configuration with some stowage underneath the bed, shelves and cabinets. Pure-like simply design, tasteful colors and materials applied. I smile, as I remember having had the same discussion some weeks ago with the shipyard that is building my Omega 42. There, I have a V-berth in the owner´s cabin as well. But I don´t like the recess in the middle, so I asked the guys to simplify it, close this “gab” and just make a simple triangular bed-shape. Looking solely onto the Pure 42-rendering, the same question may arise.
Standing inside the mockup and looking at the real-life bed however is a different thing. I´m afraid my picture cannot convey it, but the true size of the Pure 42 front bed is absolutely huge! The forward part alone is so wide and covers so much area, that I could imagine most people would fit here. So, there´s no need at all to close the “V” between the two butterfly-wings which make the bunks. There it is again, this mockup-vs-rendering effect: Seeing stuff in reality makes you to fully grasp it.
But it can be the other way round as well: Which is seen best in the owner´s cabin. This is situated underneath the saloon. The mockup shows a rough joinery made of crude wooden boards. Not very “nice”, not very “convincing” or inviting. Here, the mockup lacks detail and I find it hard to imagine how this cabin would be like when finished. Matthias shows me the rendering, which changes the situation completely …
The rendering shows this cabin in all of its glory: The nice bed, a tasteful interior setup, a huge locker and the reduced by beautiful design accents. Both, front cabin and owner´s cabin are a great example of how the digital world can influence the real world and the same way around. If in the end the product is more refined, fine tuned and elaborate than the material with which the process had been started in the first place, it must be good, right?
Is the effort worth the outcome?
Well, that´s the real question. Sure, these guys would have maybe finished the first Pure 42 boat by now if they had skipped the full digitalization (which is still ongoing) and the production of the mockup model. And I am pretty sure that the outcome would have been a very attractive, good looking yacht. As the principle concept and lines of the designer remain untouched, sailing properties are for the most part unchanged. “For now we´ve invested a lot of time, effort and lastly also money”, Matthias says. “But I am sure it will pay off soon.”
Latest with their second, third, fourth order it will: Making slight and even bigger changes not only possible but also welcome, any new client ordering a Pure 42 will have the chance to see his extras and alterations realized quite quickly. Due to the full digital model both in 3D – and thanks to this mockup also in real life size. As I am a great fan of these Captain´s Chairs down below, that´s something I´d be asking for if it was my project.
I hope that I didn´t promised too much at the start of this article. It´s really a very rare occasion that a shipyard openly shows and talks about mockups. Mostly, these models are destroyed or repurposed once their mission is fulfilled. Also mockups are often treated as if they were state secrets, I´ve experienced this many times over in other shipyards. You found this equally exhilarating and interesting as I? Subscribe to the monthly NO FRILLS SAILING-Newsletter and never miss a new story.
More on this topic, related articles of interest:
All articles on the Pure 42 sailing yacht
Mockup vs. reality: Comparing the Solaris 40 model and real boat (LINK)
Making a Class 40-model for my kids