This is the first of a (minimum) three-part series I am going to publish over the next weeks. The story is so big that I had to cut it in three, maybe four, parts to live up to the significance of it. It is not more and not less the start of a new shipyard. Yes, I wrote „shipyard“ and I mean it! We´ve seen a lot of newcomer brands appearing and disappearing, staying around for a couple of months, some did not even make it longer than their press reports. No, I don´t mean „new brand“, I mean new „yard“.
And this is of utter significance. It is not just any new owner buying a one-off and deciding to launche a new brand. Not one of those – likeable – dreamers who think they´ve come up with the new solution and that their concept will go through the roof. I´ve talked to some of those. And I´ve seen them leave the stage more or less soon thereafter. No. This is different, I am sure. Let me tell you the story of Matthias Schernikau and Pure Yachts.
Vis-a-vis to the submarines: Kiel Sailing City
I visit Matthias a few weeks ago in Kiel. As my dear readers there might ring something in the back of your head now. Maybe the face on the picture is a bit familiar? Yes, of course! He is the guy who ordered a Berckemeyer BM 49. Not only that, as a skillful master metalworker owning an elevator factory, he had his boat completely fitted and readily built under his own supervision in his factory. These days, Matthias´ life had changed profoundly: He sold the elevator factory. Having finally admitted to his true passion, the revenue of the sale went into this. Here we are: Pure Yachts, on-site premises.
The factory grounds he bought is a multi-acres area. A former shipyard along the Kiel Bay, just vis-a-vis to the submarine shipyard TKMS. A truly historical site. A bit (well, a lot) worn down, but just as perfect when revived. Three big halls, purpose built for shipbuilding. Sliding roofs, storage, an own pierside and a huge 50 tons heavy duty lifting crane: „We can load and unload boats from trucks in front of the halls, have the boats lifted to any of the production halls or put into the water on the other side“, he explains. There´s a lot to do though, this site reminds me of my last trip to New York City when I visited the world famous Brooklyn Navy Yard. But here, Pure is a step ahead: This is a working shipyard, indeed.
A huge invest
Whereas in one of the large halls some „circumnavigators“ still have their projects set up on dry land and work their spare time to get the boats afloat, one of the halls shows what Matthias´plan envisions for the whole site: The hall has been removed to the core. Some parts, as I understand, are listed buildings (or he keeps some elements for aesthetical reasons). A brand new washed concrete floor, a completely new roof and structure. „This is what we will do with all three halls“, Matthias explains: „A complete renovation!“
This smallest of the three halls is already equipped with some seriously expensive hardware and tooling machines and thus integrated in the ongoing projects. Matthias has set up his elevator company and brought it to huge success. His lifts did not compete with the big brands of industrialized and standardized elevators but provided high-class solutions for special building projects. He knows how to set up things and arrange stuff to being able to produce high quality.
There´s a brand new 5-axis CNC-milling machine which kind of is the core center of this small hall. I know from dozens of yard visits in so many shipyards that the CNC-robot is always a kind of highlight when touring the site. The invest of buying such a machine is huge. Matthias explains: „We are making high-class products. We need to be able to manufacture complex shapes and forms out of a wide range of materials. A tool like this for me is one prerequisite to fullfil our promise to the customers. You cannot produce something great without having the basic tools.“
Pure Yachts, according to Matthias, will be a guarantee for high quality manufacture. Matthias and his mates went a long way to acquire this property. Along the Kiel Bay, a location like this was of high interest for the real estate investors: Leveling the whole area and setting up a complex of high-class housing would have meant a multi-million Euros invest. And return, above all. Matthias is happy that Kiel city council rejected these initiatives and favoured the utilization as a shipbuilding industrial site. What remains is the multi-million Euros invest, though.
„We will have a complete wall of each hall in glass“, Matthias goes on to explain. „This will be great for the people working here, but also for visitors who come and see how a boat is being built.“ Everything Matthias shows me has a purpose. And frankly, I don´t see any shortcuts, cheap solutions or workarounds turned into a matter of course. He invests heavily. I mean, I don´t know how much the sale of a lift factory can get you, but there are apparently many zeroes involved …
We end the little tour of the first hall standing in front of a ship-shaped pool. This won´t be filled with water, but rather act as a working platform for yachts with a size of up to 60 feet. Three huge hydraulic pistons are already nearby. „We will put the boats on these pistons and can have them put up and down to any height comfortable to work with.“, Matthias explains: „And just imagine you come here to collect your yacht and she is in here, leveled, like in the water. Maybe covered with a ceremonial blanket … it will be just awesome!“ Oh, yes. I can imagine! A glassy, transparent factory for boats.
The idea of a new aluminium yacht brand
Pure Yachts is not just a new production site or shipyard. It is a new brand. But not as new as you might think. Pure is no less than making the renown Berckemeyer Yachts available to a slightly wider client range. Matthias Schernikau, just like me and so many others, simply fell in love with these yachts. His BM 49 (which we will meet in a later article) was just the first step. Until now, acquiring a Berckemeyer Yacht, above all means to wait for a long time in a long line. As simple as that: There aren´t too many boats made. One of the bottlenecks is the production capacity.
Usually, there are two, maybe three, places where the aluminum hulls can be ordered. These have to be transported to even less workshops which do the interior fittings. The idea of Pure Yachts is simple: You can have your Berckemeyer yacht built here. In one place, at one shipyard. More than that, together with designer and Berckemeyer-mastermind Martin Menzner Pure has introduced two pre-designed semi-custom aluminium performance cruisers which can be ordered and built here. The Pure 42 DS (Deck Saloon) and her bigger sister, the Pure 49. „Instead of long waiting times and the enervating process of a one-off custom project, we will have everything in place to speed up the process: Pre-constructed yachts with semi-custom options and the complete manufacture in one hand. Made in Germany.“, Matthias explains. In this, Pure Yachts indeed is a new brand, a new product and the production site – closing the circle.
Pure team spirit
Hardware is one thing. But in times of serious shortage of skilled labor, having the people to turn this aspiring ideas into reality is a completely different task. As it is still early in the morning during my visit, Matthias takes me into the socializing rooms of the shipyard. Chatter and laughter is to be heard from outside. When I enter the room, the guys are having their second breakfast. A scent of freshly brewed coffee.
They greet, smile. A lush atmosphere. Young and older people together. All are dressed in uniform work-suits. It´s in the details. Matthias introduces me to every single of the almost 20 men comprising workforce of Pure Yachts. Almost all of them are skilled masters of their respected handcraft: Welders, boatbuilders, joiners. „We even hired our first apprentice“, Matthias is proud: The young man waves from the end of the table. Skilled labor shortage may be a problem, Matthias agrees, but – not unlike with the machines and tools I´ve seen – he says: „Well, you have to be ready to pay a decent salary, to accept that quality needs to be paid for. Then you will attract the right people and create a team spirit that can produce the extraordinary.“
It starts with a decent pay, uniform clothing and breakfast breaks. But the true spin is in the production. Matthias takes me into the second hall where a BM 50 yacht is in the last stage of production. Launching date is set (less than 10 days) so the pressure is kind of high. We enter the workshop and although every single employee is currently working on that boat, there is no chaos visible. Like bees or ants they are wirling around, but apparently, it is clean and sorted.
„One thing I had already introduced in my lift factory is this …“, he points to a table. It may be simple, Matthias explains, but it is the core concept of his handcraft-ethics. „Every guy working here has his own working table. It is personalized with his own dedicated set of tools and machinery he needs to work. The table is adjustible in height so that the guys don´t have to break their backbones and work as ergonomically adjusted as possible.“ The tables are on wheels so that they can be moved to the locations best for the task.
In this, the free space around the boat is occupied by a handful of these big worktop-tables. Some of which are dedicated to work on the joinery, some have rigging parts on them and some are used to work on metal parts. It´s a clever concept of being highly mobile but also highly spezialized. It shortens the way from the location of production to the place where the part is needed. This is how the bee hive of Pure Yachts works.
The collaboration with Berckemeyer Yacht Design
The core of the whole project of course is the exclusivity of working with Berckemeyer Yacht Design, aka Martin Menzner. I myself know best what the sheer sight of seeing a boat like this can „do“ to a sailor. I still vividly remember when I had my first ever encounter with a Berckemeyer yacht, a BM 43, which had instantly enchanted me. From that day onward, I have these wonderful yachts on my „Dear Santa“-list: Unattainable, but perfect for a sailor´s dream. Even for those who can afford, the process of getting one is kind of complicated and above all, time consuming.
Pure Yachts will be a place where everything comes together. Matthias explains, that his shipyard will be able to build any Berckemeyer yacht designed by Martin Menzner in the future. And his brand, Pure Yachts, are indeed Berckemeyer Yacht designs. The first of which, the Pure 42 DS, is already in the making. How serious Martin Menzner himself takes this new project is underlined by the fact that – unplanned and not ordered – he shows up in the workshop to check on the BM 50 progress. What a nice occasion!
Martin Menzner is one (if not the one) biggest names in contemporary German yacht design. As a skilled and graduated industrial designer and naval architect, Martin not only knows how to make a boat light and fast, he also has the aesthetical competence to make them look adorable. A Berckemeier yacht is always a unique sight: Simplistic, beautiful, graceful but also with a powerful entreé when coming into sight. Bringing this all together – the modern production facilities, the skilled master shipbuilders and Martin Menzner´s Berckemeier yachts – is what Pure Yachts of Kiel is all about. And this is simply eqhilarating!
Pure Yachts 42 DS – semi custom aluminium performance cruiser
As a team of three, Martin Menzner, Matthias and myself, we walk away from the workshop noise to have the guys continue to work fully concentrated, into the third and biggest of the three shipyard halls. This one currently serves as staging area and storage, but at the end of it I can see a little brightly shimmering object. A boat´s hull!
This is hull #001 of the new Pure Yachts 42 DS, ready to be fitted right when the BM 50 has left the workshop. I will publish another article fully dedicated to this yacht with all informations and many, many more pictures. For now, just this: The Pure 42 DS will be avilable as a semi-custom boat. That means that everything is pre-constructed and fully thought through already. But the potential buyer of these boats will have many more options to choose from in individualizing his boat. Many more at least than standard series production brands offer.
In this, the Pure Yachts-concept is budget wise in between the series production boats on the one end of the spectrum and the very expensive full custom or one-off yachts. Matthias is pretty confident that there is a market for this kind of boat: „There are only a handful of aluminium yachts to choose from“, Matthias says: „But Pure Yachts powered by Berckemeyer Yacht Design has some standalone feature neither Alubat, Allures, Garcia or Boreal can offer.“ And I agree: Pure Yachts and boats by Berckemeyer are optimized for lightweight performance sailing. And simply: Sailing fun. „No Pure will ever leave the shipyard without a carbon mast and square head-mainsail!“, Matthias promises. Hi own BM 49 – no less than an impressive 50-footer! – is equipped with tiller steering …
„We are here to stay!“
In times of economical decline, inflation and recession – especially here in Germany, the „Locomotive of Europe“ – this story in itself is remarkable. The strong will and determination with which Matthias is not only investing but thoroughly planning to set up, oraganize and rund a dedicated shipyard is as exciting as it can be. Investing this heavily in infrastructure, buildings, tools and above all, in skilled and motivated people, is impressive. The combination of those high-class basics with a professionally set up branding-machine under the label „Pure“ and the offer of a worldwide acknowledged product as the Berckemeyer yacht … well, if you ask me, this can be a recipe for success.
If you ask Matthias, this indeed is a recipe for success. „We are here to stay“, he re-affirms as we walk to the car after my three hours-stay draws to an end. „I am sure that the Pure 42 DS will be a success. Showing this boat in public – maybe in upcoming Boot Duesseldorf boat show – will certainly draw attention.“, Matthias says with confidence: „There is a market for high-performance aluminium-yachts, true sailing machines, easy to operate, no frills. With a clean design and made with utmost attention to handcrafted quality. I am sure!“ And I am excited! Stay tuned for the next two articles, one about the Pure 42 DS and one about Matthias´ BM 49 …
You might as well like to read:
A BM 49 in the making, parts 1 and 2
Sailing with Martin Menzner aboard PIKE
Entry level aluminium cruiser: BM 36