One of the many megayacht yards I visited last week was Icon Yachts, a newcomer to the shipbuilding world. Oddly enough, the most interesting part of the visit was not seeing hull number one take shape—which I photographed above–but rather a discussion between managing director Wim Koersvelt and the gathered journalists on whether the yard could indeed claim it’s a custom builder.
The centerpiece of the discussion–which sounded more like a dispute at times–was what Koersvelt called the “optimized technical platform.” In brief, at Icon the hull as well as technical and crew areas have designs that are not open to reconfiguration. The yard welcomes owners and their designers to choose their own exterior styling and arrange interior and exterior living areas however they wish, but when it comes to the engine room, crew accommodations, piping and venting runs, and the wheelhouse, for example, no changes are permitted. Some of the configurations of guest areas, like the en suite heads, are even limited because plumbing pipes are fixed.
A handful of the journalists argued that by setting certain areas in stone, Icon could not claim to be a fully custom builder. Koersvelt replied that the optimized platform was the result of studying what the market wants: high-quality technical components, comfort at sea, good living conditions for crewmembers, and, equally important, efficiency in time and money. By determining ahead of time what the best location is for pipes and what engine package results in the best performance, Koersvelt said, the yard can precut pipes and have them welded into the hull before each section of the hull is attached. The yard can also test and prep engines, gensets, and other components further in advance than its competitors can, he added, helping to reduce the build time and save the owner money.
I worked over both sides of the argument inside my head and even with a few of my fellow journalists, and while I’m leaning towards Icon’s definition, I’m still wrestling with the semantics. There are some well-established custom yards that buy only certain engines, for example, so is Icon’s approach any different than that? Then there’s at least one other yard that insist on starting with crew accommodations and the engine room in every design package, not the owner’s and guest areas, to ensure ample space is devoted to them. Does that mean its yachts can’t be considered custom?
Then there’s yet another argument: Does it really even matter? As long as owners get what they want at the end of the day, do some even care about piping runs welded in advance and potentially limiting options?
So, I’m opening up the floor to you: What do you think? Some of you are captains who’ve overseen build projects and can speak from experience; others are brokers or even builders. And still others are purely enthusiasts but no less entitled to your opinion. I look forward to your comments.
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