XP Asia-Pacific News-INV06

INVICTVS
TM
By Invitation Only
Issue 9 - Fall 2014
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
William Ernest Henley
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Vripack
Leaders of the Pack
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Can graffiti, street art and illegal fly poster advertising point the way to the design of
superyachts in the future? Marnix Hoekstra and Bart Bouwhuis, Directors of the Dutch
design house Vripack, believe that in the right hands they certainly can. Having completed
thousands of projects and currently employing 80 people, Vripack is undoubtedly a serious
player in the yacht design sector… but with a decidedly fun and creative approach.
By: Frances & Michael Howorth Images: Howorths/Vripack
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Founded in 1961
Vripack has
successfully
completed over
7,000 projects
T
The extraordinary story of the studio began in 1961 when one man
started designing boats in Amsterdam. Now, 53-years later, it has grown to become
the most complete design house in the world, embracing every single discipline of yacht design with
7000+ projects successfully completed. That man
was Dick Boon and the company he created retains
its name today: Vripack. Boon began his career as an
independent designer, making drawings mostly for
small yachts commissioned by yards and private individuals. The range included motor, sailing and flatbottomed yachts, made of both wood and steel.
With the financial backing of a packaging company
Vripack was launched to bring together the design
and sale of yachts in a single dedicated company. The
untimely passing of Boon’s fiscal partner and later the
financial risks involved in yacht builds forced him to return to his ‘design only’ roots. Without any shadow of
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doubt Dick Boon was a visionary light in the yacht design field. As the company grew so talented people
were recruited into it and today the firm employs over
80-people, each working within one of the five different disciplines that make Vripack stand out from the
crowd. It is not just the way that the company works
that makes them different. It begins with the way the
Directors think that truly sets them apart. One only
has to look at their method of approach in regards this
feature to understand how different they are. In our
previous designer focused pieces we have descended
upon a design team armed with cameras and notebooks and they’ve generously afforded us four or so
hours of their valuable time, during which we glean all
the information we need. Not so with Vripack. “You will
be our guests for two days in Amsterdam,” they told
us as we consulted our diaries, “And we will show you
how our own thought process drives the way we run
the company.”
Vripack's joint owners Bart Bouwhuis
(left) and Marnix Hoekstra (right), with
company founder Dick Boon in the center.
DRAWING THE BOARD
Harlem University graduates Marnix J. Hoekstra and
Bart M. Bouwhuis are the joint owners of Vripack.
Both are trained Naval Architects and both began
working with the company over a decade ago at a
time when Dick Boon was seeking a quieter life,
cruising the Mediterranean in the boat he had designed himself for just that purpose. In the early days
of ownership they referred to themselves as Sales
Director (Marnix) and Director of Design (Bart). Today
however, their business cards are devoid of titles.
“They mean little when it comes to the way the business has evolved around what we do,” explains Bart.
“Our duty is to make company ready for next generation,” says Marnix. “I confess I did want to be a tugboat Captain when I was small,” laughs Bart, adding,
“and if I didn’t like sketching boats so much I would
become a philosopher, or kindergarten teacher. Most
likely both, so you see, having that on a business card
would create entirely the wrong impression.”
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Within minutes of being collected from Amsterdam’s
Schipol airport it became very clear this was going
to be a very different type of interview! We set off
not for the town of Sneek, where their offices sit adjacent to a canal-side marina, but instead into the
very heart of Amsterdam. Parking underground we
emerge into the bustling city and move into side
streets less frequented by the day-tripper. Street
side cafes smell of coffee, pastries and the burning
of ‘fragrant herbs’, but since we were in Amsterdam
to see life in the raw and learn from it, that all seemed
quite normal. As we walk we discovered were taking
part in what Bart and Marnix call ‘trend walks’. “What
we find on the streets in cities around the world in-
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Vripack finds inspiration
everywhere and many of the
studio's team are designated
'Trend Spotters'. Marnix snaps up
some street art to add to the
10,000 images they collected
annually in research.
spires us,” says Marnix. “For example, graffiti is now
more commonly described as street art and the talent of its creators is more appreciated throughout
society. English artist Banksy is probably the most
celebrated–and heavily invested in–while others like
Shepard Fairey (designer of President Obama’s
2008 ‘Hope’ election campaign poster), Stinkfish in
Colombia, DAL in China and Mr Traso in Spain are
making an impact beyond the street. They each
leave behind their cultural commentary in the form
of street murals.” As we walk, they point out how
street art has evolved beyond spray painting to expressive methods as diverse as stickers, stencils,
knitting and even full 3D installations.
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
The two directors are not the only members of what
they call VriThink however. “Many of our staff are part
of our street army of trend spotters,” Marnix explains.
“We do this in ten of the world’s largest and most important cities. We have a walk in each of them, where
we can get a feel for what is going on in the streets and
shops, spotting what and where trends matter. Between us we take over 10,000 pictures a year, but only
shoot what we think is new and important. Every one
of those images, together with its meta data and subject matter, is entered into our database for reference
or when seeking inspiration. Once a good friend explained to me the enrichment of having a new experience every day,” says Marnix. “It was good advice to
Enrichment through daily
'new experiences' is taken from
the street and into the studio
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
“We want to harness the power
of global trends, spark debate and inspire
the next generation of superyachts
for the next generation of owners.”
get. Try it! You won’t be disappointed.” Marnix stops
and raises his camera and clicks away at some stickers stuck on drainpipes. “They are new since last I
came this way,” he explains. Returning to the same
streets week after week, year after year, they are
learning to analyze changes and shifts. Bart says,
“We believe that the new thoughts and actions we
discover can help predict the future thoughts and
aspirations of our clients.”
“But does it work?” we query. “Yes we think so,”
says Marnix. “Look at Envy the new series now inbuild at Admiral Tecnomar. We designed that line for
the new, younger owner who lives a celebrity
lifestyle. We drew upon trends for transparency and
smooth lines with bite from our trend database. The
yacht is split level, with one central open atrium, because we wanted to create transparency without
simply relying on lots of glass.” As we continued our
walk we began to appreciate for ourselves the very
real-life influences that surround us… it just takes an
informed source to first point them out.
Marnix told us, “We want to harness the power of
global trends. We want to spark debate and we want
to inspire the next generation of superyachts for the
next generation of owners.” We visited the Droog
Hotel, a shop front crammed full of design ideas and
innovations. Click, click, click went the camera carried
by Marnix as he spotted something new and exciting.
We crossed the River IJ by ferry and visited the
NDSMwerft, a former shipyard that has subsequently blossomed from disuse into an enormous
cultural hotspot. It now hosts festivals, performances, exhibitions and a wide range of other events.
It is also home to a huge range of artists, craftspeople
and theatre producers. Nearby, a once derelict cargo
crane has been converted into a three roomed bijou
hotel with views spanned the sprawling river and the
bustling metropolis on the other side of the river.
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FROM STREET TO SCREEN
Lunch was eaten in Pllek, a restaurant completely
created out of recycled cargo containers and now a
bustling gastronomic eatery and social exchange.
“You would have discarded this place had you not
known what lies behind the façade and that is what
we feel about what we have at Vripack,” says
Marnix. “What you see on the outside, as you pass
by our stand at say Monaco or Fort Lauderdale, is a
group of earnest yacht designers eager to please.
But we are so much more. Our mission is to build
better boats in less time. That is not to say we are
going to build yachts more cheaply, but given time is
money and the fact that we can engineer a yacht to
be built up to 25 percent quicker, then that may well
turn out to be the case.”
“By better,” adds Bart, “We do not mean better quality, which is a difficult concept to explain from one
project to another. In our case by better we mean
better sea-keeping, better build engineering and
better use of materials. In creating a superyacht, or
in fact any type of boat building, these are critical
steps in the making of a masterpiece rather than just
a pleasure boat. In the longer term these lead to better fuel consumption speed and greater comfort.”
Two of the most important designs to come from
company in the early days of their development
were the Argonaut sailing yacht and Aquanaut
motor yacht series. Then came the trail-blazing
Doggersbank range of motor yachts launched in
1968. Back then, the prototype measured a modest
35’ (10.8m), but by 1971 the company had built and
sold a 50’ (15m) Doggersbank, with a 62’ (19m) version appearing in 1973 and a 78’ (24m) model a year
later. Over the decades since, more than 500 Doggersbank yachts have been delivered in a multitude
of different versions.
With the advent of computers everything changed, in-
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
cluding the way Vripack began to thrive. The enormous in-house experience accrued by them during
two decades of project management meant they
were proficient in the countless aspects involved in the
design of a yacht. With new technology at hand, this
expertise now found an exceptionally efficient application. If Vripack have done nothing else they have
embraced fully every aspect of computerized design
and are at the cutting edge when it comes to adapting,
and in some cases writing, their own software. It was
perhaps the design of Turmoil, the studio’s first explorer yacht and a vessel that broke the ‘wedding cake
design’ mold, which most obviously catapulted Vripack
into the superyacht arena. Until that point they were
best known as ‘background boys’, developing drawings and calculations for shipyards and designers but
not enjoying the limelight profile of signatures on projects. Marnix jokes, “We were the best known of the
unheard of design houses back then.”
Turmoil possessed a sex appeal that made many in
the world of superyachts sit up and take note of
what was going on around them. She was a bit like
Leading the way in optimizing the
power of CAD/CAM technology,
Vripack goes as far as developing
their own software, setting new
standards in design capability.
the street art in that her lines immediately captivated yacht lovers and seafarers, while the ‘establishment’ was forced to reevaluate. Built by Palmer
Johnson in Sturgeon Bay she was completed in 1996
for the late Gary Comer, then the owner of the Lands
End clothing company. An experienced and highly
accomplished yachtsman he was intent on cruising
the world while staying off the beaten track. Already
experts in working in aluminum Vripack were noticed
by other builders keen to use the material in superyacht construction, including Heesen.
“We have worked for just about every Dutch shipyard, quite a few in Italy and several of the top names
around the world, in addition to serving owners, and
other leading designers,” says Bart, adding; “As
computerized design developed, many construction
activities shifted from yard sheds and workshops to
design offices. The last 20-years have seen a genuine revolution in yacht design, engineering and
building. I am proud of the way we have led the way
in optimizing the possibilities of CAD/CAM technologies and set new standards in design capability.”
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Arguably the most
complete service
design house in the
sector, Vripack's
approach is literally
360-degrees... like their
globe trotting yachts
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Today, Vripack functions as a professional design, engineering, naval architecture and brokerage office involved in the entire building process: Design,
construction, plate extensions, nesting, systems, interiors, new construction management, brokerage,
registration and class. Their expertise extends in VAT
mitigation and now they have set up their own interior
design studio, making them perhaps the most fully
serviced design house in the industry. In fact, there is
little the group does not offer the superyacht owner.
The company flourishes in the city of Sneek, situated
in the Southwest-Friesland, a province of the Netherlands renowned for its canals. It is a wonderful spot
and we spent the night in the Hotel de Wijnberg, a delightful and very traditional Dutch Pub and Restaurant
in a building that has been a hotel since 1651! With a
window overlooking the canal, the next morning, we
were able to see from our bedroom that Bart and
Marnix had arrived by boat and were dutifully waiting
to take us on the next part of our adventure.
We boarded the Interboat Neo, a 23’ (7m) Vripack
variation of the ever-popular American pontoon
boat and set off. Designed by Vripack’s small craft
From 23' pontoon boats
to solar powered race craft and
megayacht projects, there
appears to be no corner of the
nautical sector that Vripack hasn't
reached out and touched.
division she offers all the attractions of such a design; a wide beam, spacious seating areas fore and
aft, along with a pedestal helm. Unlike most craft in
this genre however there are no outboard motors,
but instead a single inboard diesel engine set amidships. The clever underwater profile still allows this
boat to be wonderfully stable and can achieve both
planning and semi-displacement speeds despite requiring a box keel for the shaft. Engine sizes vary
from 30 to 150hp. It is the perfect boat for canals,
rivers and lakes and if ever it were to be imported
into the USA would be perfectly at home on the Intercoastal waterways.
HERE COMES THE SUN
Officially we were not here to test this little boat, nor
to enjoy the delights of the Dutch canals lined with
boats at the bottom of every garden, but we did
both! Our real reason for being on the canal was to
witness the start of a leg of the Frisian Solar Boat
Challenge. The 6-day, 137-mile race using boats that
are solely powered by the sun starts in Leeuwarden,
the capital of Friesland, and follows the classic route
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Marnix Hoekstra: My favourite…
Motorcar Porsche 365
Motorbike Royal Enfield
Movie of all time Forest Gump
Movie star Grace Kelly
Music artist Crosby Stills & Nash
Air Plane Dakota DC3
Food type Italian
Form of relaxation Skateboarding
SuperYacht Eco
City (in the world) Queenstown New Zealand
Superyacht destination)Vietnam
Classic superyacht Delphine
Bart Bouwhuis: My favourite…
Motorcar Aston Martin DB9
Motorbike Honda Goldwing with Trolly
Movie of all time Ice Age
Book Wild Swan by Jung Chang
Movie star Johnny Depp
Air Plane Boeing Dreamliner
Form of relaxation Sailing downwind
SuperYacht Senses
City (in the world) Istanbul
Superyacht destination Patagonia
Classic superyacht Velsheda
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of the Eleven City Tour, with Sneek being one of
those cities. In harsh winters it is also incidentally the
course of a grueling Dutch speed skating contest.
The solar powered boat race, which runs every other
year, features international teams from countries
from as far away as Brazil and China.
The race is divided into four different classes, dictated by the boats technical specifications, solar
panels and crew size. The top class with virtually no
restrictions features ultra-modern craft that reach
spectacular speeds. Class A is contested with just
one crew in a boat that uses panels supplied by organizers and sponsors. Boats in class T are allowed
a 2-person crew. The extra passenger makes building and racing the boat a particular challenge. Perhaps the most exciting is class however is the V
category that features the all new V20-class designed by Vripack which, just a week or so after we
saw them race in Sneek, attracted the attention of
the superyacht world when racing in Monaco.
“It is all about hull optimization,” says Bart. “That factor alone is far more important than any other green
initiative, be it on these very light solar powered
yachts or the biggest of superyachts.” Marnix
chimes in: “Get the hull right and the consumption will
drop dramatically no matter what the size of yacht.”
He adds, “It is ironic how many owners will worry
about the look of the topsides and not fully understand why we as naval architects spend so much
time and effort on drawing the underwater profile.”
Bart explains, “That is why we are here to watch the
solar powered yachts, highlighting how it is their hull
design that is critical for maximizing range and speed
gained through solar panels.” In the past three races
Vripack had entered their own team in yachts designed by the studio. Marnix explains the current position. “We realized that if we created our own
one-class design more and more people could compete and as a result technology would move faster
towards the goal of using bigger and bigger engines
driven by solar power. We have set the standards of
the hull size, specified the shape and weight and
standardized electrical system and solar panels.
What we have not done is insist on the design of the
DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Vripack's one-design
class is calculated to
focus development
of solar racer's foils
and propellers...
foils and the propellers the boat uses. That way the
participant invests in the two technologies that will
make the most difference when it comes to speed
across the water. By staying close to our one-class
design we hope to benefit from the research that
goes into these developments.”
To date five V20 class yachts have been built. The
Royal Dutch Navy very quickly took up the challenge
as did two technical colleges in Holland. Two private
individuals both connected to the superyacht industry have also purchased one and in Monaco, at the
worlds first ocean solar powered race, they competed under the team colors of Nakimoff Racing and
Team Beluga powered by Synergy.
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
Project Envy (top), a startling project for the Admiral shipyard that transforms for day and night use, with a rendering of MY Illusion (below).
FLYING THE FLAG
With the boats past us and racing towards glory at the
next stop–provided the sun stayed out–we headed
back to the Vripack studio’s private dock. As we approach we noticed three flag poles each flying different flags; Friesland and the Netherlands were obvious
choices, by why the flag of our country? “That’s because you are our visitors today. Even if you came
from Outer Mongolia we would find and fly your flag
when you come to see us,” grins Marnix. Waiting to
greet us at the berth is company founder Dick Boon,
who assures us he came especially to see us. “Don’t
believe a word of it,” says Bart, “Despite having sold
us the company he is always here, he has his own desk
and he works on projects of his own choosing.”
With obvious affection Marnix adds, “We love having
him here in the complex. Dick is so very much part of
our company that we cannot conceive of a time
when he is not here, even if he does now spend several weeks away cruising in the Greek islands. Dick
was at the forefront of design and technology when
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
VRIPACK DELIVERS…
A brief sample of superyachts from the 7,000+ Vripack designed yachts delivered…
YEAR
YACHT NAME
LENGTH
SHIPYARD
1996
Dione Sky (ex Turmoil)
151’ (46.20m)
Palmer Johnson
2001
AlumerciA
123’ (37.69m)
Heesen Yachts
2001
Zeepaard
122’ (37.18m)
Chantier Naval JFA
2003
Private Lives
120’ (36.58m)
RMK Marine
2003
Jasmin
120’ (36.84m)
RMK Marine
2007
Bystander
138’ (42.18m)
Chantier Naval JFA
2008
Ingot
153’ (46.90m)
Burger Boat Company
2008
Beothuk
102’ (31.11m)
Kuipers Woudsend
2009
Latitude
148’ (45m)
Timmerman Yachts
2010
Christina G
108’ (32m)
Kingship
2011
Axantha II
141’ (43m)
JFA Chantier Naval
2011
E&E
138’ (42m)
Czgi Yacht
2012
MY Star
137’ (41.90m)
Kingship
2012
NED70
70’ (21.45m)
NED Yachts
2013
Moonen 100
00’ (31.00m)
Moonen Yachts
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DESIGNER PORTRAITS
From hand drawn sketches
to detailed renderings, the
glazed duplex superstructure
of MY Casa takes shape.
he started the company, in much they same way as
we lead the pack today. Dick has a passion for a stable yacht and was one of the pioneers of creating
stable designs to aid the likes of Koop; he actually developed the early yacht stabilization systems that
are in use now. Dick’s specialty was, and perhaps still
is, usability. He cared little for what a boat looked like
and felt–as we do–that the boat should look the way
the owner hopes to see it. He embedded that concept into our company DNA and it is still here.”
Bart says, “We perhaps do not get as much of the
credit as we deserve and whilst that does not matter
financially, it does from a moral building point of view.
Our guys work so very hard at what they do.”
Marnix adds, “The fact is Naval architecture as such
is an underestimated science and in our opinion no
one pays enough attention to it. If they did we would
have much more comfortable boats that would be so
much more fun to be at sea in.”
Vripack maybe the ultimate backroom boys having
performed the engineering for just about every
major superyacht builder or their sub contractors,
they might be the most famous of the un-famous in
the industry, but the fact remains the superyacht industry has a very good reason to be thankful that
Vripack thrives and is showing every sign of continuing to do so.
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