C A R B O N
I S S U E
•
n°
29
•
2 0 2 2
[ FIVE QUESTIONS TO... ]
JAN TIMMERMAN CEO AT ROYAL HUISMAN by Désirée Sormani
What is the state of the yacht market in the Netherlands at the moment and how do things look for Royal Huisman? I can’t comment on the Dutch yacht market, but our shipyard has a strong new-build order book and an impressive array of refit, conversion and restoration projects for Huisfit.
architects of choice, our clients can start dreaming because we can build it and make their dream a reality! We can offer motoryacht clients the expertise we have acquired from our unrivalled 55 years’ experience in building aluminium sailing yachts. This enables us to maximise performance and efficiency through compact, lightweight and high strength engineering.
Royal Huisman is synonymous with sailing at its most glorious. Why did you decide to embrace motoryachts? Is this the start of a new era for RH? Our reputation is indeed largely built on a very nice portfolio of over 30 innovative low-profile sailing superyachts. That said, the team’s passion for the perfection, expertise, flexibility and continuous innovation behind these projects is not limited to sailing yachts. We are delighted our motoryacht owners accepted expert advice and came to Royal Huisman with their highly distinctive visions. We will continue to build unique superyachts: both sail and power. We are not going massively into motoryachts, however. Our future will probably be 50-50 or so.
What do clients nowadays want? Seen as a whole, our current projects really do illustrate what our clients want: from sailing yachts to motoryachts, from classic to contemporary, each with its individual focus. The common denominator is the owners’ quest for build perfection as well as proven ingenuity in delivering innovation.
Your first two motoryacht projects - Phi (just launched) and the Sportfisher - are radically different yachts. Was this a strategic move in terms of your motor market entry? The individual aspirations and challenges involved in both of these projects were well outside the comfort zone of many other yards. The Royal Huisman team welcomed these fresh opportunities for creative problem solving and innovation very enthusiastically. By partnering with well-respected designers and 16
Could you please explain Royal Huisman’s approach to alternative new propulsion systems? Sustainability is crucially important for all of us and for future generations. At Royal Huisman, we know that some owners positively encourage their design and build teams to make a difference by, for example, making their superyachts more efficient, or by applying renewable energy sources. Sometimes the obvious is not so obvious at all, such as the huge source of energy out on the ocean: wind! It frequently surprises me that the majority of superyachts are not (yet) sail-powered. Wind propulsion will always beat energy consumption onboard motoryachts. In addition to this, wind energy is ‘free’ – of charge, of fumes, and of noise. And, of course, helming a sailing yacht is great fun into the bargain...!