During October I, along with Martin Redmayne – Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Yacht Report Group, and Nicola Tyler – Group Sales Manager – paid a visit to a very grey, rainy and windy South of France to check in with some of the refit yards, namely International Technic Marine (ITM), Monaco Marine La Ciotat and Compositeworks.

At the beginning of this year, in our Refit and Repair Superyacht Intelligence Quarterly, we predicted that refit would go from strength to strength over the coming years – both as the fleet ages and requires maintenance and as more owners may see second hand purchase followed by refit as a more viable option than commissioning a new build project.  Even if order book figures slow, the existing fleet continues to need maintainance, refit and repairs – this demand can only increase as time goes by and those yards that have positioned themselves to cater for specialist refit work will find themselves well placed.  Off charter season and post-Monaco the three yards were very full, with many yachts having come to the yards directly from the Monaco Yacht Show. 

ITM

The ITM Shed (left), and Ilona inside of it (right)

Our host at ITM was Jean-Christophe Lenoir who showed us around the busy yard.  Last year ITM completed their new paint shed, (pictured above left), which is currently being put to good use with Ilona currently inside her (pictured above right), undergoing a paint job amongst other work.  Outside of the shed, plenty of other yachts were undergoing work.  The pedigreed line up included Siren (picured below right), Solemar, Silver Dream (ex Slipstream), Ocean Mercury, Pestifer, Perfect Persuasion, Elisabeth F, Drizzle, Talisman and Altitude.  Since our visit Silver Dream, Pestifer and Talisman have departed the yard after their work was completed.  The yard was clearly busy, although ITM are certainly not complacent and are hoping to continue at the same level into the next year, which Lenoir predicts will be a bumper season for refit work.

The Black Box (left) and Siren at the yard (right)

During our visit we enjoyed lunch at the Black Box – the on site crew bar (pictured above left), which serves as a central convening point for the many crew on site - with ITM organising events for them such as their recent annual Halloween party (as reported here on TheCrewReport.com).

Monaco Marine

After our visit to ITM we drove to La Ciotat to a Monaco Marine that was being battered by the waves of a very ferocious sea.  The only signs (apart from the rain!) of this in the yard however, was the gentle rocking of the yachts in the water.  Monaco Marine is currently entering its third winter season since its opening, with the yard having worked on over 100 yachts since then.  At the yard undergoing work were St Nicolas, Phoenix, Lionheart, which was lifted out of the water the day after our visit, Lady Marina, in the paint shed for a full paint job, Serenity, Harbour Moon, Fathom, Janus, Sensation, Billy Budd, TJ Esperanza, Outback, Happy Hour and Paolyre.

St Nicolas and Phoenix next to the Monaco Marine paint shed

Upon our return from rainy La Ciotat, the yard sent us the following picture, which demonstrates much better the yard with the benefit of sunshine (and the fact that English people clearly take rain with them wherever they go).

Composite Works

Rising Sun at Compositeworks

As we visited CompositeWorks, repeat customer, Queen K was just arriving.  The yard are currently very busy, with many other big names in for work including the enormous Rising Sun (pictured above), which positively dwarfed the Alloy-built Tiara in the dry dock, which was also recently home to the Lurssen built Dilbar.  The yard is looking to attract more yachts in this size category, to take advantage of the enormous dry dock available to them. Other yachts in at the yard included Mondango, Chrisco, Hurricane Run, Amorazur II, QM of London.  When asked if they have seen a change over the last year, since the onset of the recession, the yard commented that they have seen an increase in maintenance and technical work as opposed to the, perhaps more unnecessary, interior work.  The yard, in light of their busy workbook, have plans to begin building a new 50m paint shed in the next three months. 

We will be reporting on our visit to the three yards, inclusive of more candid business discussions, in The Yacht Report at a later date, so please stay tuned for a full report.  Thanks to all our hosts in the South of the France at the three yards

Words by Ellie Brade

Related Links:

Composite Works – company profile | company website

ITM – company profile | company website

Monaco Marine La Ciotat – company profile | company website