Episode 3: No Cursing In The Cathedral

07/23/23 • 31 min

The shed – if there’s one place at Feadship that comes close to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, it’s the shed. The shed is the shipbuilding equivalent of the Silicon Valley garage. Closed off from prying eyes, it is a space purpose-built for innovation and imagination, a playground where mastercraftsmen and women come together to actually construct a superyacht. No more sketches, no more discussions – just meticulous hands-on carpentry drawn largely from 16th century shipbuilding techniques.

Feadship has several sheds around The Netherlands, but none is as large or imposing as the one in Makkum, which towers over the medieval village that surrounds it. Its sheer size and the enormous windows that shine bright with activity have earned this shed the nickname The Cathedral. This is where the big-boy yachts are built.

In this episode John enters The Cathedral with Sijbrand de Vries, director of the Makkum shipyard. He is blown away by the passion and detailing he finds inside. He also learns that master carpenters, like top chefs, are highly particular when it comes to their tools.

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Episode 2: Making The Impossible Possible

A typical superyacht has over a million components, all of which must be defined, calculated and engineered before the building even begins. And once the building starts, there’s little an owner can do to change it. So every detail, from the thickness of the glass to the type of propulsion, must be weighed against the owners’ intents and wishes in advance. That includes which innovations go on board. A lot can change in the three or four years it takes to build a Feadship, especially in the realm of technology, electronics, and materials.

Responsible for futureproofing these yachts is Feadship’s Knowledge & Innovation department. It’s their job to research how to keep pool water from sloshing during storms, to rethink the configuration of the yacht using cutting-edge cameras and sensors and to explore the boundaries of propulsion through fossil-free alternatives like hydrogen.

In this episode John tries to anticipate the future for his own yacht design, even paying a visit to a group of college students looking to prove to the maritime industry that hydrogen-propulsion is possible.

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Episode 4: The Elephant In The Yacht

After 3 episodes of exploring the boundaries of Feadship’s never-say-no culture, John finally gathers the courage to the most contentious topic in superyachting: sustainability. If there’s one industry under fire for the size of its ecological footprint, it’s the superyacht industry. Without a radical shift towards more responsible material sourcing and non-fossil fuel propulsion, superyachts run of the risk of becoming Noah’s Arks. With owners willing to spend nine figures on a boat, a few more zeroes for sustainability shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Inspired by the hydrogen-powered yacht the TU Delft students showed him in the previous episode, John wants to design the most sustainable superyacht on the planet. What fuel-reducing technologies are available to him? Are there viable alternatives to teak? And is it true that biofuels like ‘Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil’ (HVO) can already reduce a yacht’s carbon footprint by 95%? And if so, why aren’t owners doing it?

In this episode John sits down with Giedo Loeff, head of Feadship’s Research & Development team, and lays all his concerns on the table. Then he checks back in with Tanno to explore the trade-offs his sustainable choices will have on the design of his own superyacht.

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