Carpentry and joinery on board the modern superyacht

Carpentry and joinery is an extremely important part of any boat, especially a superyacht, and there are many different jobs a carpenter will be required for on board. Below we take a look at the trends in the superyacht industry, as well as looking at one of the most important jobs in superyacht carpentry; looking after the yacht’s deck.

Design and carpentry of today’s superyachts

Jens Henriksen of leading Antibes-based carpentry company Henriksen Yacht Services (HYS), explained how the design of the superyachts is changing, causing carpentry companies to alter their skills and craftsmanship.

Interiors of superyachts

For the interior of the yachts a mix of materials between wooden floors, carpet, tiles and glass is now often the case. The high gloss varnish interior is not in fashion any more. The boats look very much like a contemporary house inside; there are more open spaces and fewer cabins. The furniture is often off-the-shelf furniture that is being modified and mounted inside the boats, making the production cheaper and faster. The overall quality in the yachting industry has gone down due to “industrialising” in the industry and prices being forced down.

Jens commented, “Therefore our every day job has become more challenging due to the many different materials that are used and we had to educate ourselves to use these materials, as not to lose touch with the new designs coming to market.”

Less exterior furniture

There is a lot less exterior furniture on the yachts now, they are of a more simple design; this gives more deck space but of course less storage. The furniture is also generally now painted and the worktops are made using other surfaces such as stone or other materials, there is less made in wood as there used to be. Capping rails are non-varnished if existing at all on the new type of yachts. They use stainless steel much more for construction material and glass.

Teak decks

The teak planks on the teak decks are becoming wider with fewer details. This makes it easier to lay the decks but due to the really wide planks there are often problems with the expansion of the wood.

Grey/white caulking is often now being used in teak decking, but there are still big problems with these products due to the UV filters and are not quite efficient yet.