47m motor yacht Aquamarina, built by the prestigious Italian shipyard ISA in 2006, has undergone an intensive six month refit at the Brisbane-based Rivergate Marina & Shipyard. The refit of the Aquamarina superyacht was completed within budget as well as ahead of schedule, meeting all the customers´ expectations.
The primary focus of the refit was to complete exterior refinish which was undertaken by Rivergate´s contractor, Superyacht Solutions. Superyacht Solutions has a longstanding international reputation for large scale applications of special effect coatings on vessels.
This was no ordinary paint job, it incorporated unique colours, effects and specialised equipment and techniques. It was also the largest white boat special effect refinish to be completed in Australia!
The coatings used on the luxury yacht Aquamarina were formulated in Europe by DuPont and air freighted to Australia specially for this project. The hull was finished in a glacier metallic blue and the superstructure in a stunning pearlescent. The formulations, applications, colour and effect of the eight coats of metallic applied to the hull and the ten coats of pearlescent applied to the superstructure had to meet exacting criteria.
Prior to the final coatings being applied to the ISA superyacht Aquamarina, test panels underwent digital testing with Dual Wavescan and Cloud Runner technologies. This was to ensure all aspects of the design and application criteria would deliver the result required by the clients.
It is interesting that these technologies are also used by prestige automobile manufacturers (e.g. Bentley, BMW and Jaguar) to set criteria, test values and provide outcomes for their prestige vehicle coatings.
The collaboration of Rivergate and Superyacht Solutions on the 47m motor yacht Aquamarina has focused attention on the high standards this team delivers, even when the project is technically demanding, time constrained and rigorous.
Rivergate´s Manager, Andrew Cannon, says that DuPont Performance Coatings, have expressed their considerable satisfaction with the results, describing the finish as “fantastic”. Appointed principal contractor by the Aquamarina yacht´s Monaco-based managers, Yachting Partners International (YPI) has also been effusive in its praise of the professionalism of Rivergate and its team, the results achieved and the redelivery ahead of schedule.
Aquamarina´s new exterior paint work can only be described as ´simply the best´.