From Bremen, Antalya and Monte-Carlo: The Drettmann-Sunrise Group, a new group of yachting companies emerges at the initiative of Herbert P. Baum, the German businessman and yachtsman who co-founded Sunrise Yachts, bringing together expertise and resources from Germany, Turkey and Monaco to offer high-quality, cost-effective yacht building solutions and services to the international market.
The focus of the group’s strategy is the re-birth of the Drettmann brand – from a successful yacht marketing firm founded 40 years ago by the Drettmann family in Bremen to what will now be a full-fledged yacht-building company with operations in Germany and Turkey. The brand will be launched – together with new yacht designs – at Boot Düsseldorf, Germany’s leading international boat show (January 22-30, 2011).
Drettmann Yachts, the rebirth of a brand
“Build me a German-quality yacht at Turkish price, and I’ll be the happiest yachtsman in the world”. This comment, ventured half-jokingly by a prospective client at Sunrise Yachts in the middle of the economic crisis, triggered what may become one of the most ambitious endeavours in the history of the superyacht industry.
The concept soon found an opportunity to materialize when Herbert Baum and Guillaume Roché, founders of Sunrise Yachts, met with Claudia and Albert Drettmann, who had tremendously grown the family group over the last 20 years, until the recent economic crisis and its consequences on the yachting market forced the company to file for insolvency in May 2010.
Drettmann had been successfully marketing several brands, including the Bandido (Bandido 170 yacht), Elegance and Premier lines built in major shipyards in Taiwan and significantly contributed to the growth of those companies in recent years. The company also operates world-class manufacturing and refit facilities at its headquarters in Bremen.
Drettmann's Bandido 170 superyacht
The thorough discussions carried out since last summer between the founders of Sunrise Yachts and the Drettmann family resulted in an enthusiastic decision: to combine facilities, resources and expertise from Germany and Turkey to re-launch the Drettmann brand as a highly competitive alternative to North European yacht-building in specific segments of the superyacht market.
Product lines and activities
In addition to the superyacht designs created at Sunrise Yachts, the company will introduce new product lines – starting at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in January 2011 – focusing on the core business and loyal client-base developed by Claudia and Albert Drettmann over the years. The activities of the company will now include:
– Drettmann Motoryachts (semi-displacement) – 20m to 37m (composite construction)
– Drettmann Explorers – 27 to 37m and above (steel & aluminium construction)
– Drettmann Superyachts – 46 to 65m by Espen Øino (steel & aluminium construction)
– Drettmann Classics – 12 to 18m (composite construction)
– Custom motoryacht projects in the 40 to 65m size range in collaboration with world-class yacht designers
– Refit up to 600 tons – to be increased soon to 1,200 tons (current projects include a 41m KaiserWerft, a 47m Heesen, and a 27m Kingship)
Group philosophy
The new Drettmann Yachts concept will make a yachtsman’s dream come true: bringing design, engineering, project management, quality control and interior outfitting from Northern Europe together with Turkey’s skilled and competitive workforce to offer yachts of uncompromising quality at a price level compatible with current market trends and client expectation. In a few words, the best brand / value-for-money available on the market. An unprecedented 3- year warranty policy will manifest the brand’s ambition in terms of quality and reliability.
Sunrise Yachts was founded in 2005 on a like-minded philosophy and, in an intense five years, has fast-tracked its recognition as one of the leading yacht builders in Turkey: setting-up an 11,000 m2 state-of-the-art facility in Antalya; bringing together a world class management, engineering and construction team from Europe, North America and Turkey; building two 45-metre motor-yachts, including the now widely publicized “Africa”, with design by Paolo Scanu and interior design by Franck Darnet; developing new designs with leading yacht designer Espen Oeino. Additionally, work is well under way on a 63m and a 47m contract.
Sunrise 47 motor yacht - Credit Sunrise Yachts
Herbert Baum states: “This strategy is our answer to a definite need in our industry. We are building up a brand that will meet the new expectations of this changing market: a smaller number of clients worldwide, seeking the ultimate value for their investment while unwilling to see the technological sophistication and overall quality standards demonstrated on the world’s best yachts compromised in any way. This was precisely our approach at Sunrise Yachts for the last years, and we are very confident we will deliver on the promise. Our ambition is to make Drettmann Yachts one of the most compelling propositions on the market.”
Guillaume Roché, Herbert’s British-French partner, a yacht-builder who will be managing the new operation, elaborates: “A German brand means a German product, with all of the positive connotations associated with the nation who has set the standard for more than a century in industrial processes and quality. Although we are proud of the level of quality achieved on our first projects at Sunrise, the new strategy means developing our operation quite extensively with the input of our German team: further integrating our engineering, growing our project management and quality control teams; establishing new interior outfitting partnerships, and more. This is definitely the most exciting project I encountered in my twenty years career as a yacht-builder”.
The Drettmann add: “Throughout its history, our company has met with great success and was also faced with challenges, and we are proud to see our brand re-launched with the ambition to equal the great North European yachtbuilders and to offer our clients spectacular new designs, a higher level of quality than ever and a very cost-effective construction solution. Our clients are the heart and soul of our business, and delivering on their dream with attentive and sensible answers has always been our philosophy.”
As part of its new strategy, the Group is also currently negotiating the acquisition of a yacht consulting, marketing and management company which will provide services to Drettmann clients and help improve their yachting experience.
