It is a very special year for the prominent UK shipyard Pendennis as it is celebrating the company’s 25-year history of superyacht custom build as well as refit.
Pendennis celebrating its 25th anniversary
Pendennis Shipyard Ltd was born out of a local yacht building company which was acquired by Peter de Savary and then relocated to Falmouth Docks in 1988. Pendennis’ first contract in 1988 was to build the 125′ sailing yacht La Cattiva (ex Taramber), followed by a major refit of the 228′ three-masted superyacht Adix. A management buy-out in 1993 by the current Managing Directors, Mike Carr and Henk Wiekens, was followed by their first project, a major rebuild of the 1903 classic 170’ luxury yacht Adela. Since that time Adela has been one of the company’s most regular visitors with four refits undertaken by either the Falmouth or Palma teams, including a 5m midship extension in 1996.
When Mike and Henk took over the yard 70-80 staff were on site, whereas Pendennis now employs over 320 permanent employees covering the full range of trades from engineers to painters. The company continues to grow with plans to upgrade and develop the facility in Falmouth due to commence later this year. In 2011 the refit business expanded to Palma which provides a valuable Mediterranean base for the Pendennis fleet requiring shorter programmes of work. The facility in Palma is currently undergoing refits on superyacht Va Bene and motor yacht Fair Lady with a full order book confirmed during the second year of trading.
Pendennis celebrating 25-year history of superyacht custom build and refit
Throughout its history Pendennis has delivered over 30 Custom New Builds including some of the world’s most recognizable superyachts such as motor yacht Steel, catamaran yacht Hemisphere, charter yacht Nostromo, sailing yacht Christopher and superyacht Rebecca. The refit side of the business has remained strong and continues to grow annually. To date Pendennis has completed over 200 refit projects, most recently completing the substantial rebuild of motor yacht A2 (ex. Masquerade of Sole). Alongside a number of other refit projects in Falmouth, Pendennis is currently undertaking a major rebuild of the world’s largest sloop, sailing yacht m5 (ex. Mirabella V), due to be completed this summer.
Pendennis has been privileged to work on many local and unique non-industry projects over the years, including building the current King Harry Ferry, one of the UK’s most picturesque chain ferry crossings which traverses the Fal Estuary. Its expertise in working aluminium in to curved, non linear forms led Pendennis to be commissioned to create the revolutionary NatWest Media Centre at Lord’s cricket ground in London in 1999. Winner of numerous awards, the media centre attracted enormous interest in both the national and architectural press.
Major refit of the 228' three-masted sailing yacht Adix at Pendennis
Throughout 2013 Pendennis will be organising numerous local and industry events to celebrate its anniversary. The company will also be posting historic photos and video footage to our Facebook and YouTube pages which will provide a fascinating insight into the changes in the yard and within the superyacht industry since 1988. In conjunction with this Pendennis has also initiated a ‘Crew Alumni’ scheme which encourages current and previous visiting crews to exchange information via its online social networks, provides Pendennis-specific offers with local businesses and industry contacts, as well as organising regular social events for Falmouth-based crews.
Mike Carr, Managing Director, is looking forward to the year ahead: “The past 25 years have seen an enormous change to our facility in Falmouth as well as to the superyacht industry globally. We are extremely proud of Pendennis’ heritage and feel privileged to have worked on some of the world’s most iconic vessels. The longevity of the business is testament to the quality of service that we offer and we are proud to have formed strong long-term relationships with many of our clients. Naturally the workforce at Pendennis is also key to our business – the level of pride in the quality of work that is produced by all our in-house trades has always been exceptional. The team is backed up by our award winning apprenticeship scheme which continues to provide a new generation of young, enthusiastic tradespeople. Henk and I are looking forward to seeing the business grow over the next few years and to celebrating the company’s achievements over the past 25 years with our clients, staff and industry friends.”
Below is a gallery for the outstanding charter yachts built by Pendennis.
More: Pendennis Image GalleryPendennis Charter Yacht Images
