Project 'Kometa' and beyond
Heesen Yachts have recently announced details of their 70m motoryacht project, 'Kometa', and plans to build a 90m dry dock. SuperyachtNews.com speaks exclusively to Mark Cavendish, sales and marketing director, about how improving their offering to the superyacht market provides a more stable and profitable future for the shipyard.…
Heesen Yachts recently unveiled details of their new 70m motoryacht project, Kometa, currently under construction at the Dutch yard. The Heesen/Van Oossanen yacht design will be the largest built by the yard to date and features exteriors styled by Espen Øino and interiors by Sander Sinot.
“Our decision to venture into this end of the market with a 70m project is really down to us following requests from existing clients,” explains Mark Cavendish, sales and marketing director at Heesen. “The 65m Galactica Star project was for a repeat client and Kometa is also for a repeat client so it really is about following the requirements of our clients.”
Commenting on whether developing their expertise in this end of the market is a strategy towards a more stable and profitable future, Cavendish agreed that it is. “The type of client is more stable and knows what they want,” he says. “When you go for a yacht of this size, you are an experienced client and it is not just speculation.”
Project Kometa is scheduled to be launched in Spring 2016.
“Our decision to venture into this end of the market with a 70m project is really down to us following requests from existing clients,” explains Mark Cavendish, sales and marketing director at Heesen. “The 65m Galactica Star project was for a repeat client and Kometa is also for a repeat client so it really is about following the requirements of our clients.”
Commenting on whether developing their expertise in this end of the market is a strategy towards a more stable and profitable future, Cavendish agreed that it is. “The type of client is more stable and knows what they want,” he says. “When you go for a yacht of this size, you are an experienced client and it is not just speculation.”
Rendering of Heesen's 70m project Kometa
Better known for their expertise in building mid-range, semi-custom yachts, the announcement of the 70m project Kometa is representative of Heesen’s growing dedication to the larger, full-custom end of the market. “The 50m Crazy Me, 65m Galactica Star and this 70m Kometa are all full-custom projects so we have been building full-custom yachts for many years,” Cavendish adds. “It has probably not always been clear to the market that we build full-custom yachts as well because they have all been very private projects and most of the time we are not allowed to talk about them.”Mark Cavendish, sales and marketing director at Heesen Yachts
Announced at the Monaco Yacht Show, Heesen has also revealed plans to start building a 90m dry dock in 2015, further showing their intention to continue building boats at this end of the size spectrum. “We are showing our dedication to the larger end of the market but without forgetting our core business of building semi-custom yachts between 40m and 50m plus,” comments Cavendish. “We are not going to stop the production of what we are good at but we are improving and expanding our offering.”Project Kometa is scheduled to be launched in Spring 2016.
Profile links
Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.
