Approved Franchises

Yacht Services Franchises

What does a yacht franchise consist of? Below are some services that they provide.

Custom Building

In an age of production line boatbuilding yachts have become like most consumer products; designed to follow trends and constructed to the demands of competitive pricing and profit margins. Many prospective owners yearn for the sheer quality that only custom building can achieve, but are put off by the cost. There is a third way that many owners have successfully exploited. With the right expertise it is possible to build to an individual specification AND save around 30 per cent of the cost of an equivalent production boat.

Skene Yacht Services specialises in these projects. They usually involve building on a stock hull and deck, or simply hull where a one-off deck and coach roof is required. The key to cost reduction is in efficient management of the project and strict control of overheads, without sacrificing quality of materials or workmanship.

Few yachtsman realise that a hefty slice of the price of the new boat they buy at Earls Court has little to do with the vessel itself. How many thousands has he paid for the company's overheads, including everything from the office computers to the chairman's Mercedes? These costs can be eliminated in a tightly-managed operation. Where an owner has skills or time to contribute himself they can be reduced even further.

If you tell us the kind of vessel you would like they can quote you figures. If you would like a production boat finished to your own specification or interior design they can get the most attractive deal possible.

Interiors

The interior of any yacht is usually its defining feature. It can certainly be a crucial factor in enjoying the vessel and making sure it holds its value. Many production yachts built today have pre-fabricated interiors which, although superficially attractive, owe more to the shop fitting industry than traditional boatbuilding.

There is no substitute for hand-crafted joinery in a first class yacht and they pride themselves on their ability to create just that. They can build in any wood available today and have recently completed projects in maple, cherry and, of course, the most durable of all timbers for marine use, teak.

They can help you design an interior that will suit your plans, or merely adjust an existing design to allow a little more space in one area or another. They can custom design furniture and have recently developed a new design for a highly-efficient refrigerator-freezer, fitted into the seagoing galley as part of the joinery.

Decks

Nothing stamps quality on a yacht like a beautifully executed teak deck. At Skene Yacht Services they specialise in hand-laid, swept planking using traditional snap joints that evoke the inimitable style of the finest yachts of the classic era.

Nowadays, of course, methods of laying the deck have changed and they use a system which bonds the teak planking to the substrate, often fibreglass, without visible fastenings. The technique, using high quality epoxy glue, is well-tried and favoured by most of the world's experienced yacht builders.

Some yacht owners are put off by the cost and weight of a teak deck, but they may not realise that options exist to cut down on both. Using modern techniques planks can be made thinner without significantly losing the strength of the deck. If you are not sure whether you can afford either the cost or weight of a teak deck it is well worth calling us. The numbers may surprise you.

Wooden Hull Construction

Wooden construction, using modern techniques and resin technology, is fast becoming the building method for many discerning owners. The reasons are clear: a wooden hull, glued with epoxy, is in many ways superior to fibreglass and metal construction.

They specialise in a method that uses the unique properties of high quality timber to the best advantage. They laminate ring frames incorporating floors, deck beams and knees, in one piece, usually from mahogany. Strip planks, finished to a perfect fit, are built up around the frames and bulkheads using epoxy glue and nylon fixings. Then they fix veneers of mahogany at right angles to each other in double-diagonal fashion, saturated in epoxy, to create an exceptionally fair surface. This is then sheathed with glass cloth in epoxy to provide abrasion resistance and a base for the paint system.

Hulls built to this method are exceptionally strong, light and stiff. Experience has shown, over many years, that they are also durable without the problems commonly associated with osmosis in fibreglass and corrosion and electrolysis in metal.

There are other significant advantages. The boat is being built as soon as work begins; no tooling is required and there is a concomitant saving in time and money. Among hulls recently completed by their team was a 56 foot classically-styled vessel for Spirit Yachts of Ipswich, a leader in the field of modern wooden boat construction and a company renowned for its superb craftsmanship and highest of standards. They would expect to build a similar hull in about 10 weeks.

In acknowledging the practical benefits of modern wooden construction, they should also recognise two very important elements - aesthetics and sentiment. They take great pride in constructing out hulls to a high level of precision. This means the planking, visible on the interior, requires only a light sanding and varnish treatment to create a wonderfully attractive, warm finish. This saves time and money in the fit-out, of course, but perhaps more importantly it offers a constant reminder that this vessel is that unique source of joy - a wooden boat.