ONBOARD Magazine summer 2021

Teak a
long hard
look
Durable, low maintenance and visually pleasing, the
new synthetic alternatives to traditional teak superyacht
decking are beginning to show their advantage over the
natural product they seek to emulate
Words: Frances and Michael Howorth
There are many good reasons why teak has, for so long,
been the owner’s choice of decking material on board
superyachts. They like the look and the feel of it underfoot.
It is extremely durable, visually pleasing, reasonably low
maintenance to say nothing about being hugely traditional. It
is easy to clean providing you do not want that orange look of
new decks because all it needs is the dousing of fresh clean
seawater to do the job.
In recent times, green, eco warriors have cast their voodoo over
the use of the real deal and, together with some unscrupulous
misdeeds regarding the importation of illegally sourced product,
the shine of pride associated with owning a teak deck is beginning
to lose its lustre. What was seen scornfully and referred to as
fake teak some years back, has now lost some of its counterfeit
cred and manufacturers of synthetic teak are beginning to find
that business is coming to them now rather than being the
hard sell of a decade ago. Companies who supply and fit talk
of great strides forward in technology aimed at making their
products look attractive to the yacht owners and the crews
that swab the decks.
But for the past few years there has been no real argument
to suggest that real teak is in any way superior in quality or
lifespan. Today modern synthetic decks look every bit as good and
have similar anti-skid qualities to
teak. Add in the cost savings
in installation and ongoing
maintenance and teak loses out
to the modern synthetic deck.
Even the way the superyacht
industry refers to synthetic
decking has changed. No longer
regularly called fake teak even the
terminology of ‘teak replacement’
is beginning to disappear. This
fact alone is music to the
ears of Marcel van der Spek
the Commercial Director, of Esthec part of the Bolidt Group,
specialising in the flooring solution since 1964 and active in a
wide range of industries such as the Cruise Ship Industry. Marcel
says, “I don’t even really like talking about a substitute because
that suggests having to choose an alternative because the first
choice is not available. I prefer to refer to Esthec as being the
future. It is sustainable, extremely durable, full of design options,
easy to maintain and was never designed to be a ‘fake teak’. He
adds Esthec is much more than a teak imitation product. One
of his many satisfied clients suggested that Esthec is not really
an alternative, but is in fact, the solution. He added, “It is just
130 | SUMMER 2021 | ONBOARD