ONBOARD Magazine autumn 2023

a trend I believe is here to stay and we’re constantly
seeing a growing interest from our clients for these
types of projects.
© YachtShot
Catamarans are also growing in popularity. We’ve
been pleasantly surprised by the increased interest in
multihull platforms and we’ve had a number of new
enquiries in recent months. This year we also redelivered
Hemisphere, following an extensive maintenance
schedule. We completed the sailing catamaran in 2011
and she’s since circumnavigated the globe twice and
cruised some of the world’s most remote locations.
Her owner is a keen diver and thoroughly enjoys life
on the water – as a result, she’s travelled hard. We’ve
supported Hemisphere for 12 years now and even flew
out to Malaysia to do a small refit. It was great to see
her back in Falmouth.
Rebuilds and restoration
projects have become
more prevalent in our industry.
A trend I believe is here to stay.
© YachtShot
Pendennis is
very proud of its
award-winning
apprenticeship
scheme, which
has trained over
300 young men
and women in boat
industry jobs over
the past 25 years.
In the 35 years we’ve been running, we’ve delivered
some iconic new builds, such as the 54-metre motor
yacht Steel, the regatta-winning sailing yachts such
as Rebecca & Adela, and the 44-metre catamaran
Hemisphere. We’re currently busy with the 34.9-metre
explorer Project Fox, which we’re excited to see in
the water later this year.
Pendennis is famed for its rebuild and restoration
work. Have you seen a growing demand for these
types of projects?
It’s an honour to have been entrusted with so many
fantastic restoration and rebuild projects over the years.
In the past 18 months we’ve delivered two projects I’m
particularly delighted with: the 59-metre 1931 Camper
& Nicholsons motor yacht Marala, which was awarded
a Neptune Award in Turkey earlier this year; and the
68-metre repurposed commercial vessel Jester, which
was booked in with us for an extensive rebuild.
Rebuilds and restoration projects have become more
prevalent in our industry and yards all around the world
have been busy working on these unique projects. It’s
Is Hemisphere an outlier or do you frequently work
with repeat clients?
We are very proud of the amount of repeat business
we have – both in Falmouth and Vilanova. This year
we’ve redelivered a number of projects for repeat clients
including Teleost, Nostromo, Lionheart and Va Bene
following maintenance work – all repeat clients of ours.
We continually provide a level of care and attention
that retains our customers. We value our clients and
they value us in return.
Are you still feeling the impact of Brexit and the
Covid-19 pandemic?
We’re very much back to business as usual following the
Covid-19 outbreak. As every business had to, Pendennis
adapted and rolled out many precautionary measures
– many of which we’ve kept in place. Working hours are
more flexible now as we’ve adopted new shift patterns.
Our staff reacted amazingly and supported us through
that very difficult time.
Brexit, naturally, is an ongoing conversation. Our Vilanova
site opens up mainland Europe for us, and we’re able
to provide technical support to our Pendennis fleet in
the Mediterranean.
After five successful years of Pendennis Vilanova, are
you looking to expand?
When we acquired the site in Vilanova i la Geltrú in
2018, it was a small marina with a basic shipyard. We’ve
invested a lot into the site and have just completed the
third phase of development, with the installation of a
yacht component painting facility. Pendennis Vilanova
offers both long and short-term work, and the latter has
proven very popular in both pre and post-Mediterranean
seasons. Being located just an hour south of Barcelona,
160 | AUTUMN 2023 | ONBOARD