#Industry News
Big year for Bolidt
Bolidt's 50th anniversary
THE NETHERLANDS, Rotterdam. “This year is our 50th anniversary and it is going to be a big year for us,” says Michel van der Spek, Bolidt’s marketing and communication manager, as we walk around Bolidt’s brand new office just outside Rotterdam. The year is already off to a flying start with the company signing a contract with Amels and Damen to supply its Bolideck Future Teak decking on the 64m Sea Axe 6711 Fast Yacht Support Vessel (FYSV), which has just completed its sea trials and is due for delivery later this month.
“Bolideck Future Teak features regularly on the vessels Amels delivers,” Jacco van Overbeek, director of Bolidt’s maritime division tells us. “It has been selected for this application not only because it is aesthetically pleasing, but because it is durable, lightweight and highly cost effective.” Van der Spek explains that this contract follows a run of orders for the product on board the comparable FYSVs including Umbra, Oberon and the recently-launched Garcon. For van der Spek, the key is educating designers and owners about the alternatives to teak and traditional planking designs. At SuperyachtDESIGN Week in June last year, during a panel with H2’s Jonny Horsfield and Esthec’s Christina Norris (Bolidt and Esthec are sister companies), Horsfield expressed the fact that many owners are not willing to try alternatives like Esthec and are happy to stick to teak. “We need to educated designers and owners,” says van der Spek. “But also tap into the young generation of designers so that more eco-friendly alternatives like ours are not just a second choice, but an automatic consideration.”
“Qualities that are essential at sea, such as being weatherproof and maintenance-friendly, are integral to Bolideck Future Teak,” says Overbeek. “It is ecologically responsible, reduces installation time and is extremely cost effective. Designers are also no longer limited by traditional planking designs, since the material can be installed in functional curved figures.”
