MASTER’DAM – The Italian Yacht Masters at Feadship.

On the Sunday before the Superyacht Forum and METSTRADE, an exclusive gathering of over 50 VIP’s were welcomed to the incredible Feadship – Royal Van Lent facility in Amsterdam for an afternoon and evening of conversation, collaboration and connections. As an anagram of Amsterdam, this brand new event “MASTER’DAM”,hosted by the Italian Yacht Masters, was a unique opportunity for a group of experienced Italian Captains and a VIP network of north European designers, managers, brokers, surveyors and builders to enjoy the incredible hospitality of the Feadship team at what is perhaps the most progressive and smart shipyard in the market.

After welcome drinks and delicious canapes, the event started with a brief welcome from Martin H. Redmayne, Chairman of the Superyacht Group, a live Teams video link with the IYM President Gino Battaglia, thanking everyone from his superyacht currently in the middle of the Atlantic, a welcome and thank you from Captain Dario Savino of MY Kasper 7 and then further interaction from our hosts, Jan Bart Verkuyl, CEO of Royal Van Lent and Farouk Nefzi, CMO at Feadship. Farouk delivered a cool presentation and video content that explained the evolution of the Feadship strategy and shared unique insights into the development of the four-year-old, purpose-built shipyard, a few minutes outside of Amsterdam.

All through the presentation, the VIP’s could not help themselves looking outside of the Feadship canteen window, where the next generation of Feadship projects was tied alongside. Project 821, the 118m brand new project had just completed sea trials and was back at the yard for further finishing touches, she was under strict NDA and not available for tours, but as the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell superyacht it was a major positive distraction to everyone at MASTER’DAM.

Following the welcomes, thanks and presentations, all the VIP’s were split into small groups of ten and treated to an exclusive tour of this green, clean and smart shipyard, with brief updates on their projects in build and refit, but as is becoming more typical, no phones or photography was allowed. Suffice to say, if you get the chance to visit, it is a phenomenal facility with some very cool operational and logistical ideas – multi-level workshops providing intelligent access to the projects, smart scaffolding to reduce the use of overhead cranes, energy efficiency and heat recovery, solar roof panels and noise absorbing acoustic bricks. We also braved the Amsterdam elements to walk alongside Project 821, to marvel at her scale, profile and elegance, it’s hard to imagine a more stunning 100m plus superyacht, bravo Feadship and RWD.

Following the insightful tour, we returned to the canteen for a workshop / brainstorm with Mark Levadou, Feadship’s Manager of Knowledge and Innovation, who shared a few slides on the evolution of Feadship from an energy and technology perspective, with their goal of Zero Fossil Fuel still very much driving their projects. The Captains and VIPs were able to interact and exchange their ideas on how the market needs to adapt and implement these innovations, but it was clear that there are key barriers to overcome, like explaining the value and benefits not just the costs to owners. However, there was a clear consensus from all at MASTER’DAM that the time has come to adapt and apply smart thinking and efficiency to the current projects in operation, where many of the Captains all agreed that there were simple mindset shifts that would make a valuable contribution to reducing our impact, like reducing speed and turning down the AC and putting in place energy reduction and plastic free protocols on board that all crew should adopt.

After more fine wine, cold beer and Feadship quality canapes, we said our farewells to our gracious hosts and the MASTER’DAM tour continued with a short bus ride to the centre of Amsterdam and a relaxed canal cruise on the electric canal boat, MV Vodel. On a chilly damp evening, everyone could chill, connect and converse over more fine wine, more cold beer and plenty of fine Italian food, while watching the lights and buildings of Amsterdam glide by. This new event, hosted by the Italian Yacht Masters was a rare mix of fun, high-level education, curated connections and a great group of people who enjoyed dynamic exchanges and even more dynamic interactions, we look forward to the next one.

Martin H. Redmayne

Editor in Chief The Superyacht Group