It is unusual that the jury grant an award for low-cost work, but it was agreed that the team that carried out the rebuild of Kanaloa, a 48-metre CRN motor yacht built in 1996, should be recognised. Significant defects were found in this yacht after a recent change of ownership, despite these not being discovered in a pre-purchase survey. Following a later Lloyds survey, the issues were found to be so costly to address in a shipyard that the owner was at the point of scrapping the yacht.
Yet miraculously, she was saved from this almost certain fate by the intervention of her captain, who suggested that the yacht could be saved at less than 50 per cent of the cost quoted if a large proportion of the work was carried out by the crew and independent sub-contractors working with a project manager from Hill Robinson. The owner agreed, and the structural and other work required to bring her back into classification was undertaken at Compositeworks during a 14-month period.
Among many other issues addressed, more than 30 per cent of the hull plating was replaced by Compositeworks, the main engines were returned to zero hours, and the remainder of the drive train was also dismantled and rebuilt. These tasks also required the removal and replacement of a large element of the yacht’s interior joinery and a great deal of other work. The rebuild was completed with a full repaint in time for the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show.
In the judges’ view, this was a commendable achievement by all concerned.
LOA: 48m
Original Builder: CRN Shipyard
Refit Yard: Composite Works
Refit Naval Architect: N/A
Refit Exterior/Interior Design: N/A