Yacht builder for the stars crafts luxury boats at Ras Al Khaimah yard
A luxury yacht builder from Poland has begun making multimillion-dollar boats in Ras Al Khaimah, with the first units to be shipped out by the end of the year.
Sunreef Yachts has built highend catamarans for more than two decades in its Gdansk factories, with buyers such as tennis champion Rafael Nadal and Formula One star Fernando Alonso.
Keen to expand beyond Europe, the company’s French founder Francis Lapp chose the UAE as the base for his first overseas shipyard two years ago.
The shipyard in Ras Al Khaimah has begun production of twin-hull yachts and was formally inaugurated on Monday by Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah.
More than 180 men and women are employed and the company will provide jobs to more than 600 workers by the end of the year.
“My vision was to make something here – to show that Ras Al Khaimah is the right place for a shipyard, to be closer to Asia and Australia,” Mr Lapp, 66, told The National.
“For the future of boating, this is the best place. I did not want to have it all in Europe.
“To make in Turkey or somewhere else was also a possibility [but] I chose this, this is the right place.”
The entrepreneur moved to Dubai four years ago from Poland, his home of 30 years, and travels almost daily to the Ras Al Khaimah port to supervise the production of the spacious yachts.
“When I started in Poland in 2002, Poland was not popular for super luxury yachts, only for big ships,” he said. “We brought luxury to Poland and now we are doing the same in Ras Al Khaimah.”
The Dh100 million ($27.2 million) shipyard will cater to a growing demand for yachts.
Construction has already begun on a second shipyard to cope with orders worth $170 million to be delivered over the next two years.
Most orders come from Europe, with clients also from Australia, Asia and the US.
The RAK yard will first produce mid-range 13-metre to 27-metre catamarans with solar-panelled roofs priced between $1.5 million and $12 million.
The price tag for high-end transatlantic 42-metre yachts currently built at the company’s Poland shipyard goes up to $50 million.
The boats are tailormade for each client with walnut wood interiors, swanky granite kitchen and dining areas, master suites with walk-in dressing rooms and private balconies, walking paths that wrap around the boat, jacuzzies and storage space for jet skis.
Mr Lapp plans to move his family from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah next year once his daughter goes to university.
“I love Dubai, [and the] UAE, I feel my house is here,” he said.
His ambition is for the Ras Al Khaimah yard to deliver the same product as the Gdansk factory has delivered for decades.
“Now our clients are asking us about quality and I say, ‘yes for sure, the quality will be the same in Ras Al Khaimah’,” he said.
“We will bring this same level of quality of Poland that we did in the last 20 years to Ras Al Khaimah. I do not want to be number two.
“Every morning my challenge is how to be number one.”