Deep sea sailing OCEA

DEEP SEA SAILING

OCEA’s Yacht division continues to deliver the finest trans-oceanic vessels.

French shipbuilder OCEA, appropriately based on the Atlantic coast at Les Sables d’Olonne, home of the famous round-theworld sailing race ‘The Vendée Globe’, has been in business for nearly 25 years. Initially a producer of fishing boats, the company later saw a need to expand its business into new areas, and began to develop working vessels, and later passenger vessels and fast patrol boats. Today the group is known as a pioneer in aluminium shipbuilding and a major aluminium industrial manufacturer.

With four production sites located along the French coast, the OCEA Shipbuilding company delivers up to 15 fast patrol boats, passenger vessels, environmental vessels and motor yachts a year, while OCEA Industries manufactures tank ends, floating pontoons and cruise ship superstructures. The group as a whole has turnover of €57 million; and employs close to 235 staff at its production sites.

The group’s professional knowledge, combined with its expertise in the use of aluminium, has enabled its motor yacht division, launched in 2000, to develop two ranges of yachts: OCEA Commuter and OCEA Classic, which make up 10–15 per cent of the company’s turnover. With each individual project taking an average of 18 months to complete, the division has so far delivered eight yachts.

Jean Michel Flour, the yacht division’s sales director, explained that the company’s first two deliveries – one Classic and one Commuter – were sold to shipowners, who were looking for a professional shipyard to build their yachts – a shipyard building working vessels, rather than a traditional yachtbuilder. “When I joined the company in 2001 we decided that there were two ways to develop the yacht department. The first would have been to offer custom yachts, and promote the yard as a brand, with its own specialised workforce, or, secondly, we could work with a naval architect. We chose the second route, and worked with a naval architect to design two ranges based on the company’s first two projects. Since then three Classics and five Commuters have been constructed.”

These two ranges are designed to offer a combination of stability, manoeuvrability and speeds of between 10 and 20 knots. With aluminium hull and superstructure providing durability and quality, the use of light materials also means that OCEA’s yachts offer low fuel consumption and low maintenance costs.

Long-range cruising

The OCEA Commuter range take their names from the historical boats used for commuting along the USA’s East Coast. ELISABET is a 47m Commuter, which is steady enough for long travel at ‘cruising’ speed and has a semi-displacement hull, low-profile, and straight, vertical bow. The Commuter stands out amongst other yachts available on the market, according to Jean Michel Flour, because of its low and narrow structure, with less superstructure and its unique retro look.

“At the same time, we find that some customers prefer the Classic look,” said Flour, “So this range has been retained on the company’s offering, to satisfy that demand.” The OCEA Classic range is designed for family navigation and long range cruises. “It aims to offer a timeless and elegant design with great comfort,

reliability and high security at sea.” The OCEA Classic yachts comply with professional standards for transoceanic yachts (valid also for the Commuter range) – with a full displacement hull, a high profile and a bulbous bow, they are designed for the open seas.

“The Classic offers much more volume – The Commuter, offers less volume because it is narrower, but this is counterbalanced by its extra speed – it is a trade-off between volume and speed.”

Most recently delivered is the OCEA Commuter 155 ‘Elisabet’; Work on the ‘Elisabet’, a 47 metre boat, began in 2008. Designed for extended cruises, with a hull reinforced for ice navigation, it also offers a helipad located on the bridge deck aft. The yacht has a cruising speed of 15.5 knots, and includes five

state rooms and crew quarters for ten. It is the largest yacht the company has produced so far, and Jean-Michel Flour says that this trend in increasing size is likely to continue.

OCEA is currently exploring new markets, working with agencies, and will be present at the French Pavilion at the ‘boot Duesseldorf’ event in January 2012, meeting with potential new German clients. Jean Michel Flour notes that this particular event – more than others in the sector – also attracts an international list of attendees, and he hopes to engage with potential clients from north-eastern France, Belgium, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Russia. The event was an opportunity for the company to highlight the fact that its success lies in its determination to meet the exact needs of the customer. Each project is handled – from beginning to end - by a single project manager, with regular meetings to map out the customer’s requirements. Working hand in hand with the project design department, the whole team works on the details of engine power, tank capacities and stability, in close collaboration with the client. It is this value-added service that, according to Jean Michel Flour, distinguishes OCEA from its competitors and gives the customer such a diverse range of choices and possibilities, from design to delivery. n