bigger yachts, superyachts.' ‘With our submersible vessels,
we can take anything up to 160m’, he says. ‘Themajority I would say are between 40 and 55m. The
really big ones are kind of vessels themselves, and can easily do the delivery on their own keel. But sometimes they are out of service, and need to be transported. And we can facilitate that. ‘So, Sevenstar is basically
everything we can lift with a crane. In the beginning it was a lot of privately owned sailing boats – maybe the owners had sailed to the Caribbean, and didn't want the long sail back across the northern Atlantic. But nowadays, about half of what we do is transporting new boats. Beneteau, Lagoon, Princess, Azimut, Sunseeker, a lot of the major ship yards – we ship most of their boats to overseas markets. ‘A third segment is racing boats –
taking care of their logistical needs. This is something I know quite well myself, so I used to do it as a special interest, on the side. Ten years ago, we hired a pro sailor to take care of it. Logistic operations for race teams is a dedicated business area for us. We call it Sevenstar Racing Yacht Logistics. It's not our biggest business – I mean, how many professional race teams are there, spending serious money on logistics? But still, it's a nice niche. ‘It feels good to do something
that's so close to everybody's heart. And we really understand the sailors needs, because we are sailors ourselves. We can provide cradles, containers for rigging, sails and so on. We even do trucking, to deliver spare parts and such. Basically, we have a full range of logistic services aimed at professional yacht racing. ‘This is especially useful for the
Above: mixed conditions help keep Klabbers and Heerema in good spirits. Above right: Richard (left) and Pieter at the start of the 2,000nm race in Plymouth Right: Klabbers and Heerema sailed 250nm with a temporary repair to the gooseneck made with lashings tied together and a big rubber patch between the boom and the mast. Every four hours it had to be re-fixed
transatlantic races, for example the Imoca circuit, or the Class 40, where large fleets – 30, 40,maybe 50 boats – cross the Atlantic, typically to the Caribbean. And they all need to come back to Europe at the same time. In that situation we can fill a vessel and take all of themin one go. Also, we can help out in situations where boats or rigs are broken.We have a dedicated office in France now, to be close and able to act fast. ‘Breaking stuff is part of the
game, as we all know. In these races you always break stuff, you're always in repair mode. When Pieter and I did the Round Britain and Ireland Race just now, we broke the gooseneck on the boom, which was very unfortunate. We were lucky to be upwind, so we could control the boom and get to it. There was still 250nm to the next stop, but we decided to continue, but it was only possible, because we had the wind on the nose. ‘So wemade a temporary repair
with lashings, tied it together as well as possible, with a big rubber patch between the boomand themast. Every three or four hours we had to redo the whole thing. So, it became very, let's say interesting, tomake it to the next stop.We had to depower the boat all the time, you don't want to put toomuch pressure on themast. Besides, you're in a race, so you don't want to lose toomuch distance. It was hard because there was a lot of wind and the finishes of the stopovers
are always in a port or up-river, with tide and sandbanks at times... ‘We had to tack into that in the
dark, rain, more than 30kts... it was crazy, especially with this limp boom hanging there in lashings. But OK. We made it. In the end, it's always good stories, but when you are there you have to be a little inventive, to deal with these things.’ ‘What I really like about a long
and hard race like this,’ he says, ‘is the state of mind you get into. I takes some time to get there, to get into your own bubble, so to speak. But once you're in there, you can stay there for a long time. After, let's say day three, you get used to the weather, you are into the rhythm, it doesn't make much difference to you if the wind pipes up or lulls down, or if it's day or night, because you're always in the same sort of state... it's just one watch after the other, and you're out there. ‘So it's really about dedication
to the sea for me in my personal life as well as in my professional life. And it helps make us as a company focused and successful. In a race like the one we just did, it's the planning, the preparation, that made us safe, fast and reliable. And it's not any different on the business side: Our dedication to the sea, and the planning we have learned through being sailors, is what makes us safe, fast, reliable – and ultimately, successful.’
sevenstar-yacht-transport.com ❑
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