DECKING
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IS TEAK TRULY FINITE? Legally sourced or not, teak, because of its unique and attractive properties, is in short supply. High demand for natural forest grown teak principally from Burma is putting a strain on the industry. The expectation of teak in long lengths with perfectly
straight grain is hard to satisfy. Reinier Waardenburg explains, “The Tectonis Grandis is a slow growing tree that needs to grow on poor grounds, starved of water and nutrition. This makes a great quality tree to use in boatbuilding, but takes a very long time to grow.”
Teak of this quality can generally only be obtained by felling old, naturally grown rainforest trees that are hundreds of years old, and these are becoming scarce as natural stands of forest are depleted. Teak is not as renewable in the short term as the user might wish. Each tree needs decades of growth. With demand much greater than supply and owners with mountains of money and an absence of patience it is difficult to predict the outcome on the sustainability front.
Tomas Gustafsson believes, “It depends on the volume used as to whether or not the source of real teak is truly finite.” He says, “If it continues at this rate I think it will be hard. The source of real teak is limited.”
Richard Eikhoudt confirms this saying, “Up to now we always have been able to provide what our clients ask for. “But,” he admits, “Nowadays it is getting harder to obtain the required teak, especially the longer lengths. It is up to us to find an answer for this. We are testing by finger jointing short wood right now. I know it will not get better or easier. Also the yards and the designers will have to accept this new reality.”
Sacha Roebe says, “For very old teak the market is being starved. But of course there is also plantation teak, which is being especially bred. He adds, “This, however, grows very quickly and is thereby significantly lighter and qualitatively worse than the old teak. The fact is that if you really want to buy old teak you pay extremely highly for the tree trunks and supply is becoming very difficult.”
HELIDECKS Heli-Teak® produces turnkey helidecks on board mega yachts, dealing with the design, project development, all hot works and final testing. HELI-TEAK® is a unique patent product by their technical department. It is a very flexible and robust solution for helidecks and ship bridges in general. The benefits of HELI-TEAK®include: product certification, fire classification R.I.N.A., maximum friction coefficent (friction test), resistance certificate to aging for over 30 years; customised teak finish; a cooler material not heated in extreme conditions of solar radiation. For more details Tel: +39 0761226853 or visit
www.helidecks.it
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FASHION What drives the desire for teak decks? Is it tradition? Is it the owner cocking a snoot at the rest of the world who cannot afford the luxury of century old hard wood? Or is it just down to fashion? At Ginnacle Teak, Bob Steber believes beautiful golden Burma
Teak decks will always be in fashion. As he points out, “Teak decks have been around for more than 200 years.” Richard Eikhoudt concurs saying, “Because of the superior characteristics, teak exhibits it is not just a matter of fashion. Teak is beyond fashion. It is just the best.” Matthias Reviriego worries that teak might have to fall out of fashion but he hopes it will not. He says, “Although the world in general is becoming more aware of teak sustainability, as a rule, the yacht owners are not always quite so understanding and they will always want an exclusive product.”
Tomas Gustafsson thinks those who like teak are just followers of fashion. He points out, “There are very few wooden boats being built so why use a wood product on a boat that has been constructed using man made products.”
Sacha Roebe is not sure if it is fashion or not, “It is hard to say. In principle, the proportion of plastic teak is becoming ever greater, since it is significantly more advantageous and more
ONBOARD | SUMMER 2017 | 139
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