A few decades ago, shipyards had to go to great lengths if they wanted to add a new boat to their portfolio. Prototypes were built and then sawn up again; manual mould construction was the only way to achieve a series boat.
The new developments were based on experience from sales, discussions with customers and own test drives. In the end, it was often the good judgement of the shipyard manager that made the difference.
Since the first attempts to build small series, boatbuilding has developed into an industry. There are shipyards that develop several new models every year, the features of which are based on market analyses and investor requirements. The boating industry is experiencing a boom, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic - as are many other leisure sectors.
Hardly a niche is unoccupied and competition has intensified enormously. Everyone is trying to offer their boats even more sophisticated, with even more functions and at even lower costs. As a result, interested trade fair visitors or boat owners will sooner or later stumble across new yachts in their own harbour whose overall design, deck solutions or interior fittings will at best elicit a frown.
More effective development through technical development
Thanks to ever more advanced manufacturing and planning methods, production has become much more efficient nowadays. Although the assembly of a boat or the production of individual components, such as cushions, is often still done by hand, GRP moulds have long been milled and metal frames and furniture are cut by CNC.
Suppliers are selected according to how well they fit into the overall manufacturing process. That no longer sounds romantic, and there are only a few manufacturers such as Boesch or Pedrazzini left in traditional boatbuilding anyway.
After an arduous start, GRP has fully established itself as a construction material for pleasure craft over the past fifty years. At the beginning of the 1960s, Dieter Hellwig was still advertising its special properties under the name "German Craft": "always leak-proof, non-rotting and resistant to tropical and salt water".
Today, the material is the basis for functionality and diverse design. The remaining manufacturers of steel and aluminium boats - incidentally a sector with declining unit numbers - have only moved towards bolder and more sophisticated design in the last five years.
Larger boats only from the mid-seventies in Germany
In the 1970s, small sports boats were easy to compare and back-to-back seats were the standard. Larger yachts did not appear in Germany until the middle of the decade: the first trawlers from Asia. In 1973, AMS from Hamburg presented its first marine trawler at the Hanseboot. A type that has remained on the market for a long time and is now being modernised and reinterpreted by renowned European series yacht manufacturers.
Over the past decades, many brands have come and gone - more than those that have helped shape water sports from the very beginning: Internationally, Chris Craft or Grand Banks should be mentioned here, in Germany Hellwig. In the 1980s, a Danish shipyard was able to realise its advertising slogan "No harbour without Coronet" without a doubt.
The shipyard also played a role in the development of cabin cruisers - a new class between the open sports boats such as Vieser and the larger motor yachts of the time from Italy, England or the trawlers. During this phase, the first motor yachts were built in Germany, such as the Xylon Tümmler and Ancora.
For decades, there was little new in the inflatable boat category; models from Viking, Metzeler, Gugel or Deutsche Schlauchbootfabrik (DSB) were easy to confuse at first glance. In the nineties, the first rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) came onto the market, which today are built up to 20 metres in length and more in all intermediate sizes and equipment variants.
Boatbuilding lagged behind in development for a long time
Computer-aided design and production, which was much slower to catch on in boatbuilding than in other branches of industry, opened up new possibilities. Serial shipyards discovered the equality of parts below and above deck; at the turn of the millennium, GRP moulds were produced for the first time using modern milling machines.
In the USA, Bayliner and Sea Ray, among others, developed new production methods for series production. While most of the developments in the early years of boating came from the USA - for example from Chris Craft, whose constant new releases also delighted the eye - well thought-out concepts and new trends now also come from Europe.
Take the Finnish Axopar boats, for example: like most other sports boats, they are mass-produced in Poland in large numbers; even American brand products such as Sea Ray come from the same halls.
Car manufacturer as a source of ideas
Fifty years ago, boat builders copied various ideas from car manufacturers without using computers; nowadays, sports boats and yachts are sometimes even more excitingly realised, like a super sports car. Some brands have almost undergone a revolution.
The Fjord Terne 24, built until the 1990s, was a classic; it was completely reinterpreted when the brand was taken over, and in 2006 the Fjord 40 was launched - unique in its day. In 2000, the Monte Carlo E-2000 was an elegant electric boat; today, the company has positioned itself in the luxury segment with boats such as the Fantom and the Demon.
Others, however, such as Doriff or Hille, remain true to themselves for a long time, albeit in small numbers. The Hellwig manufactory has been able to continuously develop its model range with classics such as the Marathon 515. Not all new developments are based on unusual design ideas.
At the end of the nineties, a type of boat became established that would initially have been considered the preserve of an ambitious hobby fisherman at best. In the meantime, sports boats with enclosed cabins are no longer the exclusive preserve of anglers. Jeanneau, Beneteau, Quicksilver and other smaller manufacturers offer an almost unmanageable variety in this segment.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Bavaria Yachtbau - at that time one of the most effective series producers of sailing yachts with annual production volumes of several thousand - successfully ventured into the world of motor yachts. The first Bavaria Motorboats (BMB) rolled off the production line in lengths from 27 to 39 feet.
The Giebelstadt-based company will soon be rounding off its portfolio with a 55-foot flybridge yacht. With the E series, the company is once again venturing into new realms; the displacement yachts are not only intended to compete with comparable steel ships.
Quality, utility and beauty from Scandinavia
Then as now, it is worth taking a look at our Scandinavian neighbours. Boats from Sweden, Norway and Finland are known for their quality, high utility value and beautiful lines. It goes without saying that you pay more for this added value. However, shipyards such as Nimbus, Targa, Windy, Finnmaster and Grandezza are known for precisely these attributes - and the list could go on and on.
However, the interior fittings, whether slip cabins or motor yachts with headroom below deck, were always a reflection of their time - what was chic in the home environment was or can be found on board. In the seventies and eighties, people often stuck to what was available on the market out of necessity.
Today, everything revolves around the galley equipment, the wet cells as well as heating, air conditioning, entertainment or multifunctional seating and reclining furniture. In terms of inventiveness, boatbuilding has always been ahead of the furniture and kitchen world.
Exciting developments in drives
Of course, progressive engine development has also played its part in enriching life on board. Inboard engines got better and better drives, became lighter and more powerful at the same time. New concepts such as Volvo's IPS create more space in the interior and underfloor cabins have become much larger. But outboards are also worth mentioning here, electronically regulated, intelligently controlled - as multiple installations, this type of engine is en vogue even on boats up to the 15 metre class. No wonder, with engine outputs of up to 400 hp, they are now extremely efficient and quiet.
In recent years, the focus has been on electric drives. Just as with electric cars, their attractiveness is also increasing with the further development of storage and charging technology as well as the infrastructure in the harbours.
The most beautiful boat is your own
Even if many manufacturers have not survived the last fifty years: What remains are their boats. A common denominator can be found for the shipyards that still exist: Their models have not become smaller. Brands such as the English Fairline, Princess or Sunseeker were initially known for fast sports boats.
Today, they have global sales networks and are penetrating the superyacht market with their range of products up to 50 metres in length. Italy has always built big; Ferretti - now one of the largest motor yacht manufacturers in the world, with sales in the billions in its heyday - or Azimut are now an integral part of any large yacht harbour, as are Pershing or even the larger versions of the classic Riva.
Despite all the variety, one thing remains the same: no matter how big or how old, for the owner the best and most beautiful boat is his own anyway.
