Business in Thailand
Made in Thailand

Latitude 8 boatyard was animated with bustling enthusiasm when I arrived. The yacht Cyrene had just been put on a carrier and was now rolling out of the hanger-like workshop. The crew worked with professional synchronicity.

They hustled back and forth to fit blocks in place to level off the sleekly finished 36 foot catamaran before a crane smoothly lifted the mast and swung it over to settle it neatly into its socket. There were satisfied smiles all around as the mast was 'swaged' by the boat's designer Mark Prescott, permanently fixing the guy wires. A cheer went up as the crane released its hold.

Jimmy Pearson, a marine engineer and Latitude 8's Project Manager who insures that specifications are met and the standards of quality are maintained was holding one of the safety lines. "Thai's have gotten really good at building boats," says Jimmy. "I used to come to Phuket all the time for vacations between working in shipyards in Singapore and around Asia. I like working in Thailand and I enjoy working with people of such a high professional level."

Steve Hutchett the Operations Manager for the charter end of the business busied himself attaching the yacht's name and registration number. Steve explains why sailing is a growing leisure activity. "This whole area has a multitude of protected bays within a great big protected bay. There are heaps of islands within an easy 5 to 6 hour sail like Racha and Pi Pi Islands and Pangna Bay. You can go from anchorage to anchorage and the beauty of the area is astonishing. There's the west coast of Phuket Island with all the gorgeous bays and their white beaches. For the more adventurous there are Similan and Sirin Islands."

"The Cyrene," continues Steve, "is ideal for bareboat charter, although a skipper, cook and crew are available. The first boat in this line, the Summersault, was a more personal boat built with racing performance in mind. Aesthetics have been added in response to our customer comments such as the wooden floors and trim and the wheel steering is more attractive to Europeans. There's a bit more volume in this boat allowing full double size cabins with queen-size berths, two bathrooms and a better configuration for comfort. It's ideal for 2 or 3 couples or families. and no maintenance."

Latitude 8 offers a unique package for the Sailing Vacation industry. The customer can choose 100% or 50% yacht ownership and they will put the yacht to work in their charter fleet to cover costs of insurance, maintenance, berthing fees, haul-outs, antifouling and management. Meanwhile the boat is ready to sail whenever you want. They'll even do your grocery shopping.

Guests begin arriving for the launching party. Michel and Sue Arnulphy are 50% owners of the Cyrene and have been sailing together for 30 years. "It's the best of both worlds," says Michel. "There is no insurance or marinas to worry about and they take care of the maintenance."

"Yes," Sue agrees, "A hassle free boat."

"We used to spend 50 to 60% of our time here, coming on school holidays with the kids. At first we didn't know where to retire but Phuket was obvious," Sue explained. "It's cheap, the people are friendly, and the food's good and the sailing is great." Asked about personal input, Sue points out a lamp in the salon. "They'd only let me put in one. And I chose the colour of the side stripe."

Mark Prescott, the yacht Cyrene's designer chose to settle in Phuket "Because of the ease of living and the freedom. Surfing, work and home are 5 minutes apart. I can dress casually and still have pride in craft. The scenery, the anchorages, the local restaurants, and the massage and saunas are great. Sailing here is wonderful."

Mark has a good racing record winning the Kings Cup Regatta in multi-hull class 3 times including 2002 on Summersault, the prototype to the line leading to the Cyrene. "The boat has been developed to suit local materials and the design has been altered and refined aesthetically as well with softer lines and greater interior room without detracting from the performance." Besides the four Whitehaven's produced in Phuket, there are 15 earlier designs sailing in Australia.

Mark Harwood, Latitude 8's director first came to Phuket as a traveller. "I discovered that the yacht scene was good between Phuket and Singapore so I started diving and sailing charters. One day I was sailing down to Kuala Lumpher to take in a Grand Prix Formula One race on one of the company boats and I decided I wanted to get something smaller and faster for fun and it all grew from there." The first yacht was built in a cramped yard before finding their current 2 1/2 rai location right on the shoreline of Chalong Bay. Thailand has a long history of building fishing boats and about two decades in yacht repair. When asked about the skills of his builders, Harwood said, "They're learning to use different mediums and different techniques. We take them step by step in an apprenticeship, learning through experience. They've developed specialties such as woodworking for example. Others specialize in fiberglass fairing and others in high tech materials like carbon fiber.

Prescott proudly notes that "They call me teacher." He feels that he has made a personal contribution to increasing the local skill levels enabling the workers in some cases to double their income within a short time. "They are keen to learn and I'm on a learning curve too." Mark previously worked on his own so giving instruction is new to him. "Their English language skills are developing as well as a consequence."

"The crew have very good skills" asserts Harwood. "The crew can now build the Phuket 8 by themselves." The Phuket Sports 8 made history with their first launch of this one-design sport racer. It was built especially for Phuket waters, designed to a brief from dedicated racing sailors from Au Chalong Yacht Club. They yearned for a high quality, light weight, top performance boat suitable for light coastal winds,
easily transportable overland and capable of overnight excursions. Designed by John Duncanson a pioneer of Thai marine industry whose exciting initiatives have previously won the Prince Phillip and Australian Design awards, the boat sleeps 4 and has a galley. The Somtam Express, the first P8 has had line honors in every race it's entered in the Sumui Regatta, the Langkawi Regatta and Au Chalong Club's monthly races. Latitude 8 has been 1,2 or 3rd across the line in its 6 races so far in Sumui and Phuket.

"Besides racing boats we build power boats including currently a houseboat and a fully air conditioned luxury power catamaran," Harwood points out. "Many of our customers are retired people who want a sports run-about. The small boats take about four months from ordering to completion and we're continually increasing our sales. Building the big boats steadily increases the team's skills. It takes a lot of capital to build the big boats and chartering off-sets the costs and pays for maintenance. You can't get them any cheaper anywhere in the world. The quality is the best in the world for big yachts."

Gunther Nutt and Nigel Harford arrived to celebrate the launch. Gunther is the owner of Seascape boatyard at which Nigel has contracted to build his 46 foot catamaran. "I'm in Phuket because Gunther is here and he's the only accredited builder of James Wharram designed yachts." James Wharram has pioneered the application of old Polynesian technology to catamaran yacht design. "I call the whole Phuket-Phangna area Disneyland on Ocean because the conditions here are so ideal and the scenery is unbelievably beautiful."

"The Wharran design is unique," explains Gunther. "The two hulls are lashed to a joining beam with the central deck pod which gives the hulls individual flexibility. Riding each wave independently they give a very smooth ride. Where the hulls are joined to the cross beams the combined strength of the wrapping equals 5 or 6 times the weight of the boat and the figure 8 lashing on the hinges results in no friction and therefore no electrolysis to attract barnacles."

Gunther from Liechtenstein was originally a cabinet maker. Nigel describes him as a perfectionist with an eye for detail. "Look at the boat, see the finish and the beautiful materials. This is not a yogurt container," exclaims Nigel. "It's good value to build here with the local builders and the local materials."

Gunther has a crew of 13 workers, most of whom have been with him for 10 of the 12 years he's been building here. "Thais are terrific craftsman who take tremendous pride in their work. At first I had to be there all the time, especially since the plans were in English, but step by step they have learned the skills. Now I have to be there for the first few days when the wood is cut, but then they know what to do. I hardly had to touch this," referring to Max Jurgens' soon to be launched 30 foot catamaran. "Thai workers are very self sufficient. Everything is very positive about their work."

Max is very enthusiastic about his Thai built charter line. "The customers love them. They're very easy to sail." Seascape boats are in Greece, Indonesia, the U.S. Singapore, Italy and of course Phuket. They build with steel as well and some are motor vessels. Seascape is currently booked out through 2007.

Mark Prescot skippered the Cyrene on her trial in the local Au Chalong monthly race meet. Two regular racing crew member's from Mark's yacht Summersault were on hand, Phil taking the front deck and Dang on spinnaker. Owners Sue and Michel made up the team. "We only started racing recently," explained Sue. "Our sailing style is to make our way to a beautiful bay somewhere, snorkel, swim relax in the sun and dine in style. It's not the same at all." After boarding, Phil pointed out that our location in the bay is known as 'Prescot's corner', With six yachts of his design plus two P-8's anchored close by. "Look at that," called Mark, "she spins on a dime." We quietly hummed out to the start line. There were ten boats participating in the race and Michel gave me the run down on each as we each circled the start. Among them was Gunter's classic boat and the Charro, also a Whitehaven. "There'll be a lot of pink Swedes today," it was noted as three generations of a Swedish family bared their skin to the sun on the bright yellow trimaran, Papillon.

The wind came up. "Ok. Let's get the head sail out. Come on. Come on. Let's reef the main." There was a frantic crisscrossing of suddenly very fast moving yachts as each tightly circled, awaiting the flag. The wind whistled in the sheets. "Wow," was my involuntary exclamation as the boat accelerated and the speedometer showed 13.7 knots and rising. We were off.

"I never push a boat on it's first trial," said Mark, making very conservative choices to round the buoys and in the end crossing the line behind the Papillon. "There will be a few refinements. It needs a bit of wax on the sliders." Sue's list included a deck broom and bottle opener. We had a beautiful, smooth and exciting sail which according to Mark was, "The best race we've had in a long time."

Mark's next project is developing his Firefly line which also originated in Australia with four in the waters down under. "The Firefly is an open catamaran and it's very fast, very exciting and lots of fun.

It's along the same lines as the Phuket 8 for the multi-hull fraternity and it's even less expensive. It's planned for off the beach racing and it's a weekender with limited accommodation. It's great for exploring, for local yacht club races and local regattas. And the key is that it's affordable."

Tropical Living: August 2004, Volume 4 Issue 3

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