ALFA YACHTS YARD
Bigger yard, better service
Year after year, the repairs and refitting sector has
increased its workload to the extent that some yards now
prefer to completely or partially abandon building of
boats to dedicate themselves to this more profitable
business. It offers, in fact, the advantage of not having
to search out clients, as the work entails meeting the
needs of those interested for whom it is often difficult
to find professional experience and adequate wharf space
for the size of boats involved.
Alfa Yachts Yard, located in the renovated part of Genoa
port towards Sestri and adjacent to Cristoforo Colombo
Airport, carries out the above activity, to which it adds
a specialisation in motorization and mechanical apparatus
for large boats and pleasure craft, with the exclusive
for Caterpillar in Italy for engines and Quantum for
stabilising systems. This is made possible precisely due
to the spacious wharves and the importance of the
structure, equipped with the most up-to-date apparatus.
Increasing development of the business has forced the
company to look around and recently it has acquired a new
wharf to the west of the yard, meaning that more new work
prospects now open up. We spoke of this with Guido
Genetti, the yard's "CEO".
You have already become considerably important in the
scenario of this particular sector, offering
yourselves as a highly qualified structure, already
identified by a good quantity of users. As far as we
know, you carry out work covered by guarantee for
constructors near and far in the Mediterranean and if
space permits, you also rent your wharves out to third
parties having to do work on large boats...
That's right. At the moment for example, we are
working on a boat under guarantee on behalf of the
Amel boatyard and work requested by the owner on "Lady
in blue", a 54-metre Amel, up to a few years ago owned
by Briatore, who then sold it to buy an 80-metre.
Do you work for many yards?
Quite a few. But with all yards, in general, there is
no exclusivity. They choose the sub-contractor, who
must in any case be able to offer every assurance of
efficiency and quality based on the technical
requirements, the kind of work to be carried out and
the logistic preferences of the company or owner.
Is there a lot of competition?
I would say that on an international level there's a
lot, also because many yards have recently
"discovered" refitting. We are saved by the fact that
for this job you need large spaces, long jetties,
adequate structures onshore and continual technical
up-dating on all the services we offer, from
finishing work on engines to all the other systems,
etc.. However, we must be competitive as far as price
is concerned. In this way we have made a name for
ourselves, to the extent that Lurssen, instead of
calling Caterpillar assistance from Germany,
regularly calls for us to go and work on their
premises on new or refitted constructions.
We are also setting up a very active after-sales
service with Amel. We worked on "Kermit" after
its guarantee had expired, but with the full approval
of the yard. Then, until last month on "Ilona", a 74-
metre, with direct guarantees with Amel for all the
Caterpillar components and mechanics in general in
the engine room. The boat has now been transferred to
the United States and the skipper sent me an e-mail
to thank us: "Everything is perfect".
Do you often get thank you notes?
Lots, some referral and some thanks from yards and
super-yacht skippers. Many super-yacht masters use
word of mouth, which for us is very important. They
know that we aim to offer maximum satisfaction, also
due to the choice of the wharf easiest for them to
reach.
What about Italian constructors?
We have become the exclusive service point for the
Ferretti Group for large boats: the Riva starting at
60 feet, the Ferretti Custom Line at over 24 metres
and the CRN, and we all know how big they are.
Recently we have also started with Pershing, in charge
of after sales service for the Pershing 88, which they
showed at Genoa. We reckon on receiving about sixty
Pershing a year through our yard.
Which travel lifts do you have?
A 450-tonne, plus 10% margin, so we can go up to a
limit of 495 tonnes.
Which means you can handle boats up to...?
Fifty metres. Also because over and above these
lengths, using a travel to manoeuvre them becomes much
more delicate than working in the dock. Often the
clients themselves request the classic wet dock rather
than lifting with the travel.
In the case of a Pershing 88', what do you do? Do you
haul it and position it?
We can haul it using our self-propelled 100-tonne
crane or place it on one of our 90-tonne hydraulic
trucks, which means we can move it into the shed. For
quick work on the other hand, we lower the parts onto
the wharf side. If, for example, we have to remove an
engine to put in a new one or to work on it, we lower
it onto the wharf alongside the boat and we work in
loco. This is an operation that takes ten days and it
avoids heaving it about with the low loader.
So over-35/40-metre boats we haul with the travel lift
and position using the travel lift, while those under
35/40 metres we lift with the travel lift, which works
like a lift and once positioned on the low loader this
takes them where they have to go. We have ordered a
180-tonne low loader which will be delivered shortly
in December from Ascom, especially for these
manoeuvres. So come the new year, we will reserve the
Alfa Yachts Yard hardstand for large boats, which the
less you move them the better. Whereas the others we
will haul into our wet dock and then, with the low
loader, we can take them to the new area, where we
have another 10,000 sq/m at our disposal.
What is your total capacity now?
Our yard has a capacity of 80 berths in the water up
to 18 metres, but we have an agreement with other
structures in the port for other spaces, even for
about ten or so boats up to 75 metres.
Do you also work on small boats?
Sure, starting with six-metre boats. Even if our core
business is on larger sizes, small-medium boats still
represent 35/40% of Alfa Yachts Yard's turnover. It is by
no means a second league business, quite the contrary,
right inside the structure on a staff level, there are
people who work exclusively on mooring and management of
small boats. It's not something we do in our spare time, as
a second line.
Have you heard that Fincantieri is also looking to build
large pleasure craft?
Of course, in practice we already knew and this was one of
the reasons we decided to make this new investment: our
wharves will be able to house them when it becomes
necessary. On yard premises the 10,000 sq/m combined with
the new wharf, and 100 metres of wharf mean being able to
accept nine 50/60/70-metre boats.
Can you tell me something more about the agreement you have
with the American Quantum?
It was very important for us to get into contact with this
reality, leader in the sector of stabilising systems, both
when sailing and when at anchor. It is a partnership that
means our work is further qualified, seeing that in this
way we become benchmark in the Mediterranean for all the
boats that use their apparatus, guaranteeing assistance
that is absolutely in line with the standards ensured by
the parent company in the States. I can't hide the fact
that we expect a good return on this operation, given that
Quantum systems are installed on many of the large pleasure
craft in circulation. Having the opportunity to carry out
work on these boats will enable us to get our structure
known even more quickly by all those owners and above all
by skippers who don't yet know us. Then it will be up to us
and our skills to make Alfa Yachts Yard become their
customary assistance centre, not only for their stabilising
systems.
How are you equipped on the other hand for assistance
outside your yard?
We have a group of 55 people, direct employees and
operative, with 8 trucks kitted out as workshops and a
total of around twenty vans and smaller means of transport,
for outside work within a range of 500 kilometres. Any
further and we fly there.
Have you set up collaboration with other companies in the sector?
This has been necessary, especially for large jobs.
For about a year now, we have been working together
with Arredamenti Porto and its general manager Matteo
Costaguta. We share the work both on a production
level and on a management level and we manage it
together right from start to finish.
In the context of the Genoa port, are all the
indispensable professions available?
Yes. What is good about Genoa, and in the Genoa basin is
precisely the availability and the skill of the labour of
the sub-contractors. While Viareggio is an area where they
build new boats, Genoa is more of a refit location; this is
shown by the operators present.
Going back to expansion of the refitting business,
what percentage of your turnover does it represent?
Last year 25%, this year, we think about 50%.
Alfa Yachts Yard: via Cibrario, 1 - 16154 Genova Sestri
Ponente - Tel +39 010 6511384 - Fax +39 010 6512780 - e-
mail: mail@alfayy.com
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