Palmawatch S.L, a yacht service company based in Palma de Mallorca since the year 2002, have just reviewed their progress after one of the most active refit seasons around the island’s STP shipyard that anyone can remember.

 

Being based right inside STP (Servicios Técnicos Portuarios) in one of the largest and most technically advanced Superyacht refit and repair yards in Europe, the company is justly recognised as one of the leading specialised yacht service /refit contractors who are working right inside the yard.
One of the key factors in the growth and solid credibility of Palmawatch is their long association with leading UK yacht builder Oyster Marine, for whom they have been Preferred Service Partner for a number of years.

 

During this time the Oyster fleet itself has continued to grow in size, with more and more Oyster owners choosing to have Palma as their home port, and many of them have been happy to have Palmawatch on hand, to service, maintain or care for their yachts whist they are away, with their well established bespoke Gardienage Service.

 

This connection led to them servicing 54 Oyster Yachts for their owners and the shipyard during the last 12 month period, including some of the larger vessels in the model range, which has extended into superyachts during the last few years.

(Oyster 82’, 885’, 100’ and 125’.)

 

In fact as this issue of The Islander hits the quays in early October, the Oyster annual regatta will be taking place again in the Bay of Palma, and as for previous years, the preparation of many of the competing yachts, in order to make them ‘race ready’ and tuned for action will be entrusted to the Palmawatch team.

 

With a full compliment of experienced project managers onboard, and senior personnel in the company with hundreds of thousands of sea miles logged between them, the owners and captains who they serve frequently comment on how impressed they are, with the peak knowledge and practical application of the team.

 

Managing director Pierre Oberon gave an insight into the variety, scope and volume of work undertaken by Palmawatch since the end of the last Med sailing season.

 

“Over the last period from September 2014 until now, we serviced 151 yachts, this represented a total of 1013 client work orders. This is an increase of around 12% over and above the 2013/14 season.”

 

“As an example,” he continued, “around mid September we will be finishing a project which we started at the end of June on a Jongert 21s.That will signal the end of our 2014-2015 season, and after that we will be focusing on the projects for the coming refit period.”

 

The variety of work performed by Palmawatch on several mid-size refits during the last year gives a good example of the scope that a professionally managed yacht service company is able to undertake:

 

* A Jongert 2200: top sides and superstructure areas re-sprayed, deck gear repairs and services, all engine services, electrics and electronics repairs, supply of new sails.

 

* An Oyster 625: top sides re-sprayed, complete rig service, interior and exterior gel coat and fiberglass repairs, complete systems checks (all engine room systems, all plumbing), all winch services, etc.

 

As if this wasn’t enough, Palmawatch also managed a 2 month project on a Southern Winds 100 for the Italian/SA shipyard and assisted the Dutch shipyard Jongert with engineering work on a Jongert 40m.

 

A full yacht service offer is not only about the physical/technical work, but also has to provide competent financial/accounting procedures. In this respect Palmawatch undertook several contracts under TPA fiscal controls (VAT exempt invoicing) for refit-budgets averaging over €500.000, thus legally saving the yacht owners large amounts of valued added tax charges!

 

With a brand new refit season soon coming up for 2015/16, Pierre Oberon gave some insight into what lies in store for the Palmawatch team saying: ”We have 2 refits booked from September onward on a Nordia 57 and an Astondoa 70’ and one to be confirmed shortly on a Jongert 2200s.

 

“In order to meet the increased workload we are hiring new qualified personnel (an experienced marine-mechanical engineer and a new admin and finance director) and also personnel for our gardienage fleet, as we are looking after over 20 boats for their owners.”

 

Pierre concluded: “We are expecting a very busy time in October and November with a good number of yachts being hauled out, in order to be prepared for the annual ‘milk run’ across the Atlantic.”

 

“And with our interior component specialist supply partners OceanAir and Cantalupi, we will be rearranging our showroom in STP to exhibit their products, and also the carbon gangways and underwater lights that we supply and fit to yachts as part of our service.”

 

More details from Palmawatch

E.mail: info@palmawatch.com

 

Tel: (+34) 871 932 249 – www.palmawatch.com