Intuition Yachts – Pioneering A Zero Carbon Future For Yacht Design And Build
This month I had the pleasure of speaking with Marta Zawadzka, Polish Naval Architect and her Business Development partner, Ewa Gawin at Intuition Yachts Design Studio. It was both fascinating and inspiring to find out what these clever ladies have been creating in their studios in both Poland and Palma de Mallorca.
Marta Zawadzka and Ewa Gawin
Marta Zawadzka
Marta studied naval architecture at the University of Technology in Gdansk and following this she gained experience working at a few different companies connected to maritime engineering. Her favourite job was at a design studio in Sopot, Poland for a famous designer, Juliusz Strawinski who ignited her passion for designing yachts, especially motor yachts, and subsequently became her mentor.
In 2015, Marta moved to Mallorca and started working in the maritime industry mostly in Project Management roles and then in Interior Design for superyachts but her yearning for complete yacht design became stronger by the day. So, Marta took the very bold step by starting out on her own and since the end of 2018, has been working by herself for individual clients. During this time she formed great connections in Poland and pretty much knows the whole industry which has opened up some great partnership opportunities with shipbuilding firms.
Ewa Gawin
Ewa is the brains behind developing the business and has gained a lot of experience in Project Management and Business Development roles over a 6-year period. They met through a family connection and Marta had seen how professional Ewa was and also what great results she was getting for the companies she worked for, so she pretty much headhunted her.
Intuition Yachts
It is great to see that Marta and Ewa have huge respect for each other’s skills which is sure to make them perfect business partners, and along with their two other co-owners, they have already purchased their own shipyard! This means that Intuition Yachts have been able to take things to the next level and form a company for their Design Office in Gdansk where they now design, project manage and build the complete product. This is a huge achievement for two ladies in their 30s I am sure you will agree! So I was naturally keen to know more about the projects these ladies have been working on:
Marta: “Our favourite project is “Canna” which came from Canna Boats, a project of one of our co-funders. He wanted us to redesign his project, which we did, and we are also now co-funders of this product which we aim to make into a new brand. It is now under construction in Poland and is a small, gentleman’s boat of 5.5 metres but what is unique about this boat is that first of all it has an electric engine, but even more interesting, it is going to be built using a pure natural composite of flax fibre.
Ewa: “This is a very different and environmentally-friendly boat and new to the market. We are one of the very few using pure composites and electric engines – our aim is to reduce carbon footprint in yachting and not pollute the environment.”
Marta: “Yes, we are using a really nice classic design but connected to a modern look. Everybody who has seen the boat really, really loves it.”
Ewa: “We were responsible for designing the project but we are also now into the production and it looks fantastic. The premier will be in July at the Polboat Yachting Festival in Gdynia so we will have a big celebration.”
I was fascinated to know if there are any other projects built using this material and the ladies informed me that there is a sailing boat, but not a motorboat. So we are witnessing real ground-breaking stuff which should get Intuition Yachts the notoriety they clearly deserve. I was also very impressed that from the original concept, through design to completion and launch, the timeframe is less than 3 years!
What are the power and speed capabilities of the vessel?
Marta: “We are going to propose different engines to our clients. The first one would be very quiet at 15kW with speeds of 10-15 knots but we are also going to use for the next models engines up to 50kW giving it a speed of around 25 knots. We plan to make this a series yacht whereby the client can choose a package power option for the engine and number of batteries.”
Where else will this unique motor yacht be promoted after Poland in July?
Marta: “First we’re going to go to the Dusseldorf boat show in January, and then we will be at the Palma Boat Show in April/May. We will probably go with the Canna boat and have a stand to present it as a new brand but we will also have our own Intuition Yachts stand.”
Did you imagine 5 years ago that you would already be where you are now?
Marta: “I was telling myself since I fell in love with designing that I wanted to have my own design office in the future, maybe in 10 years or so, but somehow it happened a lot sooner and I am very happy for that. There has been a lot to learn but I have great support from the production team and also my amazing mentor, Juliusz.”
What other projects are you working on?
Marta: “The other project we are working on now is also a 5.5 metre pleasure motor boat but it is made from aluminium. It’s a bit of a secret right now as the client also wants this one to be a serial production and we are still deciding on things such a colour, seating, etc. We are hoping to premier this one in November at the Poland Boat Show: Warsaw Yacht Salon.”
Ewa: “Even though this is also 5.5 metres, it is a totally different design to the Canna with completely different materials used. We always try to create complex designs that fit the clients’ needs. The Canna is more of a classic boat and this new one will be a more modern design. We are also catching the individual clients who want their own unique design and project management for the yacht of their dreams. These are even more secret as they like to keep every little detail unique to them”
Marta: “We also see that there is a lot of potential with aluminium boats, even though the price of aluminium is so expensive, but we see there are many clients that want to use this as a construction material.”
Intuition Yachts also designs and completes both yacht exterior and interior design reconstruction projects with most of these coming from Germany or the Netherlands, but as Ewa says “hopefully soon from Mallorca too”! I think Intuition Yachts is going to become very well-known and respected in the yachting industry for its exceptional innovation, skill and meticulous attention to the clients’ needs. It is truly great to see two very talented young ladies making waves in the yachting design and build industry and we wish them every luck for the future.
Poland
ul. Jabłoniowa 20,
80-175 Gdańsk
tel.: +48 500 204 025
woj. Pomorskie
e-mail: studio@intuition-yachts.com
Spain
Avenida Alejandro Rossello 15 2E
07002 Palma de Mallorca
Illes Balears
mobile: +34 603 217 134
e-mail: studio@intuition-yachts.com
Written by Lisa Thompson
textperfect@outlook.com
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