WORDS : ERIC RADCLIFFE | PHOTOS : IAN FLEMING

The launch of a new commercial yacht-building company has revived one of Knysna’s oldest industries.

One yacht towered above the rest at this year's Cape Town Boat Show at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront – and it wasn't just because her mast stood nineteen metres above the water. No. It was her superior build quality and superb finishes, her sleek good looks and, significantly, her brand name which drew the attention of serious buyers to the new Knysna 440 at her first ever public exhibition.

Designed by naval architect Angelo Lavranos and a class winner in the Cape-to-Rio Race, the Knysna 440 is now built in Knysna – and therein lies the rub. Because Knysna - which has always been associated with ships and ship building – has re-entered the industry in a big way with the recent opening of the Knysna Yacht Company.

Marketing Director Dries van Rooyen is especially up-beat about the future, noting that his company has invested heavily in moulds, marketing and infrastructure to be able to build as many as eight catamarans and motor yachts a year.

“Here in the Garden Route we still have a cost advantage over the larger centres,” he says. “Competition amongst boat builders in places like Cape Town has pushed up the labour rate, but here it remains realistic” (although he's quick to add that they honestly believe that they are one of the best-paying employers in Knysna).

However, van Rooyen is cautious about the effect of the Rand against the dollar. “It's too strong,” he says, “and this affects not only boat builders but other industries as well.

“The result is that we can no longer be competitive on a price-only basis. But we can't just put up our prices, so we're going to have to market ourselves more aggressively and look at our efficiencies – and we may also have to look at developing new products.”

Nevertheless, he and his partners – Laurie Gardiner, Kevin Fouche and Elli Peinke – must be confident that they'll be equal to the challenge: at the time of going to press they were busy opening their 2,500 square metre, state-of-the-art factory. Designed by local architect Philip du Toit, it has already become something of a landmark in Knysna and has been described by a rival professional as “the best building in our Industrial Area.”

It's everything you'd expect of a twenty-first century production facility - with things like insulation to ensure optimum work temperatures, mezzanine floors which allow direct access to boat decks “so that people don't have to waste their time running up and down ladders” and a 13 metre high roof “so that we can flip the decks over without taking them outside” (these yachts are moulded in two pieces with their decks lying upside-down during the laying-on process. Once the glass fibre has cured, every deck has to be lifted out of its mould and turned 'right-side-up' before it can be bonded to the hull).
 

A stylish saloon offers ample space for entertainment

With so much attention to detail in the working environment, it's hardly surprising to find that the yachts themselves have drawn a lot of attention of their own – not least of which comes from international sailing magazine Multihulls.
 

Van Rooyen is well aware of the power of ‘brand Knysna’ and believes that its pull had a lot to do with the company's success.

Published in English and French and with a subscriber database of more than 160,000 readers in the USA alone, Multihulls is the biggest and best respected publication of its kind in the world today.

“We were approached by the South African Boat Builders Council who wanted us to show our yacht to Giles Rufor,” says van Rooyen. “He's an experienced international journalist who is currently travelling the world doing a comparative study of various boats for the magazine.

“He told us, after his exhaustive survey of the performance, technical specifications and aesthetics of our boat, that we can expect a very favourable review when his article is published in mid-2004.”

On the day after Rufor's final sail, the Knysna 440 went on show in Cape Town to more than critical acclaim: “I think we stole a bit of the limelight,” chuckles an obviously pleased van Rooyen.

Boat shows are judged on the business they generate, and the Knysna Yacht Company, which “hoped to come away with at least one order” was pleased to be able to sign “quite a few more than that.”

Van Rooyen is well aware of the power of ‘brand Knysna’ and believes that its obvious pull had a lot to do with the company's success this year – although their advertising campaign (which included 30 flightings of a 2-minute ad on Channel 55) must have had impact, too.

“From the day we started thinking about this business, I knew that we had to include 'Knysna' both in the company's name and in the names of our products.

“There's no doubt in my mind that Knysna is one of the strongest brands in the country, and it epitomises and reflects the lifestyle that's associated with our boats.”

And that, perhaps, is not the least of the reasons why, with the revival of its long tradition of boat building, the 'forgotten port of Knysna' has re-appeared as a boat-building force to be reckoned with on the radar screens of wealthy buyers from around the globe.
 

Knysna Yacht Company, Knysna
Tel 044 384 1339 | Website www.knysnayachtco.com