45m Awatea to be ReCrafted at Balk Shipyard
The 45-metre Awatea and her crew have arrived at Balk Shipyard for an extended period covering both technical and aesthetic enhancements. As part of her ReCraft, Awatea will receive a complete repaint of her hull and superstructure, alongside the installation of new alarm and monitoring (AM) and power control and monitoring systems (PCMS).
Awatea was built by Royal Hakvoort, less than an hour’s drive from Balk Shipyard, and first delivered in 2008. She carries a distinguished story: she was the very first Hakvoort designed by Rotterdam-based Cor D. Rover and, at the time, the fourth largest yacht ever built by the shipyard – the largest Cor D. Rover had ever designed.
She was among a wave of innovative Dutch yachts, with 21 deliveries that year from the Netherlands, including icons such as Feadship’s 72.8-metre Predator with its axe-bow and unprecedented 23,000 hp four-engine propulsion package, as well as the Australian-designed 75-metre Oceanco Wheels (ex. Anastasia) – which remains one of the most sought-after charter yachts to this day.
The innovation that Awatea pioneered was cutting-edge integrated technology for her era, with web-based systems from VBH that were the first of their kind aboard a yacht. Her interiors are equally spirited: Felix Buytendijk Yacht Design took a contemporary twist on traditional yachting, where sailing yacht décor meets New England charm.
“The post-millennium period of Dutch yacht design saw an influx of experimental design and a new wave of innovation,” says Evan Kortmann of Balk Shipyard. “This now semi-classical styling has a majestic charm, and as a shipyard that has been at the heart of Dutch yachting since 1798, there is no greater place for Awatea to be preserved, enhanced, and ReCrafted. We have been here throughout every wave of Dutch yacht design and understand deeply how to maintain yet modernise each era’s great spirit.”
This tradition will be kept alive and reinvigorated by Balk Shipyard. Built by one of the greats, Awatea will now be ReCrafted at a yard equally steeped in heritage. She is Dutch through and through, and by choosing a Dutch shipyard for this programme of works, her pedigree will be preserved.
Designed, built, and now recrafted in the Netherlands. An enduring heritage.
