It would be fair to say that I was excited for my visit to Pendennis Shipyard, the first since 2017, in no small part due to the presence of the 58.83-metre Camper and Nicholsons 1931 motor yacht Marala, now in an advanced state of spectacular restoration. 
Pendennis Shipyard is nestled between cliffs, the sea and a major commercial shipyard, looking out into Falmouth Harbour in south-west Cornwall. Though in an unassuming location, the yard has evolved over the decades to establish an international reputation, particularly famed for the refit and restoration of some of the world’s best known sailing and motor yachts. Among those yachts stamped with the Pendennis seal are the 65-metre schooner Adix, refit in 1991, the 45.6-metre Pendennis superyacht Moatize, the famous Feadship A2 which underwent an expansive refit in 2012 and the 1933 J-Class sloop Velsheda. 
Photo: Rupert PearceIn 2004 the yard made a commitment to continuing the growth of their refit sector, which now accounts for around 80 percent of the work conducted, with the construction of The Terry Vernon Refit Complex, a 150-metre split dry dock. In 2014 the yard went through another phase of expansion and in 2019 they acquired a 800 tonne travel lift, further extending their capabilities. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, Pendennis also established a new technical service shipyard in Vilanova, just outside of Barcelona, which serves the global fleet in the Mediterranean. The initial works on the yard were completed in Autumn of 2019, resulting in a yard which spans 30,000 square-meters and is equipped with a 200 tonne and 620 travel hoist for performing repair and maintenance works.
Joint Managing Director, Toby Allies commented “For the last 33 years the main focus of the management team at Pendennis has been to consistently deliver world class projects and outstanding customer service to our clients. This has been achieved through a combination of strategies including nurturing and developing the talent within the business, as well as consistent investment into our infrastructure and the expansion of our oversea’s offering through Pendennis Vilanova.”
During my morning at the yard I was fortunate enough to receive an exclusive tour of the current projects, which aside from Marala’s restoration include the construction of two new motor yachts. These two hulls, which began their life at the now-closed Turkish shipyard Tansu, are exploiting every scratch of the knowledge and expertise here at Pendennis, with one vessel made of steel, the 35-metre Project Fox and the other made of timber, the 38-metre sistership of Tansu’s Preference 19.
When asked about why the owner chose Pendennis for the construction of these two unusual explorer yachts, Owners Representative Dave Powys commented, “I have worked with Pendennis in the past, for me when we knew the yachts had to move there was no other yard in my mind. We came here for the exceptional level of expertise in traditional British yacht construction, the track record and for the people who ensure that what we want is completed to a very high standard.” 
The 35-metre Project Fox may have started life as a Tansu, but the team in Falmouth have worked hard to convert the vessel into a transatlantic explorer with a truly commercial draw. Raising the bulwarks and exploiting her impressive aft deck, the yacht has undergone a form of conversion to bring her up to Pendennis’ world-class standard. When launched in early 2023 she will sit more than comfortably alongside explorer superyachts of a much greater length.
Powys’ impression of Pendennis is certainly one that is shared by the team on the ground. A major cause of the aforementioned sense of heritage comes from the fact that the 400-strong workforce are all employed by the company, there are few contractors meaning that everyone on site has ties to the work conducted, helping to forge a sense of pride in the business. Another part has been nurtured by the shipyards apprenticeship programme, established in 1998, which pulls young talent from the local community into structured education and employment. Today, 30 percent of the company’s workforce is made up of current or ex-apprentices, a statistic that speaks volumes about the soul of the shipyard. 
Speaking to Nick Kearton, Project Manager for the restoration of Marala you really get a sense of how the cogs turn here at the shipyard. Having arrived in Falmouth in early 2019, the vessel is following in the footsteps of other impressive Pendennis refits, such as that of another golden age beauty, the 1937 Malahne in 2017, which is seeing the yacht returned to bristol condition. Over the decades Marala has been converted, added to and modernised. It has been the task of Kearton and his team to return her to her original form, a celebration of Art Deco design and one of the last surviving vessels of her lineage. 
Photo: Edmiston
Photo: Jeff BrownA major element of a project such as this has been the research and rediscovery of her history, with the team unearthing 800 documents pertaining to her original design, archived at the Greenwich Maritime Library. London-based Muza Lab design studio have been instrumental in the interior finishing, which as I toured the yacht was beginning to take shape as bathroom tiles were laid under my feet. As their first yacht interior design the team at Muza has pulled out all of the stops to adhere to the Deco originality, while employing as many artisans and craftspeople as possible to complement the interior arrangement. One exceptional example comes in the form of straw marquetry panels in the lower deck saloon, which look like finely inlaid strips of heavily varnished wood but are actually carefully selected individual blades of straw, painstakingly arranged into a pattern and sealed with varnish.
For Kearton, it is the culture of Pendennis that has enabled the team to come together to create a restoration on this scale. The work has been challenging at times, not least in the form of Covid-19. When the vessel was stripped down to steel more than 80 tonnes of material had to be removed, far more than anyone had predicted. The resounding success of this work however, Kearton believes, is born from the fact that the yard employs skilled professionals from every department they could need, many of whom have been at the shipyard for decades.
In fact, even on Marala’s refit, there are two sets of father and son/daughter teams as well as individuals who have been at Pendennis since the yard was founded 33 years ago. Having the work and skills in-house may be one of the reasons that the shipyard has fared the adversity of 2020 and onwards so well.
The longevity of the employees at the shipyard is also something you hear time and time again when speaking to people about Pendennis. For many owners and captains, particularly of older vessels, Pendennis is the very best place to have a vessel refit because often there are people there who have worked on the vessel before. This fosters a great retention of clients and many come to Pendennis for the skillsets of particular members of the team. 
As the morning on the site drew to a close, my guide Paul Griffiths showed me the areas that the shipyard will be looking to expand in coming years and even as we stood there vessels were arriving from all over the world to begin refits of various levels. Pendennis is a hive of activity, apprentices learn how to strip and varnish great spars like those of Marala, while steel and aluminium experts set to work on the construction of Project Fox's interior arrangement. It is exciting to see the tradition of British yacht construction, which was once such a major player in the world stage, surviving strongly here in Falmouth. I very much look forward to returning to the shipyard in the Spring to see these projects come to their conclusion and I expect to see many more exciting vessels pass through here in years to come.
This article was originally published in Issue 39 of SuperYacht Times newspaper. To read more stories like this one and to never again miss another issue of the SuperYacht Times newspaper, subscribe here.