Feadship Captains Summit a success

In October Feadship held their biennial Feadship Captains Summit, giving a select group of skippers the chance to spend three days and nights in the Netherlands. A broad programme included visits to the Feadship yards in Aalsmeer, Kaag and Makkum, where the captains enjoyed an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the various bespoke builds currently underway.

There were brainstorming sessions with senior Feadship personnel and a session with the Feadship designers and naval architects in order to gather the thoughts and opinions of captains. A lively social programme included a custom dinner at one of Haarlem’s finest restaurants and a night out in Amsterdam. The captains all expressed how valuable they found the entire experience.

Len Beck, captain of Samadhi (ex. April Fool), who previously spent 15 years at the helm of the Feadship Battered Bull commented, “The Captain’s Summit is the best possible place to interact with your professional colleagues and spend time with the people who build the finest boats in the world. I may have been doing this job for three decades but I never grow tired of hearing about new technologies. We have learned lots about design and the latest thinking at Feadship. The summit is also a great opportunity to talk about operational experience – it’s very rare to have so much knowledge in one place.”

Christopher Walsh, captain of Archimedes added, “There is nothing more productive than spending time with your peers. It is fantastic for captains to have a chance to tap into so much collective knowledge and share honestly with each other. I also welcome the opportunity to talk to the actual builders. As a captain you tend to live in a bubble and the Captain’s Summit allows us to contribute to the big picture of superyacht construction. Feadship is without doubt the best of the best in terms of superyacht construction and it is a genuine honour to be able to help improve the service and product in this way.”

Ted McCumber, captain of Savannah concluded by saying, “One of the things that I love about the Captain’s Summit is that it is a two-way street of learning. We have spoken with senior people from every discipline of yacht design and construction at Feadship, and the fact that they are making notes and listening carefully to what we have to say speaks volume for the integrity of this gathering. There are hundreds of captains around the world who would love to be at a meeting such as this and I am delighted to say I was there.”

The next Feadship Captain’s Summit will take place in two years’ time, while 2017 will host the biennial Feadship Broker’s Summit

For more information visit Feadship