MYS 2023: Pendennis Shipyard on Newbuild, Refit, and Industry Firsts

It has been a special Monaco Yacht Show for Pendennis Shipyard with the celebration of the company’s 35thanniversary. Toby sheds light on the philosophy and vision that has remained consistent throughout Pendennis’ history and made it a leading facility.

“We’re a true custom builder,” explains Toby Allies. “Whether it is refit, restoration, newbuild, we do it all but on a custom level. We don’t build platform or production boats, and we’ve been delivering fantastic projects over the years for many, many different clients.

“We start really with a blank piece of paper to realise the dreams of our owners. We have a base in Cornwall where we employ some 500 people, and we also have a base in Villanova in Spain, so we can provide a really good support network for the Mediterranean fleet.”

As Pendennis Shipyard celebrated its anniversary at the pinnacle superyacht show of the year, there was something special on show – any surprisingly not superyacht-related.

“It’s not all about boats!” says Toby. “This year we wanted to do something a little different, over the years in Monaco we’ve done some great things to celebrate our birthday. We’ve had the Red Arrows here fly multiple times, which has been quite amazing. This year we went a little bit different.”

Pendennis had been approached by Formula One company Prodrive to help build an ultra-realistic simulator, one which is used by the F1 drivers themselves. The simulator was brought along to the Pendennis stand, where it became quite the attraction during the Show.

“People can come on our stand and drive the Monaco F1 circuit in a Ferrari,” adds Toby. “The racing car drivers themselves use this simulator to train. Unfortunately, I decorated the Ferrari quite a lot driving around Monaco! But there have been some good owners who know how to drive cars that have had great experiences on it.”

There’s always lots of excitement around Pendennis during MYS, but back to yachts there is plenty to get excited about looking ahead. “We’ve got very strong interest in our order book going forward, and a lot of repeat business coming through,” Toby reveals.

“We’ve got quite a lot of interest in conversion and restoration projects, which we have the reputation leading the industry in that area. We’re really confident and pleased with the level of interest.”