DYNAMISM DEFINED SUNREEF FOUNDER FRANCIS LAPP IS AN ENTREPRENEUR UNWILLING TO SIT STILL FOR A MOMENT, AND THE YACHT BUILDER HE CREATED IN POLAND BEARS HIS IMPRIMATUR. By Ryan Swift 92 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 93
Left: Sunreef's 210 foot power trimaran concept. Below: The 114-foot Che, Sunreef's largest yacht. Bottom: Francis Lapp, founder and president of Sunreef Yachts. GOING FROM MANUFACTURING SWITCHGEAR CUBICLES AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS TO LUXURY SAILING CATAMARANS IS A RATHER LARGE EVOLUTION, ONE USUALLY DONE OVER THE COURSE OF A GENERATION OR MORE. For Sunreef founder Francis Lapp, it was a step taken in just a few years. Given the circumstances, it s not surprising. The 1990s seem so long ago, but we can look back now and see the fortunes that are now entering the yachting world were being started just then. A time of chaos had followed on from the great thaw after the Cold War, and businessmen from western Europe were noticing that the East had a lot of unfulfilled potential. One of those businessmen was Francis Lapp, a Frenchman who had met numerous Polish people living in his native France in Alsace, near the border with Germany. Fellow risk-takers, Lapp and his newfound friends were rally car enthusiasts. There followed an invitation to a rally organised by the Warsaw Automobile Club. Lapp would go on to participate in the race, and that would prove to be a momentous decision. In just two weeks, he was back in Poland, this time to start building a new company. In Poland of the early 1990s, Lapp saw opportunity. The country needed modernisation, new construction and development, and there was a chance for a dynamic business. In 1992, Lapp founded a company producing HVAC systems for commercial buildings, selling these systems and products into France. That company, HTEP Polska, is still in operation, but Francis Lapp was too keen to combine his desire for change and progress with his passions for travel and boating. Dynamism and innovation are Lapp s self-professed watchwords, both for himself LAPP WENT ON TO BUY A SAILING CRUISING CATAMARAN IN 1997, AND IMMEDIATELY SENT IT TO MADAGASCAR, AN AFRICAN ISLAND NATION IMMERSED IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. and the companies he founds. Given his restless appetite for new ventures, it wasn t long before he found himself in new businesses. As Lapp was busy expanding his manufacturing empire in Poland, he suddenly found himself doing something rather unusual; beach cat sailing in Warsaw. Some Polish friends evidently saw that this would be the kind of thing that might appeal to Lapp, and they were right. Lapp went on to buy a sailing catamaran in 1997, and immediately sent it to Madagascar, an African island nation immersed in the Indian Ocean. I visited Madagascar shortly before I bought the catamaran, and I immediately fell in love with it welcoming people, even though they live modestly, and splendid landscapes and fauna I just loved it there and wanted to go back. So, for the sake of boating in an exotic location, Lapp took the decision to make this his getaway spot. That decision would lead to the next step in his evolution. Wanting to keep his boat costs down, Lapp decided to start chartering out his boat in Madagascar to cover some operating expenses. What was supposed to be just a means to end quickly turned into a brand new business. I saw that it was going very well, and so I bought two more cats, very quickly after delivering the first one to its place. That effort would quickly become Sunreef Travel, Lapp s first use of the Sunreef name. With just three boats in place, Lapp was advertising to a mainly French audience, who seemed eager enough to charter his boats in the Indian Ocean. All three cats were between 35 and 50 feet, but as the word of mouth spread and the requests kept coming in, Lapp quickly judged that it was time to start building his own boats. I don t like to wait, I like to do things, Lapp says. Within 94 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 95
The prototype of the Sunreef 70 Power passes in front of the old wood crane in Gdansk. This prototype had a range of 10,000 nautical miles. The Sunreef 70 Power Damrak in Dubai passes by the Atlantis Hotel. Gdansk Shipyard offers Sunreef enormous production capacity. three years of chartering his own catamaran out for the first time, Lapp was already plotting the creation of his own yacht brand. The port city of Gdansk, founded over 1000 years ago, has a special place in Polish history. During the communist years of Poland s history, the city and its shipyard produced a range of boats, including Soviet naval vessels. Perhaps it was the proximity to the Baltic Sea and the trading routes of the Hanseatic League that have, over the centuries, contributed to a spirit of commerce and innovation that is central to the city s history. So it was no accident that Gdansk was also the centre of resistance to Communist rule throughout the 1970s and 80s, with now-legendary Lech Walesa leading his Solidarity movement to finally establish an independent Republic of Poland. As Francis Lapp considered how to go about building his new fleet of Sunreef Yachts, Gdansk, then struggling to find work for its shipyard, must have beckoned as the obvious way forward. The money required to establish Sunreef Yachts came from Lapp s own firm HTEP Polska, allowing Lapp to do what he felt was right. The first yacht to come from Sunreef was thus born in a peculiar way. Rather than starting small, Lapp decided to begin with a 74-foot catamaran, a relatively large yacht even by today s standards. It also began with the feedback of so many charter customers, which would prove invaluable. I had seen requests for more space, more elegance, air conditioning in all the cabins, luxury finishes and teak flooring. I also added my own idea, which was a flybridge on a sailing catamaran. I had spent time in the South of France with friends chartering a motoryacht, and we barely went inside; we mostly stayed on the flybridge. I then thought that we should have it on our own cats. That is how the Sunreef 74 became the world s first catamaran with a flybridge. Thus, in 2002, construction halls were leased from the famed Gdansk Shipyard, with construction work beginning soon after. The Sunreef 74 was then launched in 2003, and was shown at all the 96 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 97
Sunreef 150 concept. major shows, including Cannes, Monaco, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Genoa. Lapp and his newly established Sunreef Yachts would tour the 74 around these shows for the next two years, showcasing the possibilities of Polish yacht building. But it was in 2005 that the first big commercial step was taken with the launch of the Sunreef 62 sailing cat. This yacht model would go on to sell 40 units, with several being sold into Thailand, China and Singapore. From this point, Sunreef Yachts has not looked back, with ever-larger designs and yachts being built. By 2010, Sunreef had launched two superyachts over 100 feet each Che and Ipharra. These yachts were showcased at the Cannes boat show and attracted considerable attention along the docks set aside for multihulls. The move into superyacht construction is a natural one, considering Lapp s never-ending desire to do new and different things. This is not a man who plans to rest on his laurels. I m getting more excited about bigger cats, and we (are) getting serious inquiries for them. I feel internal satisfaction as I believed in this concept from the beginning. Though Sunreef will continue to build in the 60 and 70-foot range according to Lapp, the push to go bigger and better is a strong calling. I can see our cats in five to ten years, says Lapp: bigger, better, with green solutions and always ahead in innovations. The confidence and dynamism that Lapp and his burgeoning I CAN SEE OUR CATS IN FIVE TO TEN YEARS, SAYS LAPP: BIGGER, BETTER, WITH GREEN SOLUTIONS AND ALWAYS AHEAD IN INNOVATIONS. company have is infectious. A visit to their stand at the Cannes boat show, where this year saw five catamaran yachts on display (and the biggest cats as well, Francis Lapp will note), is to be greeted by a fresh view on what is possible with luxury cruising catamarans. From the youthful staff to the fresh colours and designs on offer, you sense that this is a new company. To that end, Lapp has more-or-less mandated that Sunreef develop and launch two new yacht models every year. The aim to innovate and improve is bolstered by Lapp s creation of a design team of over 30 naval architects, engineers and designers to help create and build these visions of yachting s future. In 2009, in the depths of the Global Financial Crisis, Sunreef unveiled a special project with French sailor Laurent Bourgnon, a Sunreef Power 70 catamaran, especially designed for a round the world trip the famed sailor had planned for himself and his family. This yacht was capable of up to 10,000 nautical miles on a tank of fuel an impressive number by anyone s reckoning. Not only was this an impressive sight amid the doom and gloom at the Cannes boat show that year, but Sunreef arranged for numerous test trials, interviews and photography. Sunreef came into people s consciousness in a dramatic way, as youthful and forward-looking and media savvy. The latest creation to come out from Sunreef is the 210-foot trimaran, a first for the yacht builder in numerous respects, not least the Lapp accepting the Entrepreueur of the Year Award of Cannes, 2013. fact that it is a trimaran and not a catamaran. Lapp says that this yacht, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the trimaran Adastra, built by McConaghy Boats in Zhuhai, China for a Hong Kong client, was one-and-a-half years in the design process. Lapp describes the 210-foot trimaran as a mature project ready to build, with over 1000 square metres of living space available, as well as providing a private terrace for each cabin. Innovation is necessary to maintain (a) leadership position, Lapp states. If you have a successful business, the worst thing you can do is IF YOU HAVE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS, THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS TO STAY IN THAT POSITION. YOU HAVE TO PROGRESS CONSTANTLY. to stay in that position. You have to progress constantly. Sunreef has thus continually been pushing boundaries. Not content with mid-range yachts, it has moved into superyachts. The company has also expanded into aluminium and carbon-fibre production, with some very distinctive designs coming from the brand in the past couple of years, some of which involve the very creative use of solar panels and lightweight construction. Sunreef, located in the middle of the Gdansk Shipyard, is able to call upon equipment such as large hoists and travelifts to launch its growing series of superyachts. The company has also purchased 16 hectares of land outside the shipyard where a 25,000 square metre facility is being built for larger yachts. Sunreef may only be celebrating its tenth anniversary a relatively young yard by comparison to other builders but it is aiming at very high targets indeed. With three yachts over 80 feet, a power catamaran over 90 feet and some other new big projects in discussion, look for the Sunreef name taking pride of place on every bigger yachts. www.sunreef-yachts.com 98 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 Asia-Pacific Boating November/December 2013 99