When, in 1995, Hans Alma wanted to start building his own small motor yachts, experience gained in computer aided design (CAD) programmes presented him with an opportunity to build his own designs before having the components cut to size by a yard. “Building the first prototype resulted in questions about this way of building and soon I was asked to do this for others as well – to fill this niche
in the market,” he says. “Since then, designing metal kits for both private and boatyard clients became the main business.”
Bonito Boats was set up in 1996 to bring high quality steel boat kits from its base in Veghel, the Netherlands, to an international market. A majority of the company’s clients are shipyards, which approach and work with Hans to develop either modified versions of the company’s previous designs or – approximately 30 per cent of the time – entirely bespoke builds of up to 22 metres. Since 1996, Bonito Boats has delivered over 400 kits to clients across the world including exotic deliveries of a workboat currently sailing the shores of Papua New Guinea and a small sailing boat being used in Alaska. In recent times, though, Bonito Boats has seen a burgeoning market interest coming from the UK and the Mediterranean where it is believed many customers are looking to replace old wooden boats with cost effective alternatives. Metal kits provide this ideal alternative because they combine low cost building with a reliable product. Hans discusses in greater depth metal kits and their advantages: “Kits are fully prepared hull and deck parts made from a 3D model of the yacht or boat in questions. It can be compared to Airfix or other plastic building model put together with glue, except that these boats are metal and welded together. The advantages are that the entire hull and deck is predesigned and therefore allows the customer to start building straight away from precisely sized components rather than having to cut their own parts, which is time consuming and risks mistakes. Working this way allows individual changes in the design stage rather than during building, eliminating unexpected outcomes. One-off designs are now possible too without the expense of having to create mock-ups or expensive tooling to build it.”
The speed and flexibility with which Bonito Boats is able to work means it has produced a wide range designs to meet different purposes. The Riverfun series, for example, are designed for extended cruising or even living aboard, the Almarine designs are suitable for coastal cruising, and the Orca designs are ideal as a sport and fishing vessel. The Beaver 1500, meanwhile, was built for coastal survey work whilst its range of own-branded Bonito models is ideal for leisure chartering. Within this, as Hans has pointed out, there is plenty of scope for modification. This even feeds back into the company’s own work. “Most of our designs have originated from some form of co-operation with a potential customers and later incorporated into our standard designs,” the founder says. Providing reliable, safe and well performing designs at a low cost that can be put together with few engineers required has given Bonito Boats a strong position in a market that looks for increasingly efficient products. Hans highlights the success his company has had: “The last few months have seen a decrease in demand due possibly due to uncertainties over economic outlook but overall performance has been good. The last two years has shown an increase in the business of supplying metal kits as more and more customers are looking to save costs or simply be able to have control over where their vessel is built. Invariably, this way of building has shorter lines of communication and benefits all
Already able to provide hull and deck structures, Bonito Boats is now looking at ways it can improve its offering even further. At the forefront is Hans’ desire to incorporate propulsion systems, piping, other technical items and even interiors into the kit, and thereby facilitating even greater ease of construction. This would result in the company being able to provide yards or private customers with an almost ready-to-go product out of the container.
“It is clear to us that we supply a niche market where the gap between customer and builder is not very well filled,” says Hans. “Often this means the customer will have a design but the builder doesn’t have enough information to provide a cost effective engineer solution. Bonito Boats wants to fill that gap as fully as possible. By doing this we open up all sorts of new possibilities as well because a kit that is almost complete when delivered means many more people in many more countries can purchase and assemble boats without needing extra people looking into the minute details. It can be built anywhere in the world and that is the strength of our progress.”
Het is allemaal begonnen toen Hans(je) Alma als jonge man(de huidige eigenaar van Bonito Beheer BV) in 1980 in de jachtbouw aan het werk ging. Hij deed hier de nodige ervaring op en leerde veel over de sector vaartuigen(techniek). Hans was een ondernemende man en alle opgedane ervaring was dan ook in het buitenland. en is later ook geruime tijd in de V.S. actief geweest in de vaartuigentechniek. Met groot plezier en veel interesse werkte hij in deze sector. Hierin is hij ongeveer 15 jaar actief geweest. Na ongeveer 15 jaar in de sector gewerkt te hebben werd Hansje, Hans. En Hans had ondertussen eigen ideeën in zijn hoofd ontwikkeld. Toen hij zijn kans schoon zag greep hij deze dan ook met beide armen aan. Hieruit is in 1995 het bedrijf Almarine ontstaan. Initieel was het de bedoeling om met behulp van computer software een eigen model jacht te gaan bouwen. Alleen gaandeweg en na het uitontwikkelen en leveren van bouwpakketten en casco's, kwam het bedrijf er achter dat daar meer vraag naar was, naar eigen zegge om het g*t in de markt op te vullen. Logischerwijs is Bonito Boats zich toen ook meer gaan verdiepen in de bouwpakketten en casco's, dit dan ook met resultaat. Later, omstreeks 2012 is daar Custom jachtbouw bijgekomen. Anno 2014 is Bonito Boats dan ook het bedrijf voor het bouwen van jachten en kleine werkschepen. Het heeft ondertussen grote ervaring op gedaan en kan zo dus ook een kwaliteits product leveren en garanderen. Het levert dan ook wereldwijd(en daarmee bedoelen we van New-Ginea tot Alaska) bouwpakketten, casco's, technisch vaarklaar casco's en levert het complete schepen in opdracht van de klant, dit laatste heet custom-jachtbouw en is relatief nieuw binnen het bedrijf. Binnen customjachtbouw is niets te gek en vrijwel alles mogelijk, dit tot groot genoegen van bepaalde klanten. Het altijd vooruitstrevende en verbetering zoekende bedrijf, Bonito Boats, zal zich dan ook blijven inzetten om het wereldwijd mogelijk te maken dat casco-bouw en custom jachtbouw zal blijven bestaan en mogelijk zal zijn over de hele wereld aan de hand van onze producten.