Drettmann-Sunrise Group
From Bremen, Antalya and Monte-Carlo, the Drettmann–Sunrise Group, a new group of yachting companies emerges at the initiative of Herbert P. Baum, the German businessman and yachtsman who co-founded Sunrise Yachts, bringing together expertise and resources from Germany, Turkey and Monaco to offer high-quality, cost-effective yacht building solutions and services to the international market.
The focus of the group’s strategy is the re-birth of the Drettmann brand, founded 40 years ago by the Drettmann family in Bremen to what will now be a full-fledged yacht-building company with operations in Germany and Turkey. The brand will be launched – together with new yacht designs – at boot Düsseldorf, 22-30 January, 2011.
“Build me a German-quality yacht at Turkish price, and I’ll be the happiest yachtsman in the world”. This comment, ventured half-jokingly by a prospective client at Sunrise Yachts in the middle of the economic crisis, triggered the ambitious endeavour. The concept soon found an opportunity to materialise when Herbert Baum and Guillaume Roché, founders of Sunrise Yachts, met with Claudia and Albert Drettmann, who had tremendously grown the family group over the last 20 years, until the recent economic crisis and its consequences on the yachting market forced the company to file for insolvency in May 2010.
Drettmann had been successfully marketing several brands, including the Bandido, Elegance and Premier lines built at shipyards in Taiwan and significantly contributed to the growth of those companies in recent years. The company also operates manufacturing and refit facilities at its headquarters in Bremen.
The thorough discussions carried out since last summer between the founders of Sunrise Yachts and the Drettmann family resulted in an enthusiastic decision: to combine facilities, resources and expertise from Germany and Turkey to re-launch the Drettmann brand as a highly competitive alternative to North European yacht-building in specific segments of the superyacht market. In addition to the superyacht designs created at Sunrise Yachts, the company will introduce new product lines – starting at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in January – focusing on the core business and loyal client-base developed by Claudia and Albert Drettmann over the years.
The activities of the company will now include:
-Drettmann Motoryachts (semi-displacement) – 20m to 37m (composite construction)
-Drettmann Explorers – 27 to 37m and above (steel & aluminium construction)
-Drettmann Superyachts – 46 to 65m by Espen Øino (steel & aluminium construction)
-Drettmann Classics – 12 to 18m (composite construction)
-Custom motoryacht projects in the 40 to 65m size range in collaboration with world-class yacht designers
-Refit up to 600 tons – to be increased soon to 1,200 tons (current projects include a 41m KaiserWerft, a 47m Heesen, and a 27m Kingship)