Mark Hiemstra

I’m a naval architect with more than ten years’ experience in yacht building and specialist engineering, with a background in composite materials, production processes and on-site project management. I started out as Vitters Shipyard’s on-site representative for SY Missy and SY Ribelle, two 100ft carbon composite sailing yachts built in the UK and completed in the Netherlands. In that role I kept design intent and production reality aligned between the hull builder and the engineering team. I then joined Pontis, a consultancy specialising in practical process engineering, where I developed a structured approach to analysing production processes, identifying risks and implementing improvements. Back in yacht building as an exterior project engineer, I led exterior engineering through to production engineering for MY Ulysses, MY Moonrise and a current newbuild at De Vries Makkum. My scope ran from translating the designer’s shape into the master model to stainless steel styling details,