Patrick Coote on the Blohm + Voss BV80 Concept

We sat down with Patrick Coote, Sales & Marketing Director for Blohm + Voss, at the Monaco Yacht Show, to find out more about this exciting new project and also to hear his general thoughts on the field of yacht design and construction.

“When I joined Blohm + Voss we sat down and said we’d like to increase sales – that’s the job of a sales director – what are we gonna do?,” he said. “Of course, Blohm + Voss has a big history of selling very large fully custom one-off projects which is all well and good, so we went to the market and did a lot of research, how do you feel about Blohm + Voss, how do you perceive Blohm + Voss, where do you see us in the sector against the competition, what are our strengths, what are our weaknesses, what is the Blohm + Voss DNA?

“The feedback as very interesting. The market said, you build amazing boats, the quality is unquestionable, but they’re so big and so awesome that they don’t actually bear much relation to the detailed conversations we’re having with our clients day to day. So you really need to get back in the conversation on a more accessible level so that’s really how the BV80 came about.”

So what can Mr Coote tell us about this project that has gained so much attention since it was announced?

“She’s a semi-custom project, which is of course the first time Blohm + Voss have done anything like that,” he said. “Certain elements are Blohm + Voss to the extent that we’ve fixed the engineering and the crew spaces and the technical areas and the propulsion is all pre-engineered and pre-thought out, which allows a much faster delivery time.

“The standardised elements allow a more competitive price, but we’ve still left a lot of flexibility for the owners to determine the owner and guest areas so they can have exactly the boat they want.”

You can watch the full video interview with Patrick Coote above this article.