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Masters to Watch: Erik van Veen, CEO Davinci Yachts

"Those who buy a DaVinci yacht want no hassle but peace of mind. If there is something, it has to be solved. Done. In the winter you store your boat here, in the spring you pick it up and everything on it has been done what needs to be done." MASTERS talks to Erik van Veen, the CEO of Davinci Yachts.Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Online Editor: Mical Joseph
Image: John van Helvert

Improvising

"As a kid, I played guitar and would sit and play on Sunday mornings at the retirement home. I often think back to that, because I was always improvising then too. Entrepreneurship as I do now is nothing but improvisation. Every day I'm dealing with different people, I'm switching gears. I eventually became the bassist for the rock band Monstertux. We played live on the radio, performed at Parkpop and Paradiso, we opened for Marillion seven times ... It was a very good band, we were just all way too stubborn to really make something out of it. Besides, I had just become a father. I'd come home from a gig at three, four in the morning, bottle the kid, take an hour's nap and go to work. The only one who can make a good living from it is the one who writes the songs. I never had the illusion nor the ambition. I do, however, still play for fun in a rock band, Fools & Pretenders."

Heeg

"Besides playing the guitar, I did an entrepreneurial course in tourism and recreation. For an internship twenty-five years ago I ended up in a hostel in Heeg, which was full of German school groups every week. I accompanied them in canoeing, sailing, surfing... After three weeks, the person organizing the activities quit, whereupon the director said to me, 'You do it.' When another hostel was added, I was offered a permanent job. I loved it in Heeg: the freedom, the sailing... And when I met my current wife there, I was completely sold. After a few years I stopped working at the hostels and became manager in a restaurant with a terrace and marina attached - there were always boats. The hospitality industry was incredibly fun to do, but it saps your social life, your private life and your body. So I started looking for something else and responded to a vacancy for a yacht broker with a specialist in round and flat-bottomed yachts. That's where my career in the boating industry began."

Train

"In my job as a yacht broker, I learned everything about boats. Usually I get a little impatient when I work somewhere for five years. This was also the case now. Exactly at that moment I could join Prins van Oranje, also in Heeg. Five years later I thought: I am going to start for myself. I knew the owner of DaVinci Yachts in Sneek and shared the following idea with him: bring new boats and used boats closer together. Because if you have a good supply of used boats, then people who come to you might also choose a new boat. And often they already have another boat, which then has to be sold. I could do that nicely. Besides, owner Steven Boersma focused mainly on new construction; he left the used boats for a bit. That's where I wanted to make money. So I started my own yacht brokerage in the premises of DaVinci Yachts. From the moment two people came to look at one used boat and left with both a new boat, the train started running. In fact, we were so successful that we outgrew our business. Five years later I grew again by buying the building where we are now in Heeg and taking over DaVinci Yachts. Steven continued with the sailing boat branch, Leonardo Yachts."

Peace of mind

"Here I could do what I really wanted to do and offer clients the complete package. Those who buy a DaVinci yacht want no hassle but peace of mind. If there is something, it has to be fixed. Done. In the winter you store your boat here, in the spring you pick it up and everything has been done to it that needs to be done: from engine service to changing a broken light bulb and removing stains on the floor to a new flag. The concept is not new, the way we do it is. We take care of it and take care of it well. A DaVinci can be described as a retro-classically lined yacht, which not only looks and is very comfortable, but also just like a rabbit out of the top hat easily reaches 70 km/h. This all-rounder comes in sizes of 30, 32, 35 and 40 feet, in a price range of 3 to 7.5 tons. We call it a weekender, but you can also take it out for two or three weeks. The boats are fully customizable. Our 35-footer, for example, is empty inside; in addition to the materials, you can also determine the layout yourself: a long or short kitchen, a second bed or not, bathroom on the left or on the right... Everything is possible. That's the most unique thing: that we build semi-custom on this size. We have now built twenty-one 35-footers and they are all different. People really feel like they've built their own boat."

Luxury

"We are currently working on the new 35-footer. We unveiled this one at MASTERS EXPO in front of the owner. I have been the owner since 2015, so the 5-year pattern has been broken. I don't need to leave here either, it's a great industry to work in and there is still plenty to do. So the first application for a 45-footer is there. And with the new 40-footer, the first of which is due next year, we can also enter the international market. We make about ten boats a year and I've never had the luxury of being able to say that I'm completely full next year with building. That's the case now: I'm already working on 2023. And there is a waiting list for used boats. I could hire more people, produce more boats. But I want to maintain personal contact with the customer. When they call here, they have to get me on the phone. The way I have it now, I want to keep it going for the time being."

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MASTERS #48 with guest editor-in-chief Joseph Klibansky