Teak Yachts, and the Changing World of Boatbuilding
The May issue of Latitude 38 is on the docks. Unfortunately, with an error. In our page 56 feature, “Teak Yachts, and the Changing World of Boatbuilding” we captioned a photo of Call of the Sea’s schooner Seaward saying her decks were made of teak. That is incorrect. Seaward’s decks are made of fir, and the photo was in place to illustrate how timbers other than teak can be used to build a beautiful and long-wearing deck. We offer our apologies to the story’s author, John “Woody” Skoriak, and to our readers. Perhaps we can further explain the differences between teak and fir in a future story. In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, please enjoy Woody’s story on teak yachts and the changing world of boatbuilding.
Not even billionaire Jeff Bezos could completely avoid penalties for breaking the law recently — or at least the company that built his yacht couldn’t. But the issue had nothing to do with transporting drugs or migrants, illegal fishing, or even an oil spill. The offense? Using teak. Prosecutors fined the Dutch yacht builder Oceanco $157,000 recently after it was discovered they had used teak from Myanmar for interior furnishings aboard Bezos’ 417-ft sailing yacht Koru, delivered in 2024. The fine followed a two-year investigation under the European Timber Regulation (EUTR), which prohibits the import of illegally harvested timber and requires companies to verify the legal origin of wood products before placing them on the market.
In this case, the teak had been purchased through a Turkish woodworking company, and investigators concluded that Oceanco had failed to properly verify the timber’s origin; it was therefore impossible to determine whether the wood had been legally harvested. No one is going to jail, but it does raise an eyebrow. Get fined for using teak on a yacht? The story highlights a much larger shift underway in boatbuilding — one that touches on environmental regulation, materials science, tradition and the changing economics of yachts.
Read.