MEN OF METTLE
Welders are the unsung heroes of yacht building. Clad in protective helmets, leather gauntlets and heavy suede smocks with sleeves pitted and scarred from white-hot sparks, they look like battle-hardened warriors as they wield welding guns to fuse flat metal plates into three-dimensional hulls and superstructures. Half manufacturing process and half sculpture, welding is what makes modern shipbuilding possible.
“You need a good eye and a steady hand, but most importantly you need knowledge and concentration,” says Carlos Undijk, the 61-year-old welding foreman at Heesen Yachts responsible for a team of around 15 in-house welders
