Building a Bruce Roberts designed Wood / Epoxy Motor Yacht in India

By Jake Kavanagh on October 24, 2018

Boat builder Abdul Hakeem has created this stunning 70-foot yacht from wooden laminates and equipped her like a superyacht.

Epoxycraft is always delighted to hear from its global community of dealers and customers, and when we received an email from Abdul Hakeem of Sulkha Shipyard in India, we were greatly impressed with his new build of a Bruce Roberts Euro 2150 motoryacht.

About Bruce Roberts

Bruce Roberts-Goodson is something of a legend in the boat building industry, and his website contains off-the-shelf plans for literally hundreds of designs. These include small sailing yachts, catamarans, blue water cruisers and a wide range of motorboats. Roberts is probably best known in sailing circles for his Spray design of sailing yacht.

As the website states “If you have an idea about your dream boat, send us a photo or a sketch, and we will prepare plans and patterns for you.”

This 70-foot yacht was built entirely in wood laminates using WEST SYSTEM® epoxy – the result is stunning.  This is perhaps not entirely unexpected, as Abdul hails from the Thalangara family that has been building boats in the Kannur region of India for nine generations. As Abdul explained, he has a mission to build the best boat he can for the minimal amount of timber. This is where WEST SYSTEM products have been able to help.

“In the beginning of my boat building career, I was supported by my father, for whom boatbuilding is a passion,” he told EC. “I began to think that building in timber should be eco-friendly, so wanted to reduce the amount of wood required. I happened to meet Mr Patric, a European boat builder from whom I learned a great deal about laminating boats in wood. In 1990, when I formed Sulkha Shipyard, my main intention was therefore to build boats using lamination techniques.”

It was around this time that Abdul also met a legendary boat designer, Bruce Roberts, at the London Boat Show.

“He is the pioneer of wooden boat design,” Abdul said. “He provided me with a design, and all kinds of information about how to achieve the build. He suggested I use WEST SYSTEM epoxy and I had some additional help from his colleague Mr Andy of Australia, Ms Lorraine Murray of ATL Composites, and Mr Whitaker of the USA.”

Abdul says that he used many different techniques in the actual build, although “-some of them were totally different from other boat builders, or different from normal practice. The result was very positive, and we were astonished to see the final result.”

Building in a hot and humid climate places several constraints on the use of epoxy, especially with curing times, but Abdul says he completed the project using WEST SYSTEM 105 epoxy resin and WEST SYSTEM 209 extra slow hardener.

No expense was spared on the fitout. The yacht has two master cabins and one guest/crew cabin, and the spacious saloon can accommodate six guests. Entertaining them is a 54in 4K TV and Bose theatre system, with a Dometic 118,000BTU aircon system to keep everyone cool. Propulsion comes from twin Volvo 800hp diesels fed by a 5,000lt tank, with domestic power created by a pair of Fischer Panda 30Kv generators. The yacht also has a 110ltr/hr Sea Recovery watermaker. The interior fitout, including all the furniture, floors and wall paneling is made from solid teak.

“This highly finished boat has become the talk of the town,” Abdul said. “We want to thank Mr Bruce Roberts-Goodson’s team for all their patience and co-operation throughout the project, and are also grateful to Mr Rick Barkuff of Maine Landing School. The yacht will be attending many boat shows, and people are already anticipating its arrival. I am fully satisfied with the strength of her epoxy laminate, and of her stability and speed. She looks beautiful in her finish of natural wood.”

For more information about this remarkable build you can contact Abdul directly at abdulhakeemdoha1956@gmail.com

Bruce Roberts Euro 2150 tech specs.

Type: Twin screw motor yacht

LOA: 21.36m (70ft 0in)

LWL: 18.97m (62ft 3in)

Beam: 6.55m (21ft 6in)

Draft: 1.14m (3ft 9in)

Power: Twin 800hp diesels.

Construction: Wood epoxy laminate

(Can also be built in steel, aluminium or composite)

Builder: Sulkha Shipyard, Kannur-670009 India

Designer: Bruce Roberts-Goodson,