A group of IIMS members and non members assembled for what turned out to be a full on day at the IIMS Western Mediterranean Small Craft Working Group training day, held at the Palma superyacht show in Majorca. The event was made even more agreeable due to the splendid, early season, warm and sunny weather.
The day began with a couple of presentations by IIMS CEO, Mike Schwarz, given in an outdoor location within the show itself before the event opened. This attracted an audience approaching 40 people, which apart from member surveyors, also included representatives from local insurance companies, refit yards and yacht brokers. Mike spoke about the activities of the institute, operating in three core markets as a membership organisation, an educator and a certifying authority. He also explained the benefits of membership and talked about the values of engaging an IIMS member surveyor. After a short break, Mike concluded by speaking about the growing work of the Marine Surveying Academy in the area of accreditation for other marine and industry organisations.
After some free time to take in the couple of hundred small craft and superyacht exhibits at the show, members met up again after lunch at a nearby lecture room for the afternoon training session. Ken Hickling, Superyacht Business Development Manager for AkzoNobel, spoke on the topic of ‘Lessons learned from superyachts’ with particular reference to the coatings aspect and the paint job. As ever, Ken tackled a rather dry subject in his usual witty style and kept the dozen or so audience fully engaged.
Charles Whitehead from Electromarine Balear talked about ‘Electrical control systems from digital switching to CAN BUS’. This technical presentation from Charles was well received and served to highlight the increasing complexities of such systems onboard facing marine surveyors in this day and age.
As a bonus, Tom Bettle came to complete the afternoon by giving a short presentation on a new service just launched by Clipper Venures plc called Clipper Telemed.
The feedback after the event was that the sessions were highly educational and beneficial.
Thanks are due to John Walker locally for pulling together much of the day’s events.
