{"id":16616,"date":"2025-09-11T10:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T10:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=16616"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T10:02:15","slug":"polands-boating-industry-riding-a-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=16616","title":{"rendered":"Poland\u2019s Boating Industry Riding a Wave"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Poland\u2019s Boating Industry Riding a Wave<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-1024x1024.jpg?resize=800%2C800&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Boats built in Poland\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-PolandMontage.jpg 2048w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Poland is a global boatbuilding center. These are just some recreational boat brands built in The Land of Fields: Sea Ray Boats, Axopar Boats, Skamnader Boats, Sunreef Yachts and Galeon Yachts.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Manufacturers, Tony Esposito; Montage: Kevin Falvey<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><iframe id=\"wxuzj5efbz\" src=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.dragonforms.com\/wxuzj5efbz\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For the last decade,\u00a0Poland\u00a0has been riding a serious wave of growth in boatbuilding, growing a well-deserved reputation,\u00a0and respect from industry insiders and boat buyers alike In the two\u00a0 biggest boatbuilders in the world, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beneteau.com\/en-us\/powerboats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Groupe Beneteau<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brunswick.com\/our-brands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brunswick<\/a>, builds some boats in Poland (beating tariffs and taxes in the process). Other brands that build boats in Poland include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axopar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Axopar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.galeonyachts.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Galeon,<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/saxdoryachts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Saxdor.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we started out [2003], customers all-in-all, I think, weren\u2019t convinced that Poland was a manufacturer of luxury goods, and this would also apply to Polish customers. This has changed in recent years,\u201d explains Artur Polocza\u0144ski, PR director for <a href=\"https:\/\/sunreef-yachts.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sunreef Yachts<\/a>, makers of power and sail catamarans in the historic shipbuilding port city of Gdansk.<\/p>\n<p>Sunreef\u2019s founder, Francis Lapp, and others set about deliberately changing that reputation, which has matured to the point of being touted by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency through a three-day media tour for foreign journalists visiting various boatyards, support services, and engineering schools that provide a broad sample of what Poland\u2019s boating industry has to offer.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Boaters are Boaters<\/h2>\n<p>No matter where you go, boaters are boaters the world over, though the boating style is as varied as the countries and cultures.<\/p>\n<p>In Europe generally, and Poland specifically, sailing is more popular than in North America, resulting in many boatyards offering both sail and power vessels. Areas like the inland Masurian Lakes region in the northeast of Poland, Lake Zurich in Switzerland and Lake Constance, where Germany, Switzerland, and Austria meet, are regulated and restricted as to power-type which has facilitated a broader and faster adoption of electric boating across Europe, another area where Poland stakes a leadership position.<\/p>\n<p>In the same fashion that boaters are universal; so, it seems, are the people who build boats \u2013 at least those we witnessed in Gdansk \u2013 whose passion and pride were as palpable as any OEM in the States.<\/p>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Marina in Poland\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-poland-marina.jpg 2000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Poland itself features lakes, rivers, canals and coastal waters on which recreational mariners can ply the waters.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Tony Esposito<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conradindustries.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Conrad Shipyard<\/a> is described as a \u2018boutique\u2019 yard offering low-volume, high-quality, production of both sail and traditional diesel-powered yachts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe grew from the commercial shipyard so, I like to say, our boats are not toys,\u201d offered Pawe\u0142 Polak, Project Manager and the second employee hired when the yard became a private concern. \u201cWe try to utilize ship standards where possible for safety; to have a robust boat and a great boat not only for the owner, but also for the crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CEO Miko\u0142aj Krol, whose passion for boatbuilding is infectious, has concluded over the years that sailing clients are much more intimately involved with every detail of the build.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSailing is a passion, so they treat the boat like a place where they spend their greatest moments on board,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will make sure every corner is rounded because you can be injured by it. Everything should be protected.\u201d (<em>Editor\u2019s Note: We Boating editors think that is a good practice for power craft, as well.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the motorboats, it\u2019s more of a space to live. This is why the motorboat clients are not so involved, because there are fewer details.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sustainability Ability<\/h2>\n<p>100-years after electric boating was introduced to the United States it is still a struggling proposition, limited in large part by range \u2013 meaning battery capacity, and the fact that American boat buyers seem to desire the ability\u00a0 to go far, fast. Electric boating is more broadly accepted in Europe, where many inland lakes are restricted. If you are a lakefront homeowner there, chances are high that, like waterfront owners in the US, you are going to buy a boat, right?<\/p>\n<p>For more than 20 years, <a href=\"https:\/\/greendreamboats.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Green Dream Boats<\/a> have been supplying solar-powered electric boats to largely resort and rental operations in 19 countries, and the US states of California, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia and Florida.<\/p>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"744\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-Greendream-744x1024.jpg?resize=744%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Solar-powered boat\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-Greendream-744x1024.jpg 744w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-Greendream-218x300.jpg 218w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-Greendream-768x1058.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-Greendream.jpg 1000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Electric-powered craft, such as this model from Green Dream, built in Poland, have attained wider acceptance in Europe. One reason for that is that there are more lakes with power restrictions.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Green Dream Boats<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p>In 2015, it moved from Gdansk to the landlocked city of Kosz\u0119cin in Southern Poland, where it builds a range of catamarans and monohulls in 21-, 23-, and 31-foot configurations, the latter designed for moving small groups or as a cabin cruiser.<\/p>\n<p>Managing Director,\u00a0 Bar\u0142omiej Brzezina, said the solar panels fixed to flat areas of the aft deck or hardtop will charge the batteries for a 3kW motor in four hours with a 50kW requiring seven hours charging. The solar panels also provide charging while the boats are underway.<\/p>\n<p>Sunreef seems to be positioning itself as the sustainability leader from its fully electric line of sail and power catamarans to hybrid offerings. While traditional internal combustion engines still make up 50-percent of sales, the builder of catamarans from 50- to 100 feet takes sustainability beyond power, starting with the use of PT foam in the hull.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you build a Sunreef 80-foot catamaran that means you have 600,000 recycled plastic bottles in the foam, but we didn\u2019t stop there.\u201d Artur Polocza\u0144ski said during a tour of the newer of Sunreef\u2019s two Gdansk yards. \u201cWe started to replace marina plywood with PT foam. The outcome is, we have something lighter, so, more energy efficient and on the same Sunreef 80 you can estimate that the interior \u2013 the furnishings \u2013 has more or less 160,000 additional recycled plastic bottles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sunreef has been moving away from the use of teak wood, finding a natural alternative decking that will launch in the next few months.<\/p>\n<p>Interior furnishings are made of flex fiber and PT foam, and in the same fashion foam has made its way into the interior, flex fiber might be used soon in structural components.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/carbon-fiber-boatbuilding\/\">Carbon Fiber Boatbuilding<\/a><\/p>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Shipyard in Poland\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BTG925-P10modelarts.jpg 2000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">The author toured numerous boatbuilding facilities in the course of his research for this story. Here is a glimpse of part of just one of many production lines at Model Art Shipyards.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Tony Esposito<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThis Flex Fiber turned out to be a really practical and natural alternative to standard composites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to generating power while under sail through free-spinning propellers, both sail and power Sunreef Yachts feature the builder\u2019s Solar Skin Technology, outsourced solar cells assembled as panels in-house and integrated into the hull and masts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, we are using Ai to predict the shading scenarios coming from the sails and the boom to have a more efficient yield from the solar panels,\u201d Polocza\u0144ski shared.<\/p>\n<p>On the subject of sails, perhaps the coolest tour of the trip was at Sail Service, Poland\u2019s largest sailmaker.<\/p>\n<p>From small daysailers to the world\u2019s largest tall ships, Sail Service makes them all from its nearly eleven thousand square foot facility capable of producing more than half-a-million square feet of sails annually, and it is all done by hand!<\/p>\n<p>An elevated \u2018loft table\u2019 covers most of the production floor and pairs of sailmakers work from foxhole-like bunkers, moving material across the table and through industrial-strength sewing machines as well as true hand-stitching.<\/p>\n<p>Originally part of Conrad Shipyard following World War II, the company began by making sails for 20- to 84-foot vessels sent primarily to the former USSR. With the fall of communism, the company split from Conrad, becoming its own private entity.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strength in Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>Where boatbuilding diverges between Poland and the U.S. is co-op production.<\/p>\n<p>Wiszniewski and Model Art Shipyards are examples of independent concerns that survive through the efficiency of contract building \u2013 building for other brands.<\/p>\n<p>Model Art was founded by Phillip Scott, a Britt with deep roots in Poland, who was looking for a less expensive way to build his Parker Boats \u2013 not to be confused with the North Carolina builder of the same name.\u00a0Here in the States, Parker Poland is sold as <a href=\"https:\/\/hussaryachts.com\/skamander\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Skamander Boats.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike everyone else, we are looking into modernizing the production process, but the Model Art portfolio are higher-end brands, so we are looking very closely at quality. The production process needs to be maintained at a certain level to achieve that quality, so this is basically the idea behind Model Art,\u201d explained Parker\u2019s Grzegorz Sikora.<\/p>\n<p>Model Art maintains three shifts, producing 500 boats per year for seven different OEMs from around Europe. During our visit the yard was quietly working on a prototype for an eight builder.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to its own line that includes a 45-foot cruiser targeted for the South Florida market \u2013 where the parent company purchased a dealership to sell and service the W43, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w-yachts.com.pl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wiszniewski Shipyard<\/a> builds for several recognizable names, including Brunswick Corp.\u2019s Sea Ray, Bayliner and Quicksilver. The boats built and sold abroad avoid any tariffs that other US brands might face.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, some of those French builders alluded to earlier now build in Polish shipyards.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Show Must Go On<\/h2>\n<p>Who doesn\u2019t love a boat show? That had to the thinking of our hosts, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency when our trip concluded with a visit to the sixth edition of the <a href=\"https:\/\/polboat.eu\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Polboat<\/a> Yachting Festival, held at Marina Yacht Park in Gdynia on the Baltic coast.<\/p>\n<p>Drop in to the middle of Polboat, and if not for the signage and the literature, you could be at any boat show anywhere in the world, with one notable exception: Polboat features only Polish marine products, a true showcase for the breadth and depth of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>With 120 exhibitors \u2013 nearly double that of 2024 \u2013 in a slumping boating economy and an uncertain trade war occupying the first half of 2025 organizers and exhibitors alike are optimistic about the future.<\/p>\n<p>Held in conjunction with Gdynia Sailing Days, one of Poland\u2019s largest regatta events Polboat features the requisite luxury car and watch displays, fashion show, gala awards dinner, PWC stunt demos and aerial acrobatics by Fly-board; Polboat even has its own branded beer. Everything you\u2019d want in a boat show, but no waterskiing squirrel.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/polands-boating-industry-riding-a-wave\/\">Poland\u2019s Boating Industry Riding a Wave<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/\">Boating Mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    Tony Esposito<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/polands-boating-industry-riding-a-wave\/\">Go to boatingmag<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poland\u2019s Boating Industry Riding a Wave Poland is a global boatbuilding center. These are just some recreational boat brands built in The Land of Fields: Sea Ray Boats, Axopar Boats, Skamnader Boats, Sunreef Yachts and Galeon Yachts. Courtesy Manufacturers, Tony Esposito; Montage: Kevin Falvey For the last decade,\u00a0Poland\u00a0has been riding a serious wave of growth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4641,126,148],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-16616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boat-building","category-boatingmag","category-boats","tag-boatingmag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}