Unmasking Tesumo: How a German Company Created a Sustainable Alternative to Teak Wood in yachts.

News Editor, Conor Feasey’s exploration into the prickly subject of teak offers an enlightening perspective. He delves into his interactions with major players like Feadship, Lürssen, and Oceanco regarding their innovative strides towards sustainable teak alternatives. Bringing in an element of suspense, the accounts are serialized – with the first part already in circulation, and the final one set to follow.

For a taste of this innovation, one just has to glance at the 142-metre Dragonfly, fitted with 300 square metres of helipad decked in Tesumo. Lürssen’s remarkable facility lies on the banks of the Weser River in Bremen, Germany. It may not appear significant, but it has been the ground zero for a new standard in yachting.

However, the exhaustive testing bore fruit through the evolution of Tesumo. Bernhard Urban, Lürssen’s Head of Development and Innovation, and Frank Lüssen, the Design Department Manager, guide us through Tesumo’s genesis. They divulge how they had to convince owners, captains, and entire yacht crews to break from tradition and embrace the new Tesumo boards.

Primarily, the trigger was the deteriorating situation in the sourcing of teak following sanctions against Myanmar. Parallelly, Lürssen had begun probing into other commercially available materials. However, none could come close to teak’s performance, which sparked detailed research.

Triumph arrived in the form of Tesumo, a unique concoction of thermal treatment, impregnation, and a hardening process. This resin-bound wood stood out in the test areas installed on various yachts, mainly on sun decks.

Despite encountering numerous obstacles and surprises along the way, Lürssen persevered. This exceptional narrative underlines their commitment to leading a sustainable change in the yachting industry.