The Princess Royal, Patron of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club (RLymYC), has today officially opened the club's new pontoons. The facility encompasses an area of 1500 m² and provides berthing for up to 10 yachts, 15 RIBs and 75 dinghies. It replaces a previous installation that had reached the end of its lifespan and makes more efficient use of the space available.
The basic infrastructure uses Walcon’s System 21 floating pontoons. These are built using galvanised steel frames, fibre concrete floats and sustainable hardwood decking. Thanks to their durability and flexibility, they can be found in marinas and berthing facilities all over the world, and are ideal for high-usage facilities.
As well as designing and building the pontoons, Walcon despatched its mobile piling barge, the Walcon Wizard, to the site early in January to remove the existing piles, after which maintenance dredging was carried out before Wizard returned to drive the new steel piles and carry out the installation. The entire installation of the pontoons took just six weeks and was completed by the end of February. The design creates three independent zones each offering a high degree of protection from wash and other wave action. There is also a 100 m² platform for the dinghies used in the Club’s Wednesday Junior Sailing community programme. The outer pontoon provides 45 metres of berthing for deeper draft yachts. Additional features include low level LED lighting, Wi-Fi and security cameras.
With 2,400 members and an active racing programme, the Club and its pontoons get intensive use throughout much of the year.
Michael Derrick, project member at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club commented, “Walcon was awarded the contract after a closely fought tender process where quality, reputation and price were key in the assessment, as was the ability to provide a turnkey contract. Walcon was most professional throughout, met every assessment criteria and delivered more than the contract provided for.”