Ulin
Below the waterline
Ironwood, chosen for density and resistance to marine borers. It is why these hulls last.
How a phinisi is actually built
Yard culture, timber selection and construction stage by stage. The background reading behind a phinisi commission.
A hull built before its frames
The phinisi is built shell first: planking goes up before the frames go in, which is the opposite of Western practice.
It is shaped by eye and adze by shipwright families in South Sulawesi who have done it for generations, without moulds and largely without drawings.
We modernise that technique for structural integrity rather than replacing it, then add the engineering a working yacht needs: certified engines, watermakers, navigation and tropical HVAC.
- Planking before frames
- Shell first
- Ironwood, below the waterline
- Ulin
- Shaped without moulds
- By eye
The materials
Ironwood, teak and what goes beneath
Timber selection is the decision that outlives every other one on the boat.
Teak
Decks and joinery
Above the waterline and through the interior, for stability underfoot and repairability.
Modern systems
Beneath the tradition
Certified engines, generators, watermakers and navigation, specified for tropical loads.
Construction, stage by stage
The sequence has not changed much. The documentation around it has.
Timber
Ulin and teak selected and seasoned before anything is cut.
Keel
Laid with ceremony, and with the first inspection point of the build.
Planking
Hull shaped shell first, by eye and adze, without moulds.
Framing
Frames fitted into the finished shell and fastened to schedule.
Deck
Teak laid, superstructure built and the rig stepped.
Systems
Engines and services installed at Benoa, then survey and trials.
Survey happens during construction rather than after it, which is the difference between a yacht and a boat that merely floats.
What a phinisi costs
The same published bands as the projects page, repeated here so the guide stands alone.
- Standard new build, 20 to 30m
- USD 600k to 1.2M
- Luxury class, 30 to 40m
- USD 1.8 to 3M
- Superyacht class, 45m and above
- USD 4 to 8M
Planning ranges in USD, not quotes. Final pricing follows the design brief and specification.
Questions about the craft
Keep reading
Ready to commission one
If the craft makes sense to you, the next conversation is about scope, band and timeline rather than technique.