A dangerous dependence on teak boating
Like many carpenters and boat deck installers, Kreative works a lot with teak wood. Today, this species has many defects that lead the marine joinery based in Saint-Mandrier in the Var to explore new solutions. " This is a material that may be difficult to procure in the future, not only for ecological reasons, but also political reasons with the coup in Burma. There is also an ecological awareness in our market. Until now, nobody cared about this, but we can feel that the movement is coming to the large shipyards and their customers. So we have been trying to get away from teak for several years now " explains Franck Ravez, who heads the company founded in 2015 and employs 30 people.
Offering a European wood alternative to teak decks
To replace exotic wood, synthetic resin coatings have been developed. Kreative has launched its Kolor brand for this purpose, through which it is an applicator of products designed by the international group Sika for ship decks. But in parallel, Kreative is looking to offer another wood-based alternative to its customers. " The principle is to make slats with the glued laminated technique. We are working on the development of the product from European woods, with the objective of having a covering as durable as teak. We want to keep the advantages of implementation, the aesthetics and the logic of functioning of teak ", summarizes the leader of Kreative.
An internal development that can interest the nautical industry beyond Kreative
The development of the new deck covering is done in-house. Kreative received support from the Southern Region and the Toulon economic agency TVT. "I they assisted us in the process of updating the need and in the search for subsidies. Technically, we work with the suppliers of machines and glues. We need a global industrial approach and an adapted glue-machine couple to make it work "says Franck Ravez. Once the product is developed, Kreative will offer it to its shipyard customers as an installer, but also plans to sell the coating to other carpenters.
