Modern yachts are certainly the epitome of comfort. The boats of the Prestige brand, which belongs to the French Beneteau Group, offer a particularly high level of comfort. Electric actuators from LINAK® play an important role in making life on board even more pleasant.
There are numerous things that can be adjusted electrically to make things even more comfortable on a yacht. Hatches are opened electrically and not by hand, tables and sofas are easily adjusted and moved to the right position with electric actuator systems, and windows are also opened and closed electrically.
The boat builder Prestige uses LINAK® actuators for numerous applications in its motor yachts. For example, the engine flap is opened using an actuator. Another example is the garage for the tender boat. The owner of the boat opens and closes this at the push of a button. The size of the flap is dependent on the size of the yacht. Two actuators LA36 are used for this and they offer the right amount of thrust to open even heavy garage doors without problems.
Actuators with IC enable several valuable features
Prestige uses actuators with an Integrated Controller (IC). Thanks to the IC option, parallel movement is simple to achieve. Actuators with IC also permit even more precise control and positioning. The actuators can simply be configured and adjusted. The integrated controller, however, is just one feature. Another is at least as important.
"The actuators we install in our boats need to be extremely robust and resilient," explains Kelvin Cathelot, purchaser at Beneteau Group, to which the Prestige brand belongs. The actuators are exposed to saltwater, sun, wind and vibrations, and must also function perfectly under these difficult conditions.
"The quality requirements of our customers are very high. In terms of quality, we cannot make any compromises," Cathelot explains.
Stainless-steel enhanced durability in harsh environments
The actuators used in the boats of the Beneteau Group are further extended with stainless steel elements to adapt them to the hard conditions. For improved resilience against the raw saltwater environment, LINAK offers a selection of piston rod eyes, rear fixtures and inner and outer stainless-steel tubes. This makes the actuators even more resilient against the direct impact of salt water and sun over many years, which is of particular importance for deck hatches or bathing platforms. Alloys of the AISI 304 or AISI 316 qualities are used.
Thoroughly tested to withstand life at sea
Even in basic equipment, the LINAK actuators are particularly robust. Thanks to its robust aluminum housing, the actuator LA36 meets the requirements of protection class IP66 and in its static state IP69K.
LINAK® actuators are put through their paces in the LINAK test center in Denmark and must pass numerous tests. For example, a climate test where the actuator is repeatedly subjected to an environmental temperature of over 100 degrees to minus 30. The actuator is required to work perfectly after this. The LA36 meets numerous standards, including the European EC Directive 94/25/EC for use in sport boats.
In addition to the actuators, opening engine room flaps or flaps for the tender garage, the Beneteau Group also uses LINAK® lifting columns. These are used to adjust the height on tables or workstations.
"Gains in comfort with an electric actuator play an important role in modern yachts," Kelvin Cathelot explains.
Development and innovation continue
Thanks to the IC options, with the possibility of connecting to a BUS system, there are many more feasible options. For example, the control of numerous functions via an app on a smartphone. According to Cathelot, digitization will also progress further in boat building. The integrated controller options make LINAK ideally suited for this task.
