April 6th, 2022
We are delighted to welcome Ezequiel Fernandez Ridolf to our team at Berthon Spain. He is now our resident hydraulics expert. Ezequiel has many years of experience working on a whole host of hydraulics and it is fantastic that we can now do all these jobs in-house. What we really like about Ezequiel is that he is methodical to an extreme level, very clean and tidy, and works like a Trojan, which absolutely echoes the Berthon ethos.
He took the initiative to design and implement the perfect work space for himself in the corner of our large workshop; ensuring he has an area in which to work that is clean and free of contaminants. He even came in on the weekends to finish off the paintwork, installation of his testing benches and to mount his fittings stores.
Since then, he has hit the ground running. Ezequiel is currently working on the Navtec rams from one of the CNB 76’s that we have in refit, two large rams from a Swan 68 and then he will be going on to start fabricating a custom-made hydraulic anchor arm system, also for a CNB 76.
Next on his work list is a complete rebuild on a hydraulic Opacmare gangway where one of the o-rings on the cylinder failed and the owner of the yacht in question wants to use this opportunity to service the whole passarelle. Removing and installing hydraulic gangways is always complex as they are extremely heavy, and the cassettes on the bigger yachts are long. Once the gangway is removed from the yacht the Berthon team will bring it back to the workshop, where we have lots of space and heavy lifting equipment.
Ezequiel’s skill set has taken him all over the world working on some of the largest superyacht hydraulic systems, including some very large captive winches which he completely rebuilt. It is of course of great assistance to him that our in-house yacht fabrication team are be able to make any parts that need replacing or designing from scratch.
One of the motor yachts currently in our Big Blue Shed for refit has a large Lewmar hydraulic pack for the capstans, bowthruster and anchor windlass. This has been rather neglected, so it is on the list for removal and re-build with new fittings and hoses. It will then be pressure tested on the bench and before being re-installed. When doing jobs like this we always clean up any metal work and repaint it so that on reinstall is looks, and is as good as new.
We are looking forward to working with Ezequiel on some new and exciting projects and to seeing this side of the business develop with the rest of Berthon Spain.
For any of your yachting hydraulic requirements please contact andrew.fairbrass@berthonspain.com.
