AkzoNobel Opens Yacht Paint Application Centre in Hamburg

AkzoNobel has announced the opening of its Yacht Paint Application Center (YPAC) in Hamburg, Germany. The YPAC facility is designed for use by applicators, distributors, designers, contractors, and other professionals across the superyacht and leisure marine sectors. The YPAC forms part of AkzoNobel’s global strategic investment initiative to enhance regional technical support, the company said in a statement. The new Hamburg hub will support the specific needs of customers across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

AkzoNobel has YPAC locations in North America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The latest YPAC at the Gold Coast City Marina in Coomera recently received an EPIC Award—an initiative honouring Exceptional, Purposeful, Innovative, Compassionate Companies—in November for excellence in the Training category.

The new centre will serve as a resource for product education and hands-on training, helping professionals navigate evolving regulations and consistently deliver premium results across superyacht paint refit, custom build, and small professional markets. The facility will also look to address some of the most pressing challenges faced by boatbuilders, refit yards, and distributors, including the growing demand for professional training to help close the skills gap.

The Hamburg YPAC facility includes a mezzanine-level training room and paint mixing room, as well as a preparation bay and spray booth. Industry professionals will also benefit from access to the latest in digital training tools, such as AkzoNobel’s virtual reality (VR) spray gun simulation, which creates a virtual environment for applicators to practise yacht painting techniques without using actual products.

Digital training tools at the facility include: XpertEye, AkzoNobel’s innovative headset tool; AMV, a hand-held spectrophotometer which uses the latest digital technology for precise, reliable colour measurements; and MIXIT, AkzoNobel’s advanced colour identification and retrieval platform, providing the ability to create custom colours with a database of over 17,000 colours.

AkzoNobel’s paint brands, including Awlgrip® and International®, cover preparation, priming, filling, topcoat application, maintenance, and repair of paint systems.