Evolution Yachts - Company Management

Kevin Altera - Founding Managing Director

Kevin is a founding director of Evolution Yachts and in his position of Managing Director, is in charge of overseeing the operational side of the business. Kevin is the chairman of the SuperYacht Base Western Australia and has been involved in the super yacht industry since 1986. Since then he has participated in over 21 major yacht projects and has been one a key players in all the major super yacht vessels built in Australia. Kevin’s background boasts high end experience in project management, super yacht painting and fairing, interior outfit and general management roles.

Kevin’s management style is based on positive support and leading by example. The different skills of his team gained by a great cross section of experience over many years in the industry very much complement one another and provide the strength of Evolution.

Rob Coon - Founding Director & Financial Controller

Rob, who has been with Evolution Yachts since inception, has a very good understanding of boats having been around them for most of his life. He will be responsible for tracking the costs for each of the projects and also overseeing the general administration duties of the company. Rob has been working on a system that will easily track costs in association with the cost build up spread sheets. As all our current contracts demand, this will be a very important role within the company so that we ensure that everything associated with each project is correctly allocated and able to be properly tracked when required.

Nick Gardiner - General Manager

Nick adds a great deal of experience as his involvement with shipbuilding started as an electrical supervisor which graduated to project manager from 1999. Nick is an extremely diligent individual and has an extraordinarily wide understanding of all facets of the super yacht industry, from detailed cost break downs, to engineering knowledge, outfit and of course electrical layouts. He has 13 super yachts to his credit and mainly as project manager.

Ken Weston - Production Manager

Ken Weston would be arguably one of the most experienced shipwrights in the super yacht industry. He has 27 motor yachts to his credit and was acting in the capacity of outfit Manager throughout the entire process. He commands a huge degree of respect from those who work with him and from within the industry. The details of the projects he has worked can be supplied on request.

Mike Collins - Project Manager

Mike Collins brings to the company a variety of skills both as a hand on tradesman and as a manager. Mike has 25 motor yachts to his credit starting with Oceanfast in 1985. Prior to this his back ground has been in commercial boat building. Mike tends to be given specific tasks such as overseeing the external fitout of the yacht and he then assembles a team and follows that task through with diligence. Like many of the key players at Evolution, Mike offers a very multi skilled background that is invaluable to the team.

Trevor Jennings - Engineering Manager

Trevor is also a team player. He used to head up Oceanfast engineering and brings an exceptional amount of engineering experience to the team at Evolution. Trevor comes to us from BAE (Tenix) where he has been since leaving Austal. Trevor and Nick Gardener have worked very closely together on previous Oceanfast vessels since 1989 through to 2001.

Andrew McMannus - Project Coordinator

Andrew boasts an MBA as part of his professional training. After a successful career as a professional photographer he joined Evolution Yachts as part of the Project Management team. Andrew acts in a supporting role to Nick Gardiner, facilitating the varied and important organisational tasks inherent to the complex build of luxury super yachts. He is an extremely valuable member of the Project Management team who has proved that he can be counted on to achieve an excellent result in a very professional manner.

Mike Allen - Interior Designer

Mike Allen has a bachelor of design M.D.I.A and also comes to Evolution as a well respected member of the original design team at Oceanfast a position that he held from 1985 – 2003. Since leaving Oceanfast Mike has been consulting to Greenline Yacht Interiors Dubai and has been overseeing the interior design of a 162.5m super yacht being fitted out in Europe. Once again Mike is a key player and is very excited about being together with the old team and the new and exciting projects that are ahead at Evolution Yachts.

Graham McDonald - Warranty Manager

Graham McDonald has been a boat builder all his life and oversaw the construction of three composite yachts, 36 to 50 metres, under contract to Oceanfast then spent a number of years building superyacht tenders before joining Evolution to assist in the production of Salacia and Crystal Blue. A superb craftsman and ably experienced to handle any Evolution’s warranty responsibilities.

Rob Calais – Fitout Manager

Rob Calais has been with Evolution since its inception and has 15 years experience in luxury motor yacht fitout. He is a talented qualified cabinet maker with exceptional experience in all aspects of fitout levels from super light weight to solid timbers. He has been involved with the manufacture of furniture for other yacht yards worldwide. Rob has been participated in 14 yacht project and has worked with well know designers like John Bannenberg and Sam Sorgiovanni. Rob’s main goal is to achieve the highest quality fitout which is faultless inside and out, well constructed and light weight. He is an important and valued member of the Evolution team.

Steve Buchanan – Non Structural Fabrication Manager

Steve has 18 years experience in the industry. He started in a marine yard repairing and building aluminium and steel vessels. It was there that he learnt to work with all metals and also all areas of welding. He has worked on ocean liners through to building small tenders and has also worked in various mining and industrial areas. Steve advises that his heart has always been with motor yachts. The first motor yacht he worked on was the Altar for Oceanfast and with this came his desire to continue to work on motor yachts. This high end work has led him to build custom motorcycles and cars. Since then he has worked on numerous motor yachts doing all top end stainless steel components and other areas of fabrication. Steve keeps an open mind as to the limits of fabrication and believes that at this stage of the game there are none! Steve is considered to be one of the best in this industry.

Craig Fuller – Site Services Manager

Craig our Site Services Manager deals with all relevant site maintenance. He manages the stores area and also assists with Health & Safety issues. He runs our Safety Induction groups and is also responsible for leading the tours of young people who attend through Kwinana Industries Education Partnership, to raise awareness and help channel students to consider careers within the boat building industry. Craig has faired and coordinated 18 super yacht builds for the Oceanfast Paint Department, from Antipodean to Aussie Rules and was Coordinator of the Paint Department at Oceanfast for many years. He joined Evolution Yachts in 2004. Since then he has worked in the External Paint Department and contributed to three builds, Salacia, Crystal Blue and the 96ft sailing yacht, Alcanara. This year Craig was promoted to the position of Site Services Manager and brings with him a wealth of experience on many different levels.