Sven Coster at the METS

We welcomed a familiar face at our stand. For years, the ‘Coster brothers’ formed a successful Olympic duo in the 470. Sven and Kalle Coster won silver at the 2007 Worlds in Cascais, competed three times at the Olympics and just missed out on a medal in 2008. After London 2012 they changed course and started their business careers, both in the nautical world. At the moment, Sven is employed by Hall Spars & Rigging, also present at the METS. He left his stand for a few minutes to visit his brother and former crew.

We asked Sven about his brother’s passion for marine technology. “In 2009, Kalle started to orientate himself much wider. I think it was 2011 that he came into contact with SAILMON. At the beginning of that year, he was working on a system for our coach boat. That was an anemometer that converted all data to the computer. He then looked for trends. We used it on race locations, like Weymouth for the 2012 Olympics, to get a better understanding of the local wind patterns. That is how Kalle’s interest in marine technology developed. Eventually he met Peter Houtzagers and together with Enno Romkema they bought SAILMON in 2014.”

From your Olympic background, where do you see opportunities for SAILMON?
“In the total Super Yacht Industry, but also in the market for race yachts, because the SAILMON products are much easier to use than those of their competitors. Meanwhile, SAILMON is known in the market, but more yachts may be equipped with SAILMON systems. I think that will happen soon.”