Echo Yachts 84mt White Rabbit

The obvious question, really, is: why bother building a trimaran when the rest of the world is cruising around in monohulls? Why go so radically against the grain?

Vindication can be sweet – in January the team behind White Rabbit picked up the Best Naval Architecture Award for Displacement Motor Yachts at the Boat International Design & Innovation Awards. It turns out that trimarans, done right, are quieter, leaner and more environmentally sound than monohulls. The owner of White Rabbit has known this for some time; he has never been anything but evangelical about their benefits. He has almost single-handedly proven the concept in big boats and now owns the world’s two biggest trimaran superyachts: the original three-hulled 61 metre White Rabbit from 2005 and now this 84 metre version, delivered just in time for Christmas last year. There’s also a large catamaran in the fleet, a 51 metre support vessel called Charley.

Let’s tick off some of those other benefits. You might think that a trimaran platform limits interior space, but you’d be wrong. White Rabbitcarries 2,940 gross tonnes, so roughly the same as a 90 metre monohull. Sunrays, the 85 metre 2010 Oceanco, has an internal volume of 2,867GT. Solandge, the 85 metre Lurssen from 2013, has a gross tonnage of 2,899. The brand new DAR from Oceanco, at 90 metres, has an interior measured at 2,999GT, so only a snip more than 84 metre White Rabbit. All this volume is generated by the trimaran’s 20 metre beam, which makes it around five metres wider than equivalent-length monohulls. And she could be a lot more voluminous – the top deck, for instance, is fairly modest, while a bluff bow would generate even more GTs.

Such novel naval architecture surely adds to the cost, though? Not according to Mark Stothard, founder and owner of Echo Yachts, the Australian yard responsible for White Rabbit, who estimates the yacht was “significantly cheaper” to build than an equivalent-size monohull at a Northern European yard. You sometimes hear complaints about the ride of trimarans, and here, they have a little work to do. A comparison study by the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) in 2000 showed that when bow-on to the weather, at speed or rest, trimarans are more comfortable than monohulls with equivalent displacements.

But in some conditions, particularly stern-quartering seas, the motion of a trimaran can be worse. To counter this, White Rabbit’s naval architects drew on the experience gained from the 61 metre boat, installing four enormous Naiad fins totalling 45 square metres that jut out from the centre hull. These have a limited range of movement and essentially act as aircraft wings under the water, planting the hulls and evening out the ride. Each of the three hulls also carries significant flare, generating buoyancy to dampen roll. The brains behind White Rabbit claim that trimarans, unlike monohulls, are far easier to fine-tune to find a ride motion the owner is comfortable with, simply by increasing or decreasing buoyancy in the outer hulls – “so the negatives are really not negatives”, says exterior and interior designer Sam Sorgiovanni.

The very same MARIN study points out the obvious, and massive advantage of trimarans: “When the same speed is required, the installed propulsion power [in the trimaran] can be reduced by some 40 per cent, leading to lower operational costs, a reduction in weight and less environmental contamination.” And there you have it – three slender hulls are better than a single fat one. Or, as Sorgiovanni puts it: “What would you rather be paddling in? A bathtub or a kayak?” In an age when all superyacht owners, regardless of bank balances, are casting a lingering eye over fuel bills and environmental impact, comes a concept that offers you better space, value and a cleaner conscience. So naval architects’ phones should be ringing off the hook with billionaires demanding multihulls, right? Right…? Not quite.

The problem is one of perception, says Stothard. Not necessarily on the part of owners, he says, but from an occasionally reactionary superyacht industry inexperienced with the multihull form. Sorgiovanni agrees. “Why would I build three hulls instead of one?” was one shipyard’s response to a trimaran design he presented. “Meanwhile, you’ve got big-name naval architects who in their whole career have never done anything like it, so why would they endorse it? Why would they endorse something they’re fearful or ignorant of?” Whatever the reasons for the inertia, it doesn’t look like the needle will be twitching in favour of trimarans any time soon. Which is a shame, because for all the above reasons and more, this platform makes all kinds of sense – as White Rabbit capably proves.

As a rough guide, the length-to-beam ratio of a monohull superyacht in this size range is around 6:1. By comparison, the length-to-beam ratio of White Rabbit’s centre hull is 13.7:1. You don’t need a degree in naval architecture to know which one will use less fuel, but the truly impressive thing about White Rabbit is the engineering underpinning her natural slipperiness. One key demand of the owner was that Echo Yachts limit noise – and therefore engineering – in the centre hull, where he has a cabin, so designers had to rethink the arrangement seen on the 61 metre, where the main engines are located on the centreline. “The owner sat us down and said, ‘Boys, with this thing I want some engineering boldness.’ He said what was important to him was smoothness and quietness,” says Stothard. “And he gave us the latitude to go out and explore solutions.”

There are six generators on board – four Caterpillar C32s outputting 940ekW and two C18s outputting 550ekW, each brought online and off by a Kongsberg power management system. The engineers should get plenty of life out of these units because the boat can run at a 12-knot cruise with just two gensets engaged. “I’ve been on sea trials up the coast using just two C32s – and that will be cruising at 12.8 knots, with 75 per cent power to the drive system and 25 per cent, or 500kW, to run the house,” says Stothard. “That’s with four generators offline and a burn of about 320 litres an hour for everything. The crew even think they could do 12 knots on one C32 and one C18.” The boat’s eco-cred doesn’t end there: she barely creates a wake. Sea trial images included in this feature show the yacht running at around 15 knots, but she might as well be idling for all the wash she generates. The owner does a lot of coastal cruising and wanted the “ability to operate without detrimental wash impact on surrounding vessels and foreshores”, says Steve Quigley, One2three’s managing director.

The team quickly decided to go diesel-electric, with generators in the outer hulls powering STADT electric motors in the centre hull, in turn spinning two Rolls-Royce variable pitch props. Other ideas were discussed and thrown out: waterjets because the boat would be sitting idle in Singapore for lengths of time, so divers would be required to go down to pump out the jet tunnels and then plug them; Voith thrusters because the yard felt it a “bit early for them to be able to gear up to such a project”; and azimuthing pods because they would have required too much volume in the centre hull. They also looked at putting everything – engines, motors, shafts – in the outer hulls, but studies revealed the ultimate solution to be the most efficient. Just how efficient is best exemplified, again, by way of comparison: according to White Rabbit’snaval architect, the Sydney studio One2three, it requires 91.5 metre Equanimity, which has an equivalent gross tonnage to White Rabbit, 7.2MW of power to reach its top speed of 19.5 knots; White Rabbit requires just 4.2MW of power to reach its top speed of 18.7 knots – some 40 per cent less.

All this has resulted in a very quiet boat. In the lower deck master cabin Echo Yachts recorded sound levels of just 40db at 13 knots. Up on the main deck those levels dipped below 40db. “The owner was walking around with his own sound meter,” says Stothard. “He didn’t even bother going up top.” The diesel-electric set-up on White Rabbit has the added benefit that you can carry less fuel. The trimaran’s fuel capacity is 166,200 litres, for a range of 5,000 nautical miles. Solandge? 222,000 litres. Sunrays? 285,000 litres. Equanimity? 271,000 litres. That’s a lot of weight she’s not lugging around.

Smaller fuel tanks free up space, of course, but the designers weren’t fighting for volume here: there’s plenty of it. On the main deck, the boat gets very beamy, for a length-to-beam ratio of 4.3:1. Fat, but without looking it. That’s down to the skill of Sorgiovanni, whose office is not far from the Echo Yachts facility in Henderson, Western Australia. He’s the first to admit that the layout of White Rabbit is very idiosyncratic and has developed more “conventional” versions with beach clubs, gyms and bigger master cabins. But his brief from this client, with whom he worked on the 61 metre White Rabbit, was very clear: this is a multigenerational yacht, built for family use, but with a necessary corporate function. Translation: lots of cabins – two masters, three VIPs and six guest – for a total guest capacity of 30 and a wide open main deck to host upwards of 200 people when alongside in her hometown of Singapore.

“You’re spanning three generations in terms of functionality as well as style,” says Sorgiovanni, who travelled to Singapore to spend time with family members and hear each of their wants. “The overwhelming comment was, ‘We love what we’ve got, we just want it bigger.’ The words were: ‘We want [61-metre] White Rabbit on steroids.’ They literally meant it. As we started to develop the boat we realised that whatever we presented kept coming back to what they loved, which was their current boat. In a way it’s flattering to think they enjoy and love that boat so much, but it has evolved. The bigger boat has a far more sophisticated approach, both inside and out, but nevertheless there is that link there to something that is familiar.” The art deco edge on the smaller yacht has been rounded off a little on the 84 metre, but there are still references throughout – in the light column at the huge bar in the main saloon, for instance, and wall sconces.

The colours used are rich enough to keep you interested, but not so much that the spaces feel stuffy or overly formal; you’re never afraid to put your glass down. The tactile, chequer-style wall panelling used all over the yacht, made of brushed Tasmanian oak, helps with this, and brings a bit of nature to the saloons. All the cabinetry and furniture was custom made by Alia Yachts in Turkey, who Sorgiovanni worked with on 41.3 metre Ruya.

He was so impressed by their furniture skills he asked them to pitch for White Rabbit’s interior, which was fully assembled in Turkey, allowing Sorgiovanni and Echo’s project manager, Chris Blackwell, to walk through it making changes before it was disassembled and shipped to Australia for installation. This was a considerable undertaking considering the 1,200 square metres of guest area on board. The amount of space proved one of the designer’s biggest challenges – just what do you do with it all?

The main deck is the main event – and where the boat’s 20-metre beam is most evident. “And it could have been even wider,” says Sorgiovanni. “But I was very conscious about keeping it human scale. It’s just a massive area.” The designer has split the space into zones, according to generations. Upon entry, and beyond the spectacular staircase leading to the upper deck, the saloon splits – to port is a more informal lounge for younger members of the family, and to starboard a slightly stiffer seating area for elder generations. “The saloons are separated but not completely separated, because the owner didn’t want the generations split up,” he says.

Beyond, all ages come together around that attention-grabbing bar and games area and dining space. The owner dictated that there be no televisions in any of the cabins (except his), forcing kids into the light and demanding that they spend time with the rest of the family. If they want a screen, they’ll find one only in a communal area. In direct contravention of the modern vogue for massive, floor-to-ceiling windows, meanwhile, the owner was deliberately modest with his glazing choices, but the windows still usher plenty of light across the 20-metre expanse.

The upper deck saloon is tiny by comparison and used as a media lounge and karaoke hangout by the family, complete with baby grand piano. The focus of this deck is really accommodation, for both guests and crew. Strangely, the guest cabins on this level either have very little or no cupboard space, but they do have benches, “so guests can put their stuff out”, says Sorgiovanni. “They said they didn’t want any wardrobe space as guests are expected to live out of their suitcases,” which suits the kind of cruising guests are expected to join for – weekends and overnights. Up again is the sundeck, with another games area and forward-facing cinema with seats that shake to mirror the action on screen. “From a sound point of view, it’s in the right spot,” says the designer. “You can really crank it up and you’re not disturbing anyone.” The deck spaces up here are ample – and the site of the only spa pool on board – but they are under-exploited. Sitting in the sun is clearly not a priority for this family, and nor is charter a fixation. This is, and will remain, a private yacht.

The real master cabin is on the main deck, close to the family action, but there is an alternative on the lower deck of the centre hull for passages. It’s a strange feeling walking down to this level – almost like going underwater. Hull windows reveal the tunnel between the centre hull and the starboard outrigger. It’s an unusual view, but also quite an exciting one as water rushes between the hulls at 18 knots. “We decided to make a feature of it,” says Blackwell. “All the underwater lights are deliberately in this centre hull so they shine under the outer hulls as well, so you get the benefit of glow here. It creates a different ambience and shows off the trimaran concept.” The art subtly plays on this underwater sensation. “On the lower decks the artwork is all scenes from below the water; on the main deck it’s all on the water and then it’s above the water on the upper deck,” says Sorgiovanni.

The 30 guests are served by a crew of 32, who get plum real estate forward on the main deck in the shape of a huge cafeteria-like mess and crew lounge. “The boat is on call 24/7, so the owner wanted very specifically to have the crew in a very comfortable space on the main deck, with large windows,” says Sorgiovanni. In an alternative universe, this might be reserved for a vast, full-beam owner’s cabin, with crew moved to the lower deck, or voluminous guest cabins. In the same universe, those rear VIP cabins in the centre hull would become a wellness and spa area, with direct access to the water through a folding transom door. Maybe in that universe trimarans are the norm and everyone’s cruising the world using a lot less fuel than in this one. I’m not saying trimarans are the answer for everyone – obviously berthing is a key factor and some people just might not like the look of them – but the benefits definitely deserve closer attention.

It’s something the owner of White Rabbit has learned through long experience. He started out in a monohull Feadship in 1989, built another in 1995 before experimenting with a catamaran in 2001. Then came the first trimaran in 2005, and, finally, the 84 metre White Rabbit. He’s a true convert. As is Mark Stothard, the Echo Yachts boss: “If anyone is serious about building a yacht this size and they didn’t make the time to come and have a look at this boat, they’d be mad. I’ve been in this game since the early 1980s and I’ve been on some really impressive yachts in that time and this thing blows my mind. Regardless of whether we build it or not, it is unequivocally doing everything that we said it was going to do... and then some.”

With the owner of White Rabbit based in Singapore, a Western Australian shipyard was an easy-access choice. Plus, Sorgiovanni’s design studio is based near the shipyard in Fremantle, and the owner had previous Australian experience, as his 61 metre White Rabbit was built in Tasmania by North West Bay Ships. For Echo Yachts, the planets aligned on this project. The shipyard had been working on rebuilding barges for the oil and gas industry, but work slowed in 2014 as the resource downturn hit. The company started to get contracts for wind farm vessels and fast ferries but then the owner of White Rabbit approached them about this project. “I firmly believed that if we were ever going to be able to gear up to do something like that, then that was the time,” says Stothard. “The mining boom had slowed and the shipbuilding industry in general was very quiet. So I thought, yeah, I reckon we can do this. And away we went.” Steel was cut on 27 October 2014, with delivery almost exactly four years later.


Echo Yachts

( www.echoyachts.com.au )

Oceanco 90mt DAR

A group of journalists lingers over a sculptural bar, while a yard employee leads another wide-eyed writer past delicate leaf shapes traced in the floor of the light-filled spa, towards butterflies so vividly painted on the bathroom wall that they seem ready to fly away when the door opens. We’re exploring the treasure trove of details on the Oceanco DAR, showcased at the Monaco Yacht Show, and it is bewitching us. But there is one feature that stops everyone dead: the panorama of Monaco unfurling behind a glass wall.

The view dominates the upper saloon: tenders shuttling in and out of the port, white yachts in the packed marina, apartment blocks on the hillside and the blue sky above it all. Walking to the edge of the space and leaning against full-height glass produces the sensation of being suspended in mid-air. There is no distortion: it’s like we’re looking through sunglasses that enhance colours and reduce glare. To the outside world, however, the glass might as well be a magical cloak shrouding all that is within. Even with lights on, it is impossible to make out what is behind the glass from the outside.

“You can see Monaco, but Monaco can’t see you,” says Luiz de Basto, DAR’s designer. “The concept of the design is a completely connected interior and exterior.”
That immersive effect, that moment of surprise as the outside world pours in, the absence of boundaries between inside and out: de Basto had imagined it all eight years earlier while seated in his Miami office overlooking Biscayne Bay. His quest at the time was to design an 85-metre yacht that concealed its volume and decks within a shapely glass envelope that would give its owners what he says they value above all else: privacy.

“Glass was the main inspiration as a way to improve contact with nature,” he says. As he developed the idea further, he thought about one particular sea animal that eventually lent its name to the project. The shark.
“The association with the hammerhead shark jumped at me when I searched for a way to create wing stations. I’ve always been very interested in nature and the animal world, probably because of my childhood in Angola and early contact with the big outdoors,” he says.

Just as the hammerhead’s wide-set eyes give it exceptional vision, the shapely wing stations could enhance the captain’s ability to see down the long hull sides. He took his idea further. “If you look closely you see that the mast is like a dorsal fin. Everything sort of flowed from there,” he says. “In three or four pages, the yacht was born, almost like you see it here.”

Of course, it’s one thing to imagine and draw a concept; it’s quite another to bring to fruition a technically complex design such as this. The next step de Basto took was to show his idea to Dutch superyacht builder Oceanco. “I thought they would be the right match for this particular project, sportier and more unconventional than most and with lots of glass,” he says.

They had a meeting at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show a few weeks later. “We liked the overall design and the technical challenges associated with the project and started working on a design package together,” says Oceanco. The yacht grew a few metres to an even 90, but the integrity of the design remained. “We went to great lengths to keep the overall look, but also the details of his design. We remained faithful to the concept, which is strong and well thought out.”

One of the most complex aspects of the yacht was its most obvious feature – the seamless black glass that encloses the superstructure. “DAR has about 390 square metres of glass in the superstructure alone, not counting doors and hull windows. The glass panels are 1.8 metres by three metres each, glued to the aluminium superstructure with no mechanical fasteners,” says de Basto. Adding all of its windows and doors, the yacht carries about 22 tonnes of exterior glass, made by German glass maker TILSE, which developed a special sealant and glue that had to be approved by Lloyd’s. “Elaborate calculations were made to assess the interaction between glue, superstructure and glass, and to see the relative movement in a seaway to make sure the glue would be able to cope,” says Oceanco.

From a purely engineering point of view, this required a massive amount of work, which continued as construction began – once the concept had attracted the eye of a buyer.

The owners of the yacht that would eventually become DAR entrusted captain Klaudio Marcelic to make some inquiries on their behalf. The commercial team at Oceanco showed him the project they had been developing. Marcelic says he was attracted by the boat’s “clean and distinctive lines”, and in January 2014 he contacted Oceanco CEO Marcel Onkenhout. “Project Shark was outlined as we see it today from January to May and then presented to the client. The letter of intent was signed one month later,” Marcelic says.

A larger team, which now included the owner’s project manager and interior designer Valentina Zannier of Italian studio Nuvolari Lenard, went to work on fine tuning features to more precisely fit the owners’ requirements and ideas. All these needed to be incorporated within the design envelope that they really enjoyed, particularly, according to Oceanco, “the total black surface, the ‘hammerhead’ and the shark fin”.

Realising this smooth “total black” glass effect, so essential to the original design, was one of the greatest technical challenges. “The thickness of the glass varies with the location, but the heaviest is 30 millimetres and consists of three layers. In the superstructure above the main deck there are 186 windows. Of these windows, 112 are bent in one direction and 28 are double curved,” says Oceanco.

To create the look de Basto had designed, “the glass had to be in one flush surface from the main deck to the sundeck. To achieve this, a lot of special solutions had to be found, which included measuring the superstructure in 3D multiple times at different stages of the build,” says Martin de Jager, engineering project manager for Oceanco. “From this, a three-dimensional model was then developed that was used not only for the shape of every individual window but also for the thickness of the filler where painted surfaces adjoin the glass. Another challenge was where to route pipes and HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] ducts. With the large glass surfaces there was little room to place piping and ducting [near] the outside of the superstructure. Usually the underside of side decks can be used for ventilation grills. In the case of DAR [which has no walkarounds for the sake of privacy] this was not possible.”

Where did all the pipes and ducts go? “We’ve put them everywhere. If you open up the ceiling, it is completely full,” de Jager says. In spite of this, the ceiling height is never lower than 2.25 metres and reaches up to 2.4 metres in some areas.

Changes made to the original layout included the addition of a helideck and the relocation of the pool from one deck to another, a 1.6-metre-deep oval basin with a waterfall that retains its trajectory even as the yacht moves, a detail de Basto insisted upon. He designed all exterior decks, including folding carbon masts for umbrellas that complement the contours of the yacht when they are stored, and a huge sofa that seems to hover above the deck as it spins on a small axis to the sitter’s desired position.

The owner’s deck includes a completely private spa pool flanked by windows that reveal the world to the owners, but not the owners to the world.

Although two designers handled the treatment of the exterior and interior decks, the overall feeling remains surprisingly cohesive and relaxing throughout. The theme of nature, represented by the shark, continues inside. “The client brief was to have a comfortable, light and very bright interior, with no dark timbers and inspired by nature,” Zannier says.

Motifs of fish, leaves, olive trees, blossoms and waves are cleverly integrated in a wide variety of materials, from paint to plaster, carved leather, engraved glass and embroideries. Linen is used in an unusual way, substituted for joinery on doors and drawers. Wood is used sparingly and when it is, it is mainly light-hued timber with an unusual finish, sycamore dyed grey, maple veneer steamed and bent into curves to form a floor detail, a little dark veneer used to contrast with limed ash.

Zannier says she is particularly fond of the staircase that wraps around the lift, which is finished in antiqued bronze – buttons and control panel included – and features a decorative glass panel as flooring. Along the wall a school of fish in Venetian plaster winds its way up the stairs, one of several pieces made by DKT Artworks. Tiny details are everywhere, including drops of resin mimicking water droplets on a window sill.

It all looks so effortlessly elegant. However, “with 120 different fabrics, 24 saddle leathers and a variety of artistic finishes and glass the interior was very complex to execute,” says Oceanco. The task of outfitting this intricate interior went to List General Contractor and Sinnex.

On the technical side, the yacht is just as impressive, fitted with a full Dynamic Positioning system and a classed integrated bridge. Its enormous garage accommodates a pair of 10.5-metre custom tenders, one open and the other a limo, built by Hodgdon Yachts in Maine.

The long foredeck conceals crew tenders and a telescopic mast, and is large enough for a helicopter to land and take off. The owners did not want teak, and de Basto opted for a grey paint that is cohesive with the overall colour scheme and does not create glare. The yacht also carries a built-in slide that deploys for a vertiginous drop from on high.

This enormous project now complete, de Basto delights in sharing the details. “I am glad to see it built and so close to the original sketches. That is amazing because of the many pressures any design of this size is subjected to from all sides during the construction process. Those pressures can derail an innovative, non-conventional design very quickly,” he says. When he walked on to the yacht for the first time, de Basto says it was like he was entering his sketch. It’s a grand design that has become an even grander reality.

“DAR’s exterior aft decks exemplify a relaxed and sophisticated yachting lifestyle,” says designer Luiz de Basto, who decided to locate the guest spaces aft. DAR has three distinct exterior decks and each one is a spectacular feature in itself. The primary outside social space is on the upper deck, which is divided into two areas: the al fresco dining area and the pool area.

The former is finished in pale-toned, easy-to-care-for Lapitec tile flooring, perfect for casual entertaining. The dining table, which seats 12 comfortably, has an unusual design feature. Its centre, made of glass and lit with LEDs, can be lowered with a remote control to create space for decorations or for ice to keep champagne, caviar or oysters chilled. In the other portion of the deck, the lap pool is raised above the deck to keep young children from falling in and provides comfortable seating for adults watching over them. A stabilised waterfall splashes into the pool from the deck above, creating a lovely ambience but also acting as a privacy curtain, shielding the pool from the dining area. The bulwarks, built in continuous glass, act as wind breakers while allowing for beautiful views. The umbrellas to port and starboard are designed to fit the deck perfectly. They don’t need to be dismounted and stowed – they pivot and lower to fit alongside the bulwarks until they’re needed again.


Oceanco

( www.oceancoyacht.com )

Amels 58mt Volpini 2

Most superyachts are the outcome of a design exercise. The 57.7 metre Volpini 2, however, is the result of an unexpected convergence of a business plan and an environmental edict. In 2011 a globally mandated reduction in engine pollution known as IMO Tier II came into force. For large yachts, it required a simple enough switch to low-sulphur diesel fuel and perhaps a few tweaks to combustion. It also laid the groundwork for adopting the next stage in cleaning up maritime diesel emissions, a massive 70 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases, the main cause of smog and acid rain. This was slated to come into effect in 2016.

There was a collective gasp in shipping and yacht building. This next stage, Tier III, was not so simple: it would take more than improved fuel quality – the equipment for meeting this regulation did not exist. The response from some quarters and countries was to push for postponement of Tier III to 2021. Some yacht builders began laying extra keels so that the vessels that would eventually attach to them could be exempt (the regulation would apply only to keels laid after the date decided). Some stood on the sidelines unsure of what to do.

At Dutch builder Amels, the business focus in 2012 had turned to developing a new Limited Editions model, one that could fill a market gap between its 180 (at 55 metres and 671 gross tonnes) and the 199 (62.4 metres, with its scimitar bow and hefty 1,131 gross tonne volume). “We wanted to bring the feeling of space, refinement and many of the features of our larger yachts to the segment around 1,000 gross tonnage,” says Victor Caminada, Amels’ brand and communications manager, adding that initially at least the yard zeroed in on a boat of less than 60 metres, with moderate beam but a noticeable increase in interior space.

But then in 2014, just as yacht and shipbuilders had begun to think that an objection by Russia would effectively postpone Tier III implementation to 2021, a Danish compromise began to win international support, bringing the new NOx standards into play for all vessels over 500 gross tonnes with keels laid after 1 January 2016, but phased in through certain zones at first, notably both coasts – out to 200 nautical miles – of the US and the US Caribbean.

For Amels, it was clear that because of its begin-construction-in-advance business model, both design and technology needed to be worked on at the same time – and the subject would be its nascent 188. “It would make no sense to introduce the first Amels 188 and then on subsequent builds of the design to make drastic engineering changes to comply with the Tier III regulations,” says Caminada.

With the support of its giant shipbuilding parent company Damen, Amels set to work to make the new build Tier III compliant. That was easier said than done. “We discovered that the solution wasn’t just about engines or fuel or exhaust tubes or catalysts or scrubbers alone but about all of them working in tandem and seamlessly,” says Caminada. Individual OEMs could not introduce one component without knowing what other equipment would be in the system, nor could they design parts without knowing space constraints. “We had to get our arms around them and lead them to a solution together.”

While container ships and 100-metre-plus yachts may have room for huge exhaust catchment devices called scrubbers that capture and incinerate NOx and particulates, Amels chose another path to attain cleaner emissions. This was Selective Catalytic Reduction, an exhaust after-treatment methodology pioneered by the trucking industry. However, marine fuels, the much larger horsepower at play and the marine environment in general required new kit, says Caminada. The solution would require class approval, but there was no consensus on assessment and approval for that new equipment.

Proactively, Amels’ engineering department corralled its subcontractors – MTU, Veth and exhaust supplier Hug – plus the classification society Lloyd’s Register, to hammer out a solution. Confident that one could be found, Amels unveiled the design for the 188 at the Monaco show in September 2015 and laid the yacht’s keel before the end of that year. “Our head start through voluntary compliance explains how we were the first yacht builder to deliver a Tier III compliant yacht,” says Caminada.

It’s impossible to enter the Limited Editions 188’s engine room without noticing refrigerator-sized silver boxes wedged between the MTUs and the exhaust tubes. This is where the magic happens: a 40 per cent urea solution, also known as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), is injected into hot exhaust gases from the gensets and main engines in the presence of a ceramic-based metal oxide catalyst. Here, the pollutant transforms into harmless nitrogen, water and minute amounts of CO2. The unavoidable size of the catalytic converters and the urea tank (in this case 2,000 litres) led me to ask exterior stylist Tim Heywood whether Tier III equipment necessitated a change in his design.

“Not at all,” he says. “From the beginning, we wanted to create a boat with high ceilings – 2.2 metres on all decks – and a fifth tank deck for extensive provisioning. Amels gave me the blocks of space for the luxury interior area and the machinery spaces and it was my job to create a flowing line over them while keeping the profile as low as possible.”

Heywood has penned the “flowing lines” of every Limited Editions exterior since day one. The 188 is his sixth design for the range – and Amels has since confirmed that all future 188 hulls will be stretched to 60 metres, with most of that extra space going to the beach club and stern. “No other designer has gotten so much freedom as I have with Amels. I’ve had such pleasure working with them,” Heywood says.

In listening to him talk about the styling features of the boat, it becomes apparent that he also appreciated the intellectual exercise of working out tricky design to make the yacht work as smoothly as it looks. In fact, some things that look like styling features are engineering solutions, such as the curved buttresses holding up the deck overhangs that also conceal ducting and deck drains, and stacking the aft deck staircases to preserve space while at the same time creating a little drama with stainless-steel supports and handrails.

“Each of the editions is unique, but you can tell it’s from the same hand,” says Heywood. Yes, but Heywood pushed the 188 in a slightly different direction. It emulates the style of the 199 series, which Heywood says is his favourite, but while the 188 could be built with a similar scimitar bow, hull No 1 at least has the same flared bow as most of its stablemates. What it doesn’t have are the characteristic, almost signature, Heywood wing stations. Instead, the exterior is smooth with curves and twists subtly inboard and expressed on such things as the bowed support columns aft, the form of the owner’s suite windows and the dynamic mast. The wing stations are neatly tucked inboard on the Portuguese bridge while a subtle bulge or eyebrow on the side of the deck above gives slight cover to anyone who might be using them.

In profile, the Amels 188 has a sporty look. The downward slope of the main deck bulwarks towards the stern pairs with the side deck fashion plates sweeping up and transitioning to the overhead on the bridge and sundecks, creating an arrow form. This motion is accented by sleek railings that angle outward at the stern. “In all my work I draw on the natural world as an inspiration and it can be remarkable to see that materialise,” says Heywood. “In fact, my partner, Vanessa, was very observant when she mentioned how my drawings [for this yacht] resembled a cruising swan ruffling its wings.”

The sportier look to the 188’s profile is carried into the interior as well. Amels held a competition for the interior design of the spec yacht, providing firms with a basic GA featuring a large folding balcony in the owner’s suite, a lift and central stairway, interior access to the stern beach club and a VIP suite on the bridge deck. Reymond Langton, a design firm that had not worked with the yard before, impressed the builder with an “inspirational” and highly detailed design and a “level of refinement more common on 70-metre yachts”, says Caminada. Amels proposed Reymond Langton’s renderings at that 2015 Monaco Yacht Show and, after receiving positive feedback from clients, decided to build the interior according to the studio’s concept.

“I begin designs with the lower deck – that is the start, the heart of the boat,” says Pascale Reymond. “Amels said they wanted something different, more sporty. We were not told a specific budget but they asked me to be sensible. I asked if I could use certain stones and you will see they agreed,” she says, pointing out the Crema Marfil marble, green onyx, Azul Cielo from Brazil, white Thassos and white, grey and gold Calacatta marble on our tour.

On the lower deck are four cabins off a fore and aft corridor at the bottom of a sweeping column of oak stairs that sets a new standard for indirect lighting. The treads are lit underneath as is common, but the steps themselves don’t quite meet the surrounding walls, allowing light to escape and softly wash the leather wall surface. It’s a lighting design theme that repeats throughout the yacht. Walls appear not to touch ceilings and cabinets so that light spills through the gaps, creating shadows and shapes and the illusion of even more space. In the owner’s office, leather wrapped walls are opened to create interesting pockets of light. The floating ceilings add layers. Leather – the main suppliers of which are Foglizzo, Sinn Living and Studioart – covers many of the interior surfaces as well as bedside tables and headboards, showcasing a double stitch trim detail.

Just as Heywood hid drainpipes and ductwork outside, Reymond Langton hid features such as doorways, lamps, televisions and wardrobes inside. It brings a sense of calmness to the spaces, as does the absence of any gloss lacquer. As previously suggested, this yacht, as the first of the range, was started on spec. In September 2017, less than a year before its anticipated delivery date, an owner stepped forward to claim the yacht as his own. Interestingly, it wasn’t the boat’s environmental advances that attracted him at first, but the lift that connects the three interior decks with the sundeck. He was the owner of a 49.3-metre Amels custom built in 2004 as Larissa, which he bought on the brokerage market in 2014, refitted and renamed Volpini, which means “little fox” in Italian. By sheer coincidence, both Reymond and her partner Andrew Langton worked on the Larissa project while they were in the employ of that yacht’s principal designer, Donald Starkey.

When the owner stepped into the 188 project, the designers and shipyard prepared themselves for design tweaks. “That is always quite a nervous time for designers; you worry if they are going to want to change wood or colours or reject your work entirely,” Reymond says. “Their old Volpiniwas quite classic.”

The nerves were all for naught as the new owners of what is now Volpini 2 embraced the light taupe colour scheme with its splashes of blue and aqua recalling the sea. The only structural change requested was to remove the wall and door between the owner’s sitting room on starboard and bedroom on port. Now bookcases with open shelving are all that divide the space, allowing the light from the open balcony to grace the bedroom as well. In the adjoining office, dark wood and leather furniture by Minotti creates a distinctive look. Emanuela Chirieleison, from Reymond Langton’s team, worked with the owners to manage the interior changes and accessorise the boat.

In the months since her launch and delivery, Volpini 2’s owners cruised the Med extensively, enough for the yacht’s chief engineer, Paul Vickery, to get a handle on how the hybrid electrical system, a first for Amels, and the emissions reduction package were working. Vickery kept extensive records on the exhaust output with and without the catalytic converter in operation at various loads and engine temperatures. He showed me tables reflecting reduction in NOx with the catalytic system in use. “Here’s one run with the exhaust entering the catalytic chamber at 647ppm of NOx and leaving the chamber at 66ppm. That’s a 90 per cent reduction in my book. We are only required to use it in America now, and soon the Baltic, but for the good it does, it’s definitely worth the engine room space and I plan to use it as much as possible.” The urea tankage on Volpini 2 allows for 1,500 nautical miles of NOx-reduced cruising, although Amels says it has room to fit enough storage for a 5,000 nautical mile range. “If it [DEF] was accessible, I’d use it all the time,” he says, noting that the fluid was difficult to find in the Med last summer. “We shipped it in from Germany.”

Amels also undertook to reduce total power consumption aboard the yacht, “as part of a focus on sustainability and lowering the cost of ownership”, it says. The builder analysed fleet data from existing Limited Editions yachts to create a holistic approach with waste heat recovery, dividing auxiliary power generation into one large and one small genset, and adding a compact (56kWh) battery bank for peak load shaving and shedding. The system, developed by Amels and Alewijnse Marine, works in the background to manage hotel loads, automatically adjusting the balance of engines and battery power. The system is expected to save, conservatively, €100,000 in operating costs per year.

Volpini 2’s captain, Nathan McFadyen, says: “In eight weeks’ cruising this summer we noticed that we have about the same fuel consumption on Volpini 2 as on our previous yacht, despite the new yacht being significantly [about 50 per cent by volume] larger.” I guess you could say that Volpini 2 is helping to preserve the environment by being a little foxy.


Amels

( www.amels-holland.com )

Mangusta GranSport 54mt El Leon

In an industrial area near Pisa, Italy, lies Overmarine Group’s next generation of metal yachts. The name of the new 54 metre flagship fits like a glove – the first Mangusta GranSport 54 is called El Leon, and this beast can really roar, with a top speed of 30 to 31 knots.

El Leon looks like a Mangusta on steroids: leaner, more muscular and aggressive. It would be easy to focus first on the exterior design, penned by Alberto Mancini in close consultation with the shipyard. The rush of fluid lines with a sharply slanted windshield looks potent – a lion lying low, ready to pounce. However, the story of the GranSport really starts with the rise of a new generation of boaters and a very capable aluminium hull developed to cater to them. “In our opinion, the idea of yachting is changing,” says Francesco Frediani, Overmarine Group’s commercial director. “There are first-time buyers who have a different perception of boating. They are younger, are sensitive to technical issues, but more than that they want to live an adventure on board.” In other words, they don't necessarily want to stick to the familiar yachting Meccas. They want to be able to go everywhere.

Over the years, the builder has made enormous strides in extending the cruising range of its Mangustas, which started as luxurious express cruisers ideally suited to port-hopping around the Mediterranean. By 2014, it had perfected its Mangusta 165, built in composite, a formula that included quadruple MTU engines and Kamewa water-jets for improved efficiency and increased range. However, transatlantic capability remained out of reach; to get across the Atlantic, Mangustas had to travel on a transport ship – and plenty did, as the jet- or Arneson-driven boats are ideally suited to cruising in the Bahamas, for example.

Overmarine’s first stab at building displacement-type yachts was the Mangusta Oceano line. The builder tapped a young Italian designer, who worked well with the brand’s DNA. The first yacht born of the collaboration with Mancini, the Mangusta Oceano 43, was the yard’s first metal yacht in decades, although the company’s CEO, Maurizio Balducci, has long experience of building boats in metal. When Overmarine Group built its new sheds near Pisa a few years ago, it was precisely to expand its metal-building capability with the goal of building larger yachts.

About five years ago, the yard started toying with the idea of a sort of hybrid between a displacement yacht and a Mangusta; a boat that would be fast as well as transatlantic. “We are strong believers in the Maxi Open concept,” Frediani says, “and we wanted to combine in one concept our experience in fast, high-efficiency hulls with the ability to go long distances while maintaining high performance and comfort – a real fast displacement yacht,” one as comfortable at top speed as it is capable of crossing the Atlantic. After studying the existing options for this fast-growing segment, Mangusta decided it needed to develop its own hull as few, if any, satisfied the top-speed requirement, without compromising on other specifications, such as beam.

The shipyard started with basic parameters: it wanted to develop a yacht between 45 and 50 metres and under 500 gross tonnes. Although the experienced builder has extensive in-house engineering expertise, it enlisted Pierluigi Ausonio Naval Architecture (PLANA), an Italian firm well versed in designing hulls for the navy, to achieve its performance goals – a top speed of 30 knots and a transatlantic range at 11 to 15 knots.

“In the beginning, the person who was most involved in the project was the naval architect; more so than the designer,” Frediani says. “By exploring the concept further and delving deeper into technical issues we found that the ideal hull length for efficiency and to remain below 500 gross tonnes was between 50 and 54 metres.”

What the yard added to PLANA’s hull form was its expertise in quadruple-engine packages. Like the Mangusta 165s, the GranSport 54 packs quad MTU 16V 2000 M96L, or four times 2,600bhp, coupled this time with shafts and propellers. Smaller and lighter, the new-generation engines are also more efficient. Tank testing and CFD analysis returned excellent results. “Only at that point did we start looking into the lifestyle aspect and the design,” Frediani says. Overmarine wanted to incorporate several of the features it had implemented on the Mangusta Oceano line – a beach club, a large flybridge, lots of glass and a forward lounge with a 1.8-metre deep pool.

Mancini had started working on a 45 metre version along these parameters and says he was delighted to see the length grow, allowing him to push the envelope in terms of styling. “It is a dream for a designer, because it was making the yacht sleeker,” Mancini says. “What I had in mind was a sword. I tried to strike a balance between sporty and elegant, and incorporate the Mangusta feel into a raised pilothouse [RPH] yacht. I think it is one of the longest RPH ever built.” There was a worry that extending an RPH design to that extent would make the yacht too streamlined and low. “The wheelhouse is very angled, but when you get in and sit down, it feels like a Lamborghini.” This, he adds, inspired the first owner, who was looking for a sporty yacht, to show interest in the project.

In the car world, GranSport is synonymous with high performance and comfort, and herein lies one of this flagship’s achievements. In spite of its slender profile, once on board it feels extremely spacious in every direction. The flybridge, says David Bigotti, from Overmarine Group’s interior department, was the most challenging to build in aluminium. It comprises many welded pieces to achieve its sculptural shape. It is also well protected with visually pleasing aluminium curves and glass inserts in its mid-section and, at 100 square metres, has room for yoga and a dining area under the hardtop.

The design ensures that even seated at the dining table, everyone can still enjoy water views. A spacious outdoor lounge overlooking the shallow pool is at the bow, matched by a spectacular 70 square metre beach club opening on three sides and a relaxed outdoor saloon aft on the main deck. Inside, the ceiling height is comparable to that of any displacement yacht. “On each deck, I pushed the engineer to get as much height, and we have 2.6 metres in the saloon above the dining area. I used lots of tricks to achieve this,” Mancini says.

Some of the apparent volume results from features such as floor-to-ceiling windows in the main saloon area. In turn the use of these windows pushed the engineering department to find some creative solutions for essential equipment such as the air conditioning system. Two beautiful oval pieces of furniture, flanking the dining table, were made to conceal fan coils. Wide teak floorboards run transversally to enhance the beam, a trick Mancini previously used on the Mangusta Oceano. Light is also prevalent in the elegant master suite, located forward on the main deck. As on the Mangusta Oceano, the pool’s glass bottom serves as a skylight in the master head. In addition, the full-beam cabin has a balcony on the starboard side.

The buyers of the first Mangusta GranSport were not the first-time boaters the yard envisaged. They had owned Mangustas. “The owner came to Miami during the boat show and fell in love with the design,” Frediani says. “When we explained that it was a new model with shafts and range, we found out this was actually his dream. Having had fast yachts for most of his boat life, he now has more time to spend on board and wants to explore the world.”

El Leon's owners had many ideas on how to personalise their GranSport. Decisions that made it into the finished boat included painting the hardtop a Silver Anniversary colour by DuPont and using blue-tinted skylights by Isoclima over the exterior dining area on the flybridge. They stayed closely involved with the interior choices as well.

“I trusted the clients, and the final result really exceeded my expectations as well as the owner’s,” says Mancini, who admits to a little hesitation at the outset when he discovered the owner’s fondness for glossy American nut and Macassar ebony. Wall coverings by Hermès and Rubelli combine with nubuck and other leather finishes to create a comfortably luxurious ambiance. Most of the furniture is custom designed, with a few exceptions, such as twin saloon sofas by Minotti. “It is not a super-modernist yacht, but it is very appealing,” Mancini says. A heavily veneered brown marble, similar to wood veneer, combines with a glass-enclosed Hermès animal print wall covering in the master head to suggest the idea of a tropical forest.

The owners had other requirements that pushed Mangusta towards a tailor-made layout, with an office and a larger than planned tender garage for a 7.3 metre craft designed by Mancini. Gullwing-style doors open the twin tender bays located in the forepeak beneath the pool.

Custom design beyond the choice of interior materials and accessories is not the goal, however. “We have studied the project well and are able to offer many different layout options thanks to Nicola Onori and Pier Giorgio Finatti from our technical department,” Frediani says. “We have very different layout options: a four-cabin layout in the lower deck plus social areas like a gym and cinema; master cabin on the main deck; another one with two full-beam VIPs on the lower deck; plus two guest cabins and a master cabin on the main deck. The customisation is very high if the owner enters in the very early stages, and a bit less flexible when the owner comes in the later stage.” Frediani says they can’t predict how many they’ll be able to build, but construction has begun on hull No 2 of the Mangusta Gransport 54.

After debuting in Saint-Tropez to Mangusta fans, El Leon appeared at the Monaco Yacht Show. She has ambitious plans, possibly going to the Caribbean, doing the kind of open ocean mileage no Mangusta has ever done before.

PLANA defines the Mangusta GranSport 54 hull as “fast and surface piercing”. Yacht architect Pierluigi Ausonio says it goes through the sea surface (it does not plane) but uses dynamic lift to control longitudinal trim and maintain displacement mode at high speed. Ausonio has designed fast naval vessels and worked with four-shaft arrangements and propellers since the 1980s. He has applied all that knowledge to the GranSport fast displacement hull.

CFD calculations and tank testing helped refine the hull’s round-bilge shape in the aft section to accommodate the four-shaft arrangement and maximise flow to the propellers and in the fore section, which incorporates a “dynamically surfacing bulbous bow and an effective spray rail”.

The hull’s resistance compares favourably with other fast boat hull types, such as so-called deep V or double chine hulls without bulbous bows. Calculations showed resistance to be 15 to 20 per cent less while travelling at 30 knots and 50 per cent less at 15 knots. “This huge improvement in the hull performances allows designing a fast motor yacht exceeding 50 metres, reaching a speed above 30 knots with relatively low power, cruising easily above 25 knots, but above all that, with a range of 4,800 nautical miles at 12 knots and 3,500 nautical miles at 15 knots,” Ausonio says. “So you can cross the Atlantic at 15 knots, which is unusual for any motor yacht.”

Designer Alberto Mancini worked closely with El Leon’s owners and Mangusta’s interiors department to create the stylish décor but was given relatively free rein. He enjoys incorporating features from the automotive world in his designs. There are a few on the outside of the Mangusta GranSport 54, the largest yacht he’s designed to date, but it is one interior feature, developed for luxury cars, that has him most excited. “We used a new type of veneer that allows us to create a kind of transparency. It’s a new technology by Alpi, developed for dashboards in luxury cars.

I asked the yard to use it to create backlit columns at the main entrance. The veneer includes little transparent stripes. It is so new that when the shipyard called the company that produced this kind of panel and asked how to glue it, they replied ‘Sorry, we don’t know.’ The shipyard is really very skilled and figured out how to glue it into a semicircular plexiglass material. The result is amazing.”


Mangusta

( www.mangustayachts.com )

Krupp Germaniawerft 71 mt Haida

Launched in 1929, this classic motor yacht has had 11 owners, saw service in the Second World War and had long been admired by owner No 12. Having finally bought her in 2015,he set about reviving this piece of maritime history and making her fit for a whole new charter adventure. Risa Merl reports on a 16-month labour of love.

From the moment her owner first laid eyes on this classic beauty, he knew it was the only yacht for him, but it would be a decade before they could be together. “He has loved this boat for 10 years,” says Haida 1929’s captain, Daan de Witt. “He told me once that he won’t own any other boat if he can’t own this one.”

Haida 1929 is indeed the owner’s first yacht, and his passion for her propelled a thorough 16-month refit, set on restoring the 66.5 metre (71.1 metre with bowsprit) motor yacht to her former glory, and then some. The yacht’s new name gives away her advanced age – she was launched in 1929 by Krupp Germaniawerft for the American yeast tycoon Max C Fleischmann, who christened her Haida, after a native Alaskan tribe. Over the course of a long and storied life, she’s had 11 owners and varied roles, including heroic service in the US Navy during the Second World War. She’s also gone by many monikers, such as USS Argus, Sarina, Rosenkavalier, Haida G and Dona Amelia.

As Dona Amelia, she had been laid up on the River Fal in Cornwall, not abandoned but certainly in disuse. After a few years, brokerage firm Edmiston was tasked with finding a new owner – and so in 2015, her current owner finally had his chance. Though he had pined for Haidafrom afar for many years, he took his time with the courtship. Before inking a deal, he visited her on the River Fal for a year. “And every time he would come back with new ideas,” says de Witt.

Restoring a classic yacht is quite an undertaking, and certainly for a first-time yacht owner, but Haida 1929’s owner was nothing if not prepared. Some owners come to a project with magazine clippings or a mood board of ideas. By the time Haida 1929’s owner had finalised the purchase of his long-sought yacht, he had three MacBooks full of in-depth designs as well as his own hand-drawn sketches. He just needed the right team.

“He has a good eye for detail,” says de Witt. “The boss didn’t want a designer – he wanted someone to make his ideas work.” While the owner had created an extremely comprehensive brief, he had to collaborate with a professional who could make his ideas technically viable.

“He was an unusual client in that he had a very, very clear idea of what he wanted to achieve,” says designer Adam Lay, who was introduced to the owner by Alex Busher, sales broker at Edmiston. “I thought it was a fantastic design brief – it’s exactly what I would’ve done with the vessel.”

A word used frequently in the brief was “fresh”, both in terms of freshening up the exterior spaces and creating a light, bright and natural interior. Yet everything also had to be elegant and chic, evocative of the romance of the 1920s and 30s whence she came. The refit plans were sympathetic to her history and included maintaining her original direct-drive engines and moving the tenders back to a position on the side decks. This would not be a modernisation so much as a restoration and any modern updates, such as the addition of new exterior staircases, a sundeck paddling pool and spa room on the main deck, were thoughtfully considered and employed with care.

“The Edmiston yacht management team prepared the initial refit specification, which expanded considerably, and identified a number of potential refit yards to visit with the owner,” says Nick Edmiston, the company’s founder. As chance would have it, the yacht had been left near Pendennis, a yard renowned for its experience in classic restorations. “[They] did an extremely good restoration of Malahne and understand classic yachts,” Edmiston adds.

Edmiston’s project managers remained at the yard throughout the refit, along with Captain de Witt, who knew the yacht well having been with her since 2011 during her days as Dona Amelia. Prior to that, he crewed on her big sister Talitha. The captain’s second in command has also been with the yacht for a long tenure – Haida has this way of casting a spell and making people stick around.

Haida 1929 arrived at Pendennis in July 2016 a ghost of her former self. The time she had spent on the river without continual maintenance had caused her steel – much of it original – to corrode. “The fact that steel plates that are nearly 90 years old were heavily corroded didn’t surprise us much,” says Nick Kearton, of Pendennis’s project team. “More surprising was the more recent steel repairs [from 15 to 20 years previously] were so poorly executed below the waterline.” This work from an earlier refit had overlapped with the original hull plate in some areas, acting as a doubler plate, which accelerated the corrosion of the original riveted hull.

“In total, we replaced well over 100 tonnes of steel within the hull structure,” says Kearton, “mainly below the waterline, including 100 per cent of the engine room plating, the majority of the hull boundaries of the three freshwater tanks and the chain locker.” The black and freshwater tanks and the chain locker were totally ripped out.

Replacing the steel in the engine room proved particularly challenging. “We discussed removing the engines to do this or leaving them in place, because they weigh 40 tonnes, and then you have to realign them when you put them back in,” says de Witt. In the end, the engines were left in place and propped up while the steel was cut out from under them. It would have been far easier to tear out the original engines and replace them with modern propulsion – from the outside no one would have been any the wiser. The twin diesel Krupp engines are a relic from 1929 and start via compressed air. Pendennis says they might be the oldest working engines of their type still in situ. There is no manual and you can’t buy parts off the shelf.

“We had to open up the gears and work stuff out,” says de Witt. There are no throttles in the wheelhouse; the captain steers the boat but doesn’t control its speed. Instead, a telegraph system transmits down to the engine room where his engineers – there are four on board – receive the signal and slow the engines accordingly.

There were pleasant surprises – the original riveted steel above the waterline was in fantastic shape, with some areas showing less than 5 per cent wastage of thickness – however, much of the original pipework was condemned. “There are always challenges with old boats. Sometimes you open something up for a small job and there are bigger problems,” de Witt says. “At some stage, I wanted to make a T-shirt with a boat on the back and the funnel as a tin can with worms coming out.”

Was the owner ever daunted by the growing scope of work? “He likes a project,” assures de Witt, “and he says he only wanted to do it once. We should do things in a way that we don’t have to do it again.” Every six weeks the owner visited the yard, staying for a few days each time and making decisions on the smallest details. As challenges arose, he never wavered from his original plan: to return Haida 1929 to her original beauty while improving the functionality.

A priority was placed on the enjoyment of exterior decks and the ease of traffic flow. Narrow, steep ladders common to classic yachts wouldn’t do; a new staircase now connects the main deck to the owner’s deck, another links the main deck to a lounge area on the fantail, a pair of staircases were added from the owner’s deck to the sundeck as well as one on the starboard side going to the sundeck. “They needed to look like they’ve always been there,” says Lay. This was a case where 3D designs alone couldn’t be relied upon. Full-scale mock-ups in plywood were created at the yard to ensure the stairs matched.

“Following the owner’s priority that the yacht be restored as closely as possible to its 1929 origins created several significant conundrums,” says Kearton. “One of the largest of these was fitting new tender davits back in the original side deck positions. To conform with current rules, one of these had to be certified to launch a SOLAS rescue boat in five minutes. Creating a traditional looking but technologically suitable solution required the input of a specialist company.” When the tenders are launched, exercise equipment is rolled out in their place, creating an al fresco gym.

Moving the tenders opened up the owner’s deck for a dining table for up to eight, where he will enjoy breakfast. The preferred dining space to host guests is the main aft deck, with a table that extends to seat 16 but is usually set up for 12. The formal dining saloon, forward on the main deck, is ideal in inclement weather, especially with the addition of a fireplace. “The owner likes to have a formal dinner in there once a week – he thinks it’s fun when his guests come in black tie but without shoes!” says de Witt.

The sundeck saw the biggest refresh, with an extension over the owner’s deck, a new bar forward of the funnel, a rebuild of the awning shade structure, new seating and sunpads and the addition of a pool, replacing a small spa pool. The latter was by far the most complicated procedure owing to the weight that needed to be supported. “The solution we settled upon was a steel rack built on the sundeck beneath the pool, which was then supported by a series of connecting columns down through the vessel to the hull,” says Kearton. “This meant we not only had to transfer the load down to the hull, but also fit the support columns where they were hidden from view.”

Some of these steel columns had to go through extremely tight spaces and required pipework, cabling and joinery modifications. One cut right through the owner’s bathroom – far from ideal, but Lay was able to hide this cleverly. Now two architectural columns frame the entrance to the bathroom – one holding the steel support, and the other one faux to match it. The owner’s bath has an enormous tub athwartships at the centreline, while the shower incorporates a steam room.

The owner’s cabin was redesigned to create a fresh, clean and calm look. The previous four-poster bed was cut down, and the complexity of the mouldings on the bulkheads was simplified to make them look more refined. The windows in the master open, letting a fresh breeze and plentiful light into this space.

The new interior is, as the owner desired, light, bright and calming. The yellow-cream paint from Dona Amelia has been replaced with a gleaming white. The white soft goods help lighten the interior, while the carefully chosen furnishings help keep her in her era. Floors throughout are mahogany, and the joinery is mahogany or teak, to accent the white Calacatta oro marble. Soft, white carpeting from Loro Piana is used in the guest cabins, while a plush white rug is under the bed atop a wood floor in the master.

Five guest cabins are on the lower deck – two twins, two VIPs and one double, as well as a single berth for a nanny. The air conditioning had to be updated throughout the guest cabins to bring it to modern standards, and new grilles were incorporated into the interior décor with care. “Things that seemed quite easy to do, because of the nature of the vessel, wound up being more complicated,” says Lay of this task.

The owner’s lounge is on the upper deck and can be used privately or as a shared saloon. The bar was redesigned, with a refrigerator, sink and coffee machine added behind doors. “We were always trying to incorporate modern conveniences, but in a discreet way,” says Lay. To use it as a cinema, a projector is hidden in a round detail in the bookshelf, so you wouldn’t know it’s there until a movie screen drops down from the ceiling. The lounge also acts an office space, with a desk area.

The main deck has decorative storage for wine, which had previously been relegated to a storeroom on the lower deck, a space that’s now been cleared for the spa. From the start, it was planned that Haida 1929 would charter – “[the owner] knew it was no good to have crew just sitting around”, says de Witt. The spa and wine storage are a few things you might not expect to find on a classic, but will be very welcome on a charter yacht. Set all the way aft on the main deck, the spa has a hammam and hosts guests for massages, hairdressing or cut-throat shaves from a resident barber among the crew.

From those original inspiration-packed MacBooks, the owner had a good idea of what he wanted for the furnishings, much of which he sourced himself. For the plush sofas, Lay suggested Dudgeon in London. Wicker chairs, a reference to the furniture on board the original Haida, are found in the guest cabins and the dining saloon. This loving attention to detail is why, despite the updates, the refit has kept Haida 1929 so faithful to her history. “Talitha is more a modern version of a classic,” says Lay, comparing the Krupp-built sisters. “Haida 1929 is more true to her era.”

Curling up with a good book on a cold day in front of a roaring fire – is there anything more romantic than that? “The owner wanted to reinstate the fireplace in the owner’s saloon,” says designer Adam Lay.

He also wanted a fireplace added forward in the formal dining room. Along with one in the main saloon, there are now three fireplaces on board Haida 1929. Designing fireplaces or fire pits on a yacht is never easy. So to be able to have a fireplace where you can actually feel a bit of heat on a cold day is a luxury indeed. The fireplaces on board Haida 1929“burn small blocks that are like biofuel, which are the same sort of fireplaces that would be installed in apartments in New York City”, explains Captain Daan de Witt.

“If you retrofit a city apartment, you can’t build a chimney, and these don’t require a chimney or flue.” What makes bioethanol fuel fireplaces ideal for blocked chimneys or flat walls in a home is what makes them an equally handy solution on a yacht. Unlike some onboard “fireplaces” that use steam and LED light to produce a fire-like effect, the biofuel used on Haida 1929 generates some real warmth without the need for a chimney. “They don’t create a lot of smoke, but they do create a bit of heat,” de Witt says. Even when not being used in the summer, the fireplaces add a touch of elegance to the décor all year round.


Pendennis

( www.pendennis.com )

Turquoise Yachts 77mt GO

“There was something about GO’s owner that I understood from the moment he walked into the shipyard,” says Mehmet Karabeyoglu, Turquoise Yachts’ CEO.
Even by the standards of superyacht owners, this man was particularly bold and decisive – two values the shipyard head appreciates. Karabeyoglu inaugurated his shipyard in 1997 by starting a 50 metre on spec; it was the largest yacht construction in Turkey at the time. “The contract [for GO] was all very quick because he’s a very [decisive] man. And here we are, just a year and a half later, with a brand new superyacht and our largest launch to date,” he says. As for the owner, building a 77 metre as your first yacht is one seriously bold stroke.

Turquoise had already begun building what would become its new flagship before the owner stepped in. “We always [begin] on spec because it saves owners so much time,” says Karabeyoglu. The yard hired London-based H2 Yacht Design to draw a distinctive yacht with Turquoise DNA. “After Mehmet’s partner passed away and his shares were bought by Oceanco owner Mohammed Al Barwani, the yard was looking to relaunch with a new flagship,” says Jonny Horsfield, H2’s co-founder. “GO is the seventh yacht that we have collaborated with Turquoise on, the most recent being the 72 metre Vicky. That was our starting point and from there we updated the look, keeping the design flexible enough so that a new owner could really put a personal stamp on it.”

GO’s aluminium superstructure features sculptural curves that swoop down through the deck levels and end in an arch that plunges to the waterline. But noteworthy as these are, GO will most likely be remembered for her hull colour: a show-stopping shade called Island Turquoise. “The turquoise is a theme that’s carried through the yacht,” says Ruth Thomas from H2.

“The design concept of the yacht is based on water in motion, so shades of turquoise made sense.” While moving water is the concept and turquoise is the theme, another element is repeated throughout the yacht: a chevron-meets-basket-weave pattern that turns up carved into carpet pile or etched into the mirrored ceiling of the main saloon. “When the owner bought the yacht,” says Horsfield, “he kept the general arrangement plan but decided to up the ante on the décor and make it more lush. We only had three months to do the redesign.” Karabeyoglu says that “we added 10 tonnes of mirror-polished steel for the interior details and inlays that he wanted, so much weight that it required re-engineering the yacht”.

In the saloon, white carpet, leather-covered walls and Tanganyika veneer are topped with sculpted metal bands that recall flowing water. The windows are so many and so large that the owner, a huge sports fan, had no qualms about placing a 100 inch Sony flat-screen TV in front of one.

The main dining area is a compendium of the yacht’s decorative themes: the chevron in the flooring is in stainless steel strips that contrast with white Thassos stone; the circular dining table is edged by a band of turquoise enamelled metal by Solomon & Wu, contrasting with a band of polished macassar ebony, which in turn contrasts with a central element in white onyx; and the table’s shiny surfaces reflect the dizzying pattern of a chandelier made up of short ropes of glass. “It took us weeks to install the chandelier because every pendant has its own LED source,” says Thomas. “We had the same company, Lasvit, make the wall sconces.”

But all this is just preamble for the Dale Chihuly sculpture that hangs at the centre of the foyer staircase: three storeys of blue-green blown glass that looks like a magnificent conglomerate of paramecia or a coral reef crustacean that you don’t want to step on barefoot. In fact, Chihuly calls the nearly 500 pieces that make up this giant work “icicles”.

“To be sure that the sculptures fit – they aren’t technically chandeliers because they are not lit from within – and to decide where to place the thin steel rods that keep it from swaying, we built a full-scale model of the staircase at Chihuly’s studio in Seattle, Washington,” says H2’s James Bermudez. Chihuly’s own glass engineers prepared the custom stabilisation each piece required for its unique installation. “We then numbered the pieces and shipped them to Istanbul. Just unpacking them took days.” It was well worth the effort: hanging the sculpture in the stairwell brings Chihuly’s work close enough to touch and transforms the drudgery of walking up stairs into a truly memorable experience.

GO’s seven guest cabins feature king sized beds and décor in tones that vary from suite to suite. Thanks to a door at the end of the long and wide hallway the final two cabins can be used as a larger suite with separate day and night spaces. The en suite guest baths all have heated floors in turquoise Amazonite and white Thassos stone and all of the guest showers are backed with eye-catching splash walls by Italian artist Alex Turco.

The owner’s suite on the upper deck has some notable glasswork in the shape of huge curved glass windows that are punctuated by thin mullions covered in bevelled mirrors. “I have to credit Turquoise for the fabulous view in this suite,” says Horsfield. “At first, our design was busy, with too many mullions. I wanted the view but didn’t think that curved glass this large could be manufactured.” “These are among the largest pieces of laminated, chemically hardened curved glass that have ever been mounted on a yacht,” Karabeyoglu points out. “Just five panes to make this whole sweep, the same arrangement on the bridge. And all of this is made in Turkey.”

The centrally placed bed and oval console table behind it both feature stitched leather detailing designed to recall rugby balls, one of the owner’s favourite sports. The view from the suite over the owner’s private foredeck and beyond is fabulous – but still faces stiff competition on game nights from a large flat-screen TV concealed in a cabinet in front of the central window. Cheering for the owner’s team will be by far the loudest sound thanks to Turquoise’s engine installation: just 38 decibels were registered in the guest and owner’s cabins when the yacht was under way.

On top of a private study, large his and hers dressing rooms and separate en suites, the owners have a private foredeck complete with their own spa pool. This huge sweep of space feels like a ledge over the sea thanks to removable carbon fibre railings and a telescopic mast that disappears into the deck to leave the view totally unencumbered. More turquoise, this time mixed with golden mosaic tiles, lines the five metre long sundeck spa pool fed by a waterfall that cascades from a spout in the mast. “The owner wants to keep this as a party deck,” says Bermudez. “The onyx, teak and polished steel bars have TV screens by Aqualite Outdoor and all furniture is loose except for the lounging couch aft: its base hides the extra ceiling height we allotted to the gym on the bridge deck below so that people can really run on the treadmill.”

The yacht has a lift that runs from the sundeck all the way down to the tender garage, which has a 10.6 metre long hull door made by Dutch company Newthex. “We are not an assembly shipyard,” says Karabeyoglu. “We build our own hulls and are very hands-on in engineering and naval architecture, but there are some hings that other companies can do better and faster than we can. In the case of Newthex, we just have to tell them the opening size of the doors we want and they do the rest. We have a very good working relationship.”

Locating the tender garage amidships means that the yacht’s huge 162 square metre beach club is purely for enjoyment and doesn’t do double duty as a loading platform. “The beach club was a real selling point for the yacht,” says Horsfield. “The owner dedicated special attention to it.” And it shows. The club area is accessed from the aft deck and has a nine metre wide transom that opens flush to the floor and a seven metre wide side shell door; indoors and outdoors blend perfectly.

A storage area for watersports equipment and a fully stocked backlit bar in onyx and macassar mean that both the water bug and the barfly are well cared for. The aesthete will appreciate the art panel by Alex Turco, while the sports fan will be drawn to the 100 inch flat-screen TV opposite it. There was even space for massage and steam rooms. “This is not what you’d call a plain vanilla yacht,” says Karabeyoglu. “Not to build, nor to design. But we like complicated jobs because we like to show the world what we can do.” Whether or not you know the intricacies of this spectacular yacht, with looks as bold as the minds that produced her, GO certainly does the job.

GO’s owner suggested that H2 Yacht Design contact the renowned American glass sculptor Dale Chihuly for a statement piece for the yacht’s central staircase. Chihuly has been boldly and colourfully reinventing glass sculpture since the 1970s and his outdoor installations as well as his individual pieces have won wide acclaim. “The client first visited Chihuly in Seattle in early 2017, meeting Dale in person and touring the Chihuly Ballard Studio,” says Ruth Thomas of H2. “They have their current projects in build there and do full-scale mock-ups.”

After determining the basic design, next came the palette. The predominant colour was to be GO’s turquoise with shades of blue, white and clear glass. Chihuly blew “icicles” in these tones for approval. The piece was almost fully developed when the client made a second visit to see the mock-up of the stairs and get an understanding of the scale of the piece.The final result is Sea Spray Chandelier. At 5.5m high by 90cm wide, it weighs 435kg and incorporates 468 individually blown “icicles” hanging on a vertical spine spanning three decks. “Chihuly recommended the sculpture be lit externally for a dramatic wash of light over the entire piece,” continues Thomas. “We developed high-output LED lights and integrated mirrors into the design of the stairs so guests can see Sea Spray Chandelier from all angles.” GO does have a lift but using it would mean missing the show.


Turquoise Yachts

( www.turquoiseyachts.com )

Admiral Yachts 73mt Planet Nine

From the quay, Planet Nine all but obscures the sight of Mount Vesuvius, which looms over the Gulf of Naples. With her high bow and broad helipad aft, she appears the very essence of an explorer yacht: purposeful and uncomplicated. Elegant, for sure, but designed for more serious cruising.

Her long passerelle is like a slender bridge to another world. Behind me are stuttering mopeds and the sing-song arguments of local fishermen and contractors crowding the dock at Marina Molo Luise; ahead is calm, serenity and hugely welcome air con. And as I’m about to find out, it’s all underpinned by some effortless-looking interior design, which balances comfort and looks, without jeopardising the boat’s go-anywhere vocation. “The core idea was to build the best of Europe,” says skipper Rob Williamson, who also represented the owner for most of the project. “We wanted German machinery combined with an Italian build.”

This 73.2 metre explorer yacht, now reluctantly for sale with Fraser (and for charter with Edmiston) owing to a change in family circumstances for the owner, has been some time in the making. The bare hull took shape at Cantieri San Marco in La Spezia, before moving a few miles down the coast to The Italian Sea Group for the interior fit-out and finish. “The client was very demanding in terms of quality, style and for the interior,” says The Italian Sea Group’s vice-president Giuseppe Taranto. “But the result has been excellent.”

Ice classified 1D by Lloyd’s, Planet Nine has been built with thick hull plates, strong frames and bulkheads, and careful protection for her seawater intakes, to protect them from ice and the very cold temperatures encountered in high latitudes. “That is why the owner went to a shipyard [to build the hull], not a yacht builder,” says Williamson. It means she can deal with sea ice up to around 15 centimetres thick, making charters to Greenland or the Graham Land peninsula of Antarctica a possibility.

To ready her for Antarctic waters, the helipad has been very carefully designed with a lifting platform, so that the aircraft can be stowed away safely in a hangar when not in use. What this means is that the yacht can accommodate two choppers – one in the hangar and one on deck; so there will always be one free to take on board an ice pilot, for instance. “We can effectively operate a heliport,” says the captain.

“Guests can arrive by chopper, while the owner’s machine is on board.” And not just any chopper, either. The design team chose to scale everything to fit an AgustaWestland AW109 Grand – preferred for its large seven-passenger capacity. It also has a maximum weight of 3,175kg, so the helipad has been designed to support at least 10 tonnes. The boat’s current helicopter is an MD Explorer 902.

She’s undoubtedly a capable yacht but to characterise Planet Nine as an explorer alone is to do her a real disservice. Exterior designer Tim Heywood is adamant that there’s no contradiction between go-anywhere abilities and real luxury. “Planet Nine displays a constant state of great comfort and elegance,” he tells me. “The fact that she is wrapped in an ice-class hull only adds to her luxury.”

At 73.2 metres overall, any yacht would be impressive enough in its own right. Add in high latitudes looks and there is really no need to go over the top on the design. With an experienced owner taking a close interest, Heywood responsible for the lines and London-based studio Mlinaric, Henry and Zervudachi (MHZ) styling the interior, Planet Nine is a study in purposeful restraint.

“The client was looking for a 73 metre world cruising yacht with a crisp, timeless style in the design language of another of my designs, the motor yacht Ice,” Heywood explains. “I am extremely pleased with the proportions of the yacht, the overall form and the subtle sculptural features.” He singles out the trademark wing stations and mast structures, not too big, and the forward roof shapes. “All have been built as I imagined. “There is a really harmonious balance to the way the helipad and hangar have been accommodated using the same exterior styling as the main guest decks.

The superstructure is a relatively modest three-storey affair, but huge volume has been created within the hull’s tall topsides. All the tankage and machinery have been relegated to a single technical deck below the waterline. “By putting the engine room on what would traditionally have been the tank deck, we have completely freed up the lower deck,” says Williamson.

This, in turn, has been given over to five guest cabins and a staff cabin, opening off a long central corridor that connects to the beach club aft. “You don’t see that often and it’s tough to engineer,” he adds. “It is really quiet in the guest cabins, because the builders used the right materials for soundproofing. And guests can get directly to the beach club.”

Nearly the entire main deck above is given over to the owner’s suite of rooms, which total an agoraphobia-inducing 250 square metres. These include a huge bedroom with acres of sofa space and a pop-up television (the owner tolerates rather than embraces television so everywhere on the boat screens retract into elegant wooden pedestals). Sliding doors give access to the side decks, which are in use only for docking manoeuvres and therefore largely private.

Then there’s a library and conference space, lined from floor to ceiling with books, a further double bed and a separate office. It’s a space that would feel grandiose in a townhouse, but on a yacht it is an extraordinary luxury. “The owner was very active in business at the time and wanted private rooms away from the guests,” explains interior designer Tino Zervudachi. For my money, though, the VIP suite on the wheelhouse deck is the favourite. It is smaller, of course, but cosier, with a dressing room and ensuite bathroom. And the real draw is its own private aft deck, complete with sofa-style sunpads and an intimate dining area.

There are two lifts on board serving the five decks – one for the owner and guests (handy to get from the cabin to the sundeck) and a smaller one for the crew, which is used mainly for ferrying supplies from the store rooms below to the galley. “I was sceptical at first about the crew lift,” says Williamson. “I wanted a young, fit crew that suited the adventurous nature of the boat. But it’s proved its worth for the galley.”

The finish is meticulous, with much of the furniture built by German luxury outfitter Fitz Interior. At its workshop in Bavaria, the company built each space for a detailed walk-through and to make any changes, before the whole interior was dismantled again and shipped to Italy for installation. “We built the interior based on our substructure system, which allows every owner of the vessel to change the wall, ceiling or furniture cladding in no time,” says Fitz project manager Markus Jechnerer.

Zervudachi led the interior design, based on experience gained during work on several of the owner’s homes. “There were a few words, not a proper brief,” he says. “I understand him very well, and he made it clear that the boat had to be extremely comfortable, but masculine and streamlined.” They sourced exotic woods and fabrics from across the globe, in reference to the yacht’s go-anywhere capabilities. The finish in each cabin is different, creating a subtle variation: American elm, tropical olive wood and wacapou. Each bathroom features glass panelling, again with varying tints to it. “We decided we didn’t want any marble on board,” says the designer.

Elsewhere in the boat there is a wealth of textures and finishes that sit very comfortably together thanks to the restraint of MHZ. These range from the owner’s suite’s coveted African fabric for upholstery, woven in Dakar for Aïssa Dione, to a silk-linen blend from Twill Textiles on the walls in the guest cabins. Then there’s hand-woven abaca (from a Philippine banana palm) on the walls and ceiling of the main and upper decks, while limed oak and mutenye woods also appear in the wheelhouse and staircases.

And the door to each guest cabin has a different colour of rich Garrett leather on the corridor side “to help guests more easily identify their own cabins – and to keep the interiors from being too serious”, explains Dennis Pyle of MHZ.

The feature is repeated in the so-called boot room, where the lower deck meets the beach club. Here guests can leave shoes and personal items when going for a swim or preparing to go ashore. The opening transom has lights set into its teak surface, to illuminate the beach club when open. It’s the sort of detail that only an experienced team would think to include. Or, as Heywood puts it, “a truly international team of engineers with, possibly, more experience between them than any other yacht builder.”

The boat has an interesting double personality. On the one hand she is set up for the maximum comfort of the guests, with more than 20 crew, copious lounging space, top-notch audiovisual, spa and steam room, spa pool and bar on the sundeck and a super-surround sound cinema, with 11 speakers and two subwoofers, on the main deck. But on the other hand, she has a no-nonsense feel and a kind of restless desire to get stuck into some bad weather, to explore off the beaten track. “She is a true world cruiser,” says Heywood, “designed and built to withstand the harshest conditions, to cut through savage seas and not skirt bad weather. She was built with a confidence that is infectious!”

Bridging the two is a really comprehensive package of toys and watersports equipment, clearly pitched at the charter market. Besides the two businesslike 10 metre Rupert RIBs (one set up for watersports, the other with a little cabin for inshore work), there is a brace of Seabobs, more wetsuits and dive kits than you can shake a stick at, a pair of Sea-Doo personal watercraft, water skis, paddleboards and more. I suggest a small sailing boat, which skipper Williamson likes the sound of. At one point, he throws open a cupboard door on the side deck to reveal a beautifully designed rack containing a pair of heavily sidecut skis – for snow, not water. And why not? If you’re visiting far-flung polar regions and your primary tender is an Agusta Grand, heli-skiing is definitely on the menu…

At her cruising speed of 14 knots, Planet Nine has a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles – thanks to the 340,000 litres of fuel she can carry. Slow her twin Caterpillar 3516 engines down to a perfectly respectable 10 knots and that range rises to more than 10,000 miles, enough to cross from Sydney to Ushuaia and on up to the Caribbean, without halting for fuel.

“That’s including fuel for the generators,” says Captain Rob Williamson, who oversaw the redesign of the power systems to reduce the hotel load to a single 275kW Cat genset, although there are three aboard. Couple that with her ice class hull, 9,000 litres of aviation fuel (“around 10 times the range of an Agusta Grand”, says Williamson), 40,000 litres of fresh water, plus the ability to make around 18,000 litres more per day, and you can see she has phenomenal range and autonomy. Perhaps the limiting factor is fresh food. There is plenty of cold storage on board, down on the machinery deck in the bow, including several cold rooms and a walk-in freezer. “We can store luxury food for about a month,” says the captain. There’s storage for plenty more but after that you’d start relying more on tinned and ambient stored produce. So the effective range is a matter of taste for the owner or his guests.



Admiral Yachts

( http://admiral-yachts.com/ )

Custom Line 38mt Vista Blue

The new Custom Line 120’s mate has picked me up from Bay Street Marina with a tricked-out 12 metre Nor-Tech centre console and she is hurrying along, the triple Mercury outboards disturbing deep blue water with a widening trail of white foam.

At 50 knots it doesn’t take much time for the 38.4 metre Vista Blue, at first a shiny spot on the horizon, to come into sharper focus: lean, sharp lines, a graceful nose, geometric features, slim buttresses and railings glistening in the sun – this is a handsome yacht. The Nor-Tech fendered by the efficient crew, I hop onto the bathing platform and step up to the main deck of the mothership. The effect from up here is very special. As I stand at the innovative threshold of the saloon (more on that later) the cerulean blue of the seascape pours into the space from every direction. “The whole design was focused on enhancing contact with the sea and attempting to overthrow boundaries between exterior and interior,” says Francesco Paszkowski, the yacht’s designer. Every builder is striving for this goal, but it’s never been done quite like this before.

A couple of business partners with a fondness for fast boats, modern design and Caribbean sunsets bought hull No 1 of this new series after seeing renderings and a 3D video. They had been looking for a yacht already under construction, something sporty in this size range, but wanted to work directly with the manufacturer. They zeroed in on the new Custom Line project. “It was still [at the] early stage, but the fact that we did not have to wait for the entire period of the build was very attractive,” one of the owners says. “The design, the styling, the performance of the boat seemed very interesting to us and I have always been a big fan of Ferretti and Riva. The result exceeded our expectations.”

It was especially sweet since they had done quite a bit of work to personalise their CL 120. The bulk of the custom work went into the external entertainment areas, the foredeck and in particular the flybridge deck, where a spa pool-cum-seating unit with built-in cooler for a bottle of champagne – or a few Kalik beers – enhances the sunny side of the convivial deck. The two families had the opportunity to enjoy the yacht in the Bahamas where “some of the best times have been on the bow watching the sun set at Staniel Cay”, says one of the owners.

The foredeck lounge – with twin tables, umbrellas and sofas –proved especially useful when another yacht pulling up next to them nearly deprived them of the solar spectacle. “That’s probably my favourite place on the boat. The second is on the flybridge next to the Jacuzzi. We spent a lot of time on that built-in structure with the tub, the beds around it and storage underneath, which is useful for the boat.”

A key member of the build team was broker Jason Wood, who for a few months lived in La Spezia where hull No 1 was built and worked closely with the Custom Line team until the handover in Miami in early 2018. He knows the yacht inside out. “He was instrumental in making decisions in real time and was a trusted adviser on site,” the owner says. “Early on he helped design little things like the misting system, and so many other design elements that were not originally in the plan.”

Wood likes to say that he started in yachting 20 years ago at the very bottom, detailing boats and scrubbing decks. “Because I worked on boats, I understand a lot of what’s missing,” he says. He recommended a number of practical solutions, from plugs to storage. He points to a feature on the pilothouse roof, which identifies hull No 1 like a birthmark. Dark grey like the domes and radar, a raised section of the surface is shaped a little like the Batman signal. What led to this particular feature was a suggestion Wood made to relocate the compass from the front of the dash to the ceiling. In doing so he cleared the captain’s view, but the mechanism protruded a bit outside, and he wanted it concealed with a stylish design in keeping with the yacht’s sporty looks. It took a few days of trial and error, some foam, fibreglass and creativity, but the craftsmen got it right. “They were fantastic,” he says. One custom touch no one will see is behind the instrument panels and leather of the bridge, where the workers signed their names, at Wood’s request, on the flat panel of fibreglass beneath it all.

The raised pilothouse is neatly organised around the modern dash by Simrad and Naviop. It’s all digital, with large touchscreens and multiple redundancies built in. The yacht’s captain runs the boat at either 12 or 21 knots (the yacht’s cruising speed). “The boat runs really, really well at 21 knots and burns 10 to 15 per cent less fuel than other boats of this category with [MTU] 2000s; these are the 96 series, so the boat is a bit more efficient,” he says. The consumption is around 180 gallons per hour at that speed. “Typically, when I run from Nassau to Florida, I like to arrive there in the morning. At 12 knots we burn so much less fuel, it’s easy on the boat and we tow the Nor-Tech wherever we go.” The burn at 12 knots is just over 20 gallons per hour per engine, a solid argument to slow things down. A 20-year veteran of the Bahamas to Florida yacht circuit, Captain Mike says one of the “coolest” things about his new charge is the way people, including seasoned captains, react when they walk down the dock to take a closer look. “I hear three words: I get ‘wow’, I get ‘sexy’ and I get ‘spaceship’,” he says.

Beyond its undoubtedly attractive lines, Vista Blue packs a bag of tricks that are pretty extraordinary for her dimensions. To create its next generation planing yacht, Custom Line tapped an experienced Italian designer whose imprint is on countless fast boats built in Italy. Paszkowski, in turn, appreciated what appears to have been a challenge to convention. It’s no exaggeration to say that standing in the saloon feels like standing on an island. Nearly the entire aft section of the saloon is a door made of two inclined sections of glass. Floor-to-ceiling windows lining the saloon’s sides are convex, which becomes apparent only when walking along the side decks. The panes of glass, from Italian glassmaker Isoclima, act a bit like a magnifier without distorting the view. Missing are gunwales, generally the go-to solution to keep people in and water out. Instead, all along the side decks are sturdy square railings and safety lines, similar to those on sailing yachts, that vanish as soon as the eyes focus on the water beyond them. Finally, the superstructure floor is elevated, which not only enhances the panorama but has allowed the builder to add extra layers of insulation – while keeping headroom impressive. The term “floating floor” perfectly describes the sensation one has standing in the middle of the saloon. All these decisions were made “to enhance the feeling of a closer contact with the sea”, Paszkowski says.

A first is a massive door that lifts to open up the entire width of the saloon to the aft deck and pins overhead, flush with the overhang. It is one of Paszkowski’s favourite features and a new solution to the conundrum: how to make a door disappear when you don’t need it. The overhang itself, which shades the aft deck, seems suspended by nothing other than sheer engineering will – there are no columns, no poles, no visible support of any kind to interrupt the gaze. Among the ingredients of the engineers’ secret recipe for this amazing structure is carbon fibre.

Wood concedes that in spite of assurances by the Ferretti Group’s immensely experienced engineering team, he had some concerns about that large cantilevered section of carbon composite over the aft deck. “Vibrations were a major concern for us,” Wood says. They worked out a possible fix in case sea trials should reveal any trouble, but there was no need since the structure passed with flying colours. In addition to the head-turning Nor-Tech, the yacht carries a good-sized tender in the garage hidden behind its Dual Mode Transom door, which opens upwards or downwards. It gives one space two very useful functions: tender garage and beach club. With the tender launched (in this case a customised Williams 505), the space readily transforms into a beach club. All that’s left to do is fit the umbrellas in the sockets and plug in the stainless steel shower, a thin pole delivering a stream of cool water bliss to skin tightened by sun and salt.

With much fun to be had outdoors, the interior had to be pretty special. It is – open to the outside but also homely and elegant. Paszkowski, in collaboration with the designer Margherita Casprini, borrowed ideas and techniques from luxury residential design. For instance, the columns in the living area contain lighting, audio and air conditioning systems while flowing curtains can be pulled to partition the open space. A combination of parquet, wood and lacquered panels from Alpi keeps it contemporary. The broker worked with the shipyard on personalising the interior for the owners but went with many of their recommendations. Along with brands Hermès and Dedar, most of the furniture is from Italian companies, such as Minotti and Poltrona Frau. They even chose to keep the abstract artwork Paszkowski had suggested, which was pictured in the initial 3D renderings the shipyard showed them.

The layout is as expected, with a nice size master suite forward on the main deck (about 38 square metres). From it, the best views are from the bed or seated in the cosy saloon corners. Four guest cabins are on the lower deck, all en suites. The twin cabins have Pullman beds, cleverly covered with mirrors to expand the rooms visually. The crew mess, accessed via the modern galley, has room for up to six, including the captain, who enjoys a double cabin. It’s a layout that works well for charters, which the owners are planning on a limited basis. Accordingly, they asked Custom Line to build hull No 1 in compliance with MCA rules. One of the most obvious results of that extra MCA compliance is the handrails, about one metre taller than the designers envisioned. They catch the sun ever more readily, and that’s the gleam that caught my eye when I first spotted Vista Blue on the horizon. All that stainless steel makes the yacht shine even brighter. The CL 120 is a bit spaceship, yes, and definitely worthy of the wows lavished upon her.

Broker Jason Wood remembers the day the door to the saloon arrived. “I am standing by it and it is like a two-storey building. It’s the biggest piece of glass I have ever seen, and it weighs as much as a car.” At 2,300kg the door weighs about twice as much as a Mini Cooper. At four metres wide by more than two metres tall, the door comprises two panes of glass, installed at a 45 degree angle. The lifting mechanism includes electrified screw jacks, opening the structure slowly until it pins securely in its casing on the flybridge overhang. In the closed position, one pane slides over the other as more traditional doors do to allow entrance from the aft deck into the saloon. Whether the door is closed or open, the effect is stunning and, as Francesco Paszkowski envisioned, it creates the effect of a “glass lounge”.

But it’s one thing to dream it, quite another to make it happen. The Ferretti Group’s architects and engineers rose to the challenge, working with Mecaer Aviation Group to devise a door that is functional, safe and as fast and light as possible. This is, after all, a fast planing hull and any added weight has the potential to slow it down. Mecaer’s expertise in the aeronautical industry was especially valuable to keep the structure as lightweight as possible.


Custom Line

( www.customline-yacht.com )