The language the late Heidi Goëss-Horten spoke and the life she led was art. She was a collector. An impassioned aficionado with a career spanning half a century and an eclectic star-studded private collection to show for it. But her most prized item was the exquisite, full-custom 97.2-metre Lürssen superyacht Carinthia VII. 
Photo: André KonarskeWhen an overly eager yacht broker broached the subject of her sale, madam Horten was mortified. “Never bring me an offer again, I couldn’t sleep all night!” The Austrian philanthropist and art collector barked through the mouthpiece. Heidi Horten cherished Carinthia VII and had no intention to place her on the charter market – let alone sell her. And for 20 years she remained that way, until April last year when she was listed for sale.
“Having started my yacht broker career in the late 90's in Antibes, the arrival of Carinthia VII in 2002 in Antibes marked the turn of the century. Listing her for sale was unquestionably a milestone for me,” Selling broker Antoine X. Larricq of Fraser Yachts told SuperYacht Times. “With the months passing, spending more and more time on board for photo shooting and showing her to prospective clients’ visits, I got to know her pretty well and inevitably I fell in love with Carinthia VII.” 
Photo: BlueIprodAnd Larricq’s infatuation was infectious. A discerning buyer – another art collector – snapped her up in less than six months, just two days before the 2022 Monaco Yacht Show. “He saw just how passionate I was about her and a week after his first visit he was able to give his friends the same tour I had given him a week earlier, pointing out the same key features – he had got the bug. We had a joke, I suggested that if he didn’t buy her I would invite him during the Monaco Show to do the tour with clients,” Larricq laughed.
For co-representative Stuart Larsen, also of Fraser Yachts, the experience was much the same. “There was immediately a lot of interest when Carinthia VII joined the market,” Larsen retold. “Potential buyers were captivated by the design, which has not dated and is certainly one of Tim Heywood’s most successful projects. The interior was less attuned to current taste, but Carinthia VII’s style and performance still had the power to amaze.”
Carinthia VII will no longer be registered and operated as a private yacht, as her new owner has announced that she’ll join the charter market. As madam Horten had only used her for purely recreational purposes, stepping aboard Carinthia VII for her annual summer cruise, she was sold with just over 4,500 engine hours on the clock – making her all the more desirable. But there is one major caveat: Carinthia VII needs to be brought into class and approved as safe for commercial use. A major undertaking.
And who better to step up to the challenge than Lürssen, the shipyard that delivered her in 2002 and maintained her ever since? “With such a tight time frame it’s going to be a challenge, especially given that Carinthia VII needs to pass commercial classification,” Alberto Perrone Da Zara, refit sales director at Lürssen, told SuperYacht Times. “It’s a challenge, but we’ll make it happen.”
Lürssen isn’t a stranger to stringent timeframes, and has proven time and again when the clock’s against them. The extensive refit of the 126.2-metre superyacht Octopus squeezed into a year, is a prime example of the yard’s prowess. This time around they also have support from Richard Hein and The A Group, who’ll be overseeing, alongside RYacht Management, all technical upgrades, crew, insurance and operational compliance. 
Photo: BlueIprod“Being 20 years old, Carinthia VII needs a number of technical upgrades to get her into commercial class,” Richard Hein commented. “One of the major changes that will be made will be to her engines, all four of which will be overhauled. We’ll also equip her with zero-speed stabilisers for maximum comfort.”
Carinthia VII will not only be technically upgraded, as she’s also scheduled for a major facelift that includes drastic modernisation throughout. “Carinthia VII is already well designed to cater to the needs of a family, and her owner wants to uphold this as much as possible,” Perrone Da Zara continued. “She has a great heritage, which we’ll honour wherever possible. That being said, she will leave the yard with some major changes.”
Bizzozero Cassina Architects, an Italian studio located in Milan that has worked extensively with the client, was commissioned for the project and will oversee both the exterior and interior redesign. This is a major undertaking for the studio that despite having many years of history in architecture and interiors has only recently started to focus the yacht industry, with two superyacht refits in its portfolio: the 44.9-metre Bravado by Abeking & Rasmussen and the 34-metre Baglietto Jesma (ex. My Space).
But it’s of no concern for the team or client because, as co-founder Paolo Bizzozero told SuperYacht Times: “The key to any project's success is to know the person, their lifestyle and the way they think. Only with these three ingredients can you remedy a truly bespoke environment that works for them and for their life.” And Bizzozero Cassina Architects certainly knows the client well, as it has previously spearheaded the designs of a number of real estate projects for the owner. 
But as fellow co-founder Riccardo Cassina explained, the project entails more than creating a bespoke environment: “Carinthia VII is a magnificent timeless vessel that needs to be respected and enhanced. We recognise her current ‘value’ and want to inject a casual elegance that mirrors her owner’s lifestyle.” The team has a great canvas that spans more than 1,175 square-metres of exterior decks and 822 square-metres of interior space. All the exterior decks are already partly covered, and Tim Heywood created a wonderful inside-outside design that is functional for both service and guests.
Her bridge deck will be entirely redesigned and converted into a wellness suite, complete with a state-of-the-art gym, a massage room and clear space both inside and out for yoga and meditation. The suite will occupy the aft section of the deck and be enclosed by sliding glass, lending the space a degree of versatility.
“Modernisation is key,” Ralph De Joode, Director of RYacht Management and owner’s representative for Carinthia VII explained. “We’ll be adding a great number of new social spaces to make her ideal on the charter market. She’ll leave Lürssen with an upgraded interior design and colour scheme; most of her furnishings will be replaced and she’ll be better equipped for entertainment. She’ll have an indoor and outdoor cinema, numerous wellness suites and a major AV/IT upgrade.” 
Photo: BlueIprodShe’ll also feature a brand-new 11-metre glass-panelled swimming pool on her main deck. Her touch-and-go helipad might also be converted into a driving range. And most of her current sea level wellness suite, which is complete with a fully functional spa with a sauna, steam room, plunge pool, Hammam and a fold-down swim platform for massages, will stay but certain areas will be redesigned for a more modern look and feel.
Her sundeck will also be overhauled. “At the moment it’s a little basic, typical of a yacht of her age,” Perrone Da Zara said. “We have plans to make the space much more desirable for charter, with a barbeque area, a wet bar and a dedicated lounge area.”
Bizzozero Cassina Architects has also presented a new colour scheme that respects the original, yet enhanced with updated tones. “The main staircase, which connects the beach club and spa on the lower deck with the redesigned sundeck, will be a magnificent degradé of blue and white leather tiles,” Bizzozero explained. Her new colour tones have been directly picked up from nature, the sea, and the sky.”
Photo: BlueIprod
Photo: BlueIprodWork will also be carried out on the owner’s deck and the private study where Heidi Horten once invited guests for card games or to watch television will be transformed into a modern family room. “The space will be complete with a cinema and we'll be installing a private alfresco bar for the owner,” Cassina explained.
When it comes to tenders, Carinthia VII has two interconnected garages that cover 124 square-metres aft on the lower deck. In the space will be a brand new 18.2-metre Windy SR60, teak wakeboard tender and a 8.5-metre RIB, which will sit alongside her original 5.3-metre Castoldi diesel jet tender and a 4.03-metre Boston Whaler 130 Super Sort. The space also hosts a number of Jet Skis and other toys. Two 5,000 kilogram Van Driel overhead davit gantry cranes support the deployment and retrieval of her tenders and toys. She’ll also receive a brand-new 18.2-metre Windy SR60 chase boat.
Photo: BlueIprodBut while there’s work to be done, there’s much more to preserve. “The quality of build is impressive, as are the level of detail, materials and workmanship,” Stuart Larsen explained. “Carinthia VII has huge, well laid out technical spaces which makes for top level maintenance. The crew and guest areas are well planned with excellent access and flow. Deck and interior crew can service all areas discreetly, bypassing all guest areas. In addition to her exterior design, these are qualities that make a yacht successful over time. And Carinithia VII is a classic.”
“Also on the exterior decks, a detail I never failed to mention to visitors, the curved laminated teak planking forward of the owner’s deck and Bridge deck,” Larricq added. “A detail I had not seen on any other yacht, it is haute-couture detailing achieved only by a great shipwright. Also, worth mentioning is the quality of the teak has such a thickness and hard groove that is difficult to find nowadays. As a result, the wear and tear of the teak was very limited for a 20-year-old yacht.”
Photo: BlueIprod
Carinthia VII is an extension of the late Helmut Horten’s passion for yachting – and was built not only in homage to the great enthusiast but as an extension of his collection. Helmet Horten started his collection in the early 1960s; little is known about the first two from the Carinthia fleet, but it’s widely assumed that they were smaller vessels used on the Ruhr and Rhine rivers.
Carinthia III (now Venezuela), on the other hand, was Horten’s first real superyacht. Measuring 24.60 metres and the subsequent 42-metre Carinthia IV (now Sylvana C) were both built by the French shipyard Chantiers Navals de l’Esterel in 1961. The subsequent three, however, were built by Lürssen, and Carinthia VII’s direct predecessor measured 70.68 metres, and was one of the largest yachts in the world at the time.
“Madam Horten had a strong emotional tie to her yacht,” designer Tim Heywood explained. But when she conceived the project she wanted to “build a new yacht from a new designer, looking forward, not backward”. 
Photo: BlueIprodAnd who better to look to than the budding designer who had worked up the ranks under the patronage of Jon Bannenberg, Helmut Horten’s designer for the latter models of the Carinthia series. Tim Heywood was still relatively junior then, with just one motor yacht built to his name: the 67.01-metre Feadship Siran, which was a joint effort between Heywood and Jon Bannenburg. It wasn’t Siran that piqued the interest of madam Horten though, as someone had passed her the designs of one of his pending projects, Pelorus. She was ecstatic when she saw the design, exclaiming, “That’s what I want!”
Pelorus proudly stands at 115-metres in length and Tim Heywood refers to her as his “greatest work”. She’s iconic, and her bold reverse sheer design is easily recognisable. He then had a challenge on his hands for Carinthia VII. “I had to create something different, but a design I would feel equally proud of,” Heywood said. “I had to ‘massage’ the design, as much as possible, away from ‘Pelorus’, to give madam Horten a yacht with its own distinctive identity.” It was also critical for Madam that her yacht was 97-metres in length, and longer than another yacht, Limitless, which she felt was too close a design to Carinthia VI (now V2V). As it turned out, her order was quicker in build and Project Faberge, as she was originally called, was delivered a year earlier than Pelorus. 
Photo: Charl van Rooy / SuperYacht TimesThere are but a handful of women who own superyachts, yet alone women who build them. Heidi Horten is a rare exception to the rule. By no account was she an easy client for Lürssen, but she got things done. Madam Horten had equal measures of vision, detail and ferocity – perhaps necessary to see a project of this magnitude come to fruition – and plied it all into Carinthia VII. She had mastered the art of cherry-picking the perfect team to execute projects, and execute them well – and she wouldn’t shy away from cracking the whip when they didn’t stand up to scrutiny. But the results speak for themselves and Carinthia VII is a test in point, she’s gorgeous and holds great prestige.
Photo: Charl van Rooy / SuperYacht TimesThe sculpted sinuous exterior lines that Heywood penned are elegant, streamlined and artfully curated to give her a timeless grace that is both powerful and seductive. “I gave the yacht a more massive and distinctive hull, painted in the same ‘Carinthia Blue’ as Carinthia VI and a similar gold ‘Double H’ bow crest to echo the previous yachts,” designer Tim Heywood explained. “It is interesting to see how many clients observe a dark blue hull with a white superstructure and say ‘it looks like Carinthia’ even if the yacht is a totally different design.”
Tim Heywood’s elegant penmanship creates a profile that laps, folds and ingeniously disguises everything from her decks, bridge wings and air intakes. Everything seamlessly moulds into her superstructure stylistically and her deep sinews are akin to a sprinter taught on the starting line.
But it’s perhaps her main deck windows that are most cleverly designed. All the windows in the guest areas are floor-to-ceiling and blue tinted like the deck glass bulwark. These great windows, along with the wide companionways are hidden by the sheer line of the hull. Carinthia VII’s hull appears solid, powerful and incredibly streamlined. 
Photo: BlueIprod
Photo: BlueIprod“She is one of the first large yachts to have her guest accommodation on the main deck level, a request from madam Horten as she wished to have light and airy guest suites,” Heywood explained. “The design, with side decks running outboard of these cabins resulted in the largest and thickest yacht windows of the era utilising laminated glass 110-mm thick, weighing several tonnes each.”
Photo: BlueIprodCarinthia VII has eight staterooms in all, accommodating as many as 14 guests, and six of which are located on the main deck benefitting from this expanse of glazing. This attention to detail was quite literally paid from window to centre line, and madam Horten spearheaded the entire project, enlisting support from friend and long-time collaborator Ellerhorst Kreuter (this was to be the Austrian-based design firm’s first and last superyacht project).
The general arrangement, headroom and natural light was courtesy of Tim Heywood, who mapped out Carinthia VII to be functional, accessible and seamlessly connected to the natural environment thanks to large floor-to-ceiling windows. But the design, décor and furnishing were left to Horten and Kreuter. 
Photo: BlueIprodThe duo opted for restored Chantilly parquet flooring throughout the guest areas, taken from a 17th-century Austrian Abbey that had fallen into disrepair. Her main deck saloon was furnished with creams, tans and rich mahogany, while her sleeping quarters were finished with soft pastels. Prior to the refit, Carinthia VII also featured hand-painted frescoes by the Italian artist and madam’s friend Paola del Gatto, which include portraits of madam’s dogs and pet parrots.
Photo: BlueIprodIn stark contradiction to her soft, idiosyncratic and romantic interior spaces, her engine room commands great respect. Much like her late Husband, madam Horten had a penchant for speed and demanded four military-grade 10,000 horsepower MTU diesel engines. Two were sufficient but Horten was of the opinion that four were better.
Carinthia VII can reach speeds in excess of 25 knots and can cruise for 5,000 nautical miles at 15.5 knots. But what’s even more impressive is how smooth and silent she is when travelling at these speeds. “I could not miss the class survey sea trials between Marseille and Antibes, what a discovery! While cruising at 18/20 knots she was so quiet, vibration-free, unbelievable,” Larricq retold. “At that speed on the main deck exterior, we could only hear the wind and wake of the water alongside the hull, absolutely phenomenal. Later that day the wind picked up to 20 knots in the bow and we were comfortably reaching 25 knots on the GPS and still amazingly quiet, thanks to her underwater exhaust.”
Photo: BlueiprodOnly so much of Carinthia VII’s success can be attributed to madam Horten though, as her quality of build was all Lürssen. “She chose Lürssen for the project because of the yard’s enviable track record that no other yard could match at that time,” Heywood said. “And she knew the end result would be superbly engineered.” We can then expect great things from the luxury builder as we await her relaunch from the same facilities in Germany.
For me the sale of Carinthia VII was firstly the immense pride I took in representing such an iconic Yacht, secondly the honour to work with an exceptional crew and thirdly the pleasure to make it happen with Ralph de Joode for her the owner, a great man who has totally fallen in love with Carinthia VII and is taking great care of her, as an art collector would,” Larricq said. “It was very emotional to see Carinthia VII leaving anchor in Cannes and heading to Lürssen Shipyard for her refit. Can’t wait to see her back cruising and open for charter.”
Photo: BlueIprod
An abridged version of this article was originally published in Issue 44 of SuperYacht Times newspaper. To read more stories like this one and to never again miss another issue of the SuperYacht Times newspaper, subscribe here.