Created as something of a tomorrow/today project, this 75-metre (246 feet) concept developed for Devonport Yachts has allowed the Humphreys team to make unfettered use
of their imaginations to visualise just one possible direction that the design of superyachts will take over the years ahead. Not just an aesthetic or hypothetical exercise, the project explores many of the technological developments that are occurring both inside and outside the marine industry today.
The way in which superyachts interact with their environment is a significant matter, and the Humphreys 75 incorporates a fully glazed atrium spanning the entire width of the yacht,
providing a passive heating/cooling system. Surrounded by automatically operated louvers, solar exposure into the atrium space is optimised to allow the sun’s rays to enter the yacht
in cool climates, trapping the heat behind thermally efficient glass. In warm climates a solar chimney effect works to draw in cool air at sea level, with the warm air escaping from the top of the superstructure, minimising the dependence on air conditioning as the main climate control system.
Louvers also surround the main accommodation of the motor yacht, behind which sit semienclosed terraced decks, where the louvers provide user defined levels of shelter and
privacy.
In a similar way, the interaction with the yacht’s environment extends to visual linkage. The owner’s stateroom, for example, features a pair of forward-facing viewing wings at the bow,
allowing the owner to see from his private enclave what the dolphins are up to in his bow wave. This gives the owner an unique intimacy with the sea, while bad weather protection is
assured by rotating the structural eyelid into position to close off the substantial glazing. The 75m is being developed to permit the SkySails wind propulsion system to be used for slowspeed, perfectly quiet operation in appropriate conditions.