With the imminent launch of the 32m motor yacht Black Pearl currently under completion in Whangarei and a recession hit world market for mid-sized motor yachts starting to make a cautious but real recovery, the originators of the Black Pearl project - Diverse Projects and LOMOcean Design (formerly Craig Loomes Design Group) - have been exploring the development potential of this handsome and well received design.
The resulting drawings depict two new motor yachts which very obviously carry the Black Pearl’s genes, but are targeted at meeting new demands and emerging market trends identified by Lars Bjorklund and John Vitali of Diverse Projects.
The first design is a highly capable, 35m world cruiser motor yacht able to support the owner’s party and four guests in three large, comfortable cabins – plus captain and crew. The main saloon is located as a ‘skylounge’ on the uppermost deck, offering not only the best views in the house, but good flow to the outdoor upper deck with its barbecues and outdoor dining.
Unusually, the 35m BP class carries a fast 9m sport fisher on the aft deck, which can be readily launched and retrieved down a slip way arrangement that converts to a flat cockpit deck once the sport fisher is in the water. This mother/daughter arrangement creates a very versatile combination, offering a sound alternative to the big traditional American yacht fisher, which require large engines and hard chined planing hull shapes to achieve the sprint speeds normally expected of the vessel type, with attendant poor fuel economy when passage making over long distances at slower speeds.
By contrast, the 35m Black Pearl class mother ship is capable of travelling economically and comfortably over large distances to remote regions – and upon arrival, the sport fisher provides the specialist equipment and capability of a boat set up specifically to target and handle big game fish. For New Zealand and Australian based owners, this configuration offers the opportunity to target fish in places such as the Wanganella Banks and the remote reefs of the Coral Sea normally only visited by passing small sailing yachts.
The larger 40m BP class eschews the sport fisher for a more conventional gaggle of smaller tenders and water toys – plus a jacuzzi on the top deck. The design is targeted at maximizing useable internal volume, whilst staying inside the 500 gross tons cut off that delineates a significant step up to more onerous classification requirements for construction, equipment, fitout, crew qualification – and thus cost.
Despite the apparently minor increase in overall length of just five metres, the 40m design is a much larger yacht than the 35m, representing nearly a 50% increase in internal volume and pushing the amenities and interior space available for guests and crew into the next class of motor yacht.
The arrangement for this design places the master cabin where the wheelhouse is on the 32m Black Pearl and her 35m sister. Although unusual – and not without its challenges to integrate amongst the saloon, dining area and galley also occupying the main deck – this arrangement offers superb views for the owner, as well as a very private outdoor deck area. Four very spacious guest cabins occupy the after portions of the below deck’s volume, with eight crew in four cabins, and the crew galley and mess, plus ship’s laundry etc forward. A separate captain’s cabin and office is located on the upper deck, directly aft of the wheelhouse.
Both yachts offer a cruising range in excess of 3000 nautical miles at 12 knots and equipped with active stabilizers, promise a smooth, quiet comfortable ride. Construction options include aluminium (as per the 32m Black Pearl), epoxy foam sandwich composite or steel to full international class.
Diverse Projects
+64 9 358 5331
[email protected]
www.diverseprojects.com
LOMOcean Design Ltd
+64 9 360 9799
[email protected]
www.lomocean.com