With an owner’s brief that called for a true family yacht with large informal areas and modern yet classic yacht lines as well as the typical Vripack no-nonsens-go-anyware installation, the Dutch based naval architects had yet another challenge at their hand.
Straight from the beginning the owner has been very specific in his demands, wanting a Gentleman’s yacht that is robust in all respects to allow the family to explore the outskirts of our world,” recalls Marnix Hoekstra, Sales Director of Vripack. “doors to be opened by hand force only and an open kitchen that allows for dining in it, much like we see the lofts style houses nowadays. The owner was directly involved during the different design phases that led towards our Initial Design Package. Just the way we like it.”
The outcome is a full 127’ round bilged steel hull with an aluminum superstructure. The yacht appears to have a canoe stern en-profile however Vripacks Naval Architects stretched the beam of the underwater body more to the side providing better sea keeping abilities. Two tenders are stored on the aft part of the main deck leaving a very large lazarette and ample engine room. Typical Vripack trademarks.
“This yacht is state-of-the-art but does not feature gadgets and toys nor central pc based systems. The choice for this is leaded by the fact that reliability and redundancy is key for these yachts and repairs or maintenance needs to be performed world wide; from Alaska to New Zealand and back to Amsterdam. When designing a yacht also these issues need to be reflected as they have high impact.”
The Team of Vripack, which now has grown to over 70 skilled architects and engineers, followed their well proven Initial Design Package process that included Structural Weight calculations, Wave Pattern Analyses, Speed and Range calculations, Stability Calculations and Tonnage calculations to name a few studies. The yacht is currently under tender at different shipyards under oversight of Vripack and is aimed for completion in 2008.