This time out, the Boat and Yacht Report offers a new launch and a concept project from prestigious Feadship as well as Oyster Yachts’ sailing trials on its first spectacular 100.
Feadship Yachts Completes 45m Superyacht “Helix”
Built with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure, the twin-screw diesel superyacht is a pure luxury pad. She is powered by twin 1055 horse power MTU engines. Helix was designed by De Voogt Naval Architects with an interior by Sinot Design. The interior of Helix itself is the first to offer the Nautical styling from Feadship.
Class for Helix Lloyds Register, +100A1, SSC, YACHT, MONO, G6, LMC, UMS, MCA Compliant. A Master stateroom, two doubles and two twins are available to sleep ten guests. The crew membership is approximately nine. Helix is 44.70-meters long, 9.20-meters wide and has a draught near 2.90-meters with a tonnage just under 500.
Feadship Yachts Unveils 56m Superyacht Concept: “Qi”
Feadship Yachts unveiled their 6th Future Concept at the 2011 Monaco Yacht Show. Like her predecessors, Qi has been created by De Voogt Naval Architects to reflect the likely requirements and desires of the next generation of clients. With a length of 56 meters (183’9”), Qi is designed to generate a fresh sense of energy among her owners and their family & friends as they reconnect with nature in the most inspiring surroundings.
The word Qi (pronounced chee) represents an Eastern idea of a circulating life force or energy flow that permeates creation. This notion neatly encapsulates the essence of the 2011 Future Concept Feadship, incorporating the lines of the Chinese character in its design and making the most of her surroundings both inside and out.
The ancient way of writing ‘qi’ in Chinese consisted of three wavy lines, an image of one’s breath as seen on a chilly day. These curved lines are clearly visible in the shell above Qi’s waterline and mirrored in the hull. Another inspiration both visually and conceptually was the snow owl, an elegant creature that spends most of its time soaring gently or in steady flight.
Snow owls are renowned for the way they protect offspring in their nest, and Qi too features protected areas for the whole family. At the same time the superyacht can also be opened up to allow guests to bask in the environment and enjoy all forms of outdoor entertainment and watersport.
“Qi combines phenomenal views of the changing environment outside while enhancing a safe and secure feeling within,” says Ronno Schouten, who led the team of Feadship yacht designers and naval architects during the 10-month project. “We set out to prove that a wish for privacy need not conflict with open panoramas and an easy connection to the water. The yacht’s luxury areas are centred around the energy tower, which rises through all decks and connects people literally and metaphorically with the outside world. The glass exterior bathes the interior with light at this virtual centre point, offering fabulous views and a genuine sense of outdoor-in living. The fore and aft ship open areas provide a seamless transition from private to public, from interior intimacy to outdoor pleasures.”
Qi offers all the facilities imaginable for maximum onboard comfort aboard a Dutch superyacht. Her 4 guest cabins are located on the lower deck, each with sliding doors to their own private terrace. Amidships her hull doors open up to reveal a gigantic spa and a portside gym. The main deck lounge offers stunning vistas and be easily transformed into a party area, seating and relaxation zone or a gigantic cinema with a 180-degree screen. Coziness is assured on the sun deck, where a ‘camp fire’ can be enjoyed at night in the center of the Jacuzzi.
A blend of past experience and future thinking is also seen with Qi’s propulsion set-up. In 2010 De Voogt came up with the revolutionary Breathe concept, which reduces fuel consumption by 20-40% at cruising speed. The subject of enormous interest, this system has been developed in more detail with Feadship‘s suppliers and is now ready to be incorporated in a new design.
To achieve such fuel consumption the hull has a wedge-like shape with the center of buoyancy far aft, while the wave damping aft body creates negligible stern waves. As there is only one shaft line, appendage resistance is significantly reduced. The system has only one main propeller, making the most of the very latest innovations. Reliability is ensured by fitting a large contra rotating and azimuthing stern thruster just aft of the main propeller. This can provide Qi with a speed of up to 12 knots, sufficient for getting home should something happen to the main engine.
While a conventional twin screw megayacht will lose all its propulsion capacity in case of fire or damage in the engine room, Qi’s propulsion concept sees the main engine and generators placed in separate rooms to guarantee the highest level of redundancy.
Three different propulsion modes can be distinguished. In dynamic positioning or diesel electric mode only the generators will be running, providing clean and quiet operation up to 12 knots. In range mode only the medium-speed diesel will be operating, consuming 10 percent less fuel than its high speed equivalent. Electrical power for hotel load and the thruster are provided via a shaft generator, further reducing fuel consumption and generator running hours. Finally, at full speed both the main engine and generators are deployed to offer maximum power.
For another opportunity to see Qi on display this year, visit the Feadship stand at the upcoming 2011 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
http://www.feadship.nl
Oyster Yachts Completes Sailing Trials on Oyster 100
The first Oyster Superyacht, 100-01 Sarafin, has successfully completed her sailing trials ahead of handover to her owners in October. Sarafin’s launch marks the successful conclusion of the first phase of a long-term project, which has brought together the strong, award-winning trio of Dubois Naval Architects, Oyster Group and RMK Marine.
This combined experience has produced a Superyacht that matches the best in the world and offers every customer the opportunity to enjoy the smoothest process available for getting afloat, providing a sophisticated entry into Superyacht ownership. The concept, launched in the heyday of the pre-recession world, is even more appropriate today; building a one-off custom superyacht is a challenging venture. The market, during recession, has seen the determined buyer move larger, into 50m – 100m sailing yacht projects. The Oyster-Dubois-RMK series-produced offering of the Oyster 100 and Oyster 125, gives a purchaser who wants a more predictable and faster means of owning a proven Superyacht, a less time-demanding (during build) solution of getting afloat.
By selecting a series-produced yacht, owners share the benefits of proven design, construction and engineering, and can devote their attention to stamping their individuality on the interior. Oyster’s commitment to build these superyachts to Lloyds +100A1 G6 MCH and MCA LY2 classification, the most stringent in the world that guarantees the structural integrity and engineering of each yacht, is not only the highest endorsement of the Oyster Superyacht fleet’s quality of construction, but underpins the continued value of each owner’s investment.
The Oyster 100 is designed with the specification, features and Classification of very much larger yachts.The standard accommodation layout offers three staterooms aft and two crew cabins forward. A raised saloon offers a panoramic view and leads forward and down to a more intimate lounge and separate dining area. Forward of the main living area is the crew mess, galley and two crew cabins. A six-cabin variant is also available, offering a fourth double guest cabin forward, in addition to the two crew cabins.
Sarafin will spend some time in Palma, Mallorca before heading for a winter season in the Caribbean. She is expected to take part in the St Barth’s Bucket Regatta in March 2012.
Oyster CEO, David Tydeman commented: Oyster Group is world renowned for its craftsmen built and solidly engineered blue-water cruising yachts. What is less well known is that Oyster also owns Southampton Yacht Services, a yard specialising in classic Superyacht refit and refurbishment. Oyster Group was already in the ‘Superyacht market’ prior to the launch of the Oyster 100 and 125, and by teaming up with Dubois and leading shipyard RMK Marine, builders of the award winning 52m ketch, Nazenin V, has given us the opportunity to challenge all parts of Oyster Group and pull together its hidden talents.
Of course, creating such a start-up in the current global economic conditions, has been a tough challenge, which we’ve risen above and delivered. I’m intensely proud and somewhat in awe of the Oyster and RMK team who has made this happen in the face of regular scepticism from the established market who naturally want to resist a newcomer!
The Oyster 100 is not simply a large Oyster 82, we have raised our game and risen to the challenge, entering the premier league of engineering and shipbuilding large yachts. The new Oyster 885, which will be on the water in 2012, illustrates that what we are learning from entering the Superyacht market is already enabling Oyster to enhance our whole range – from the Oyster 46
to the Oyster 125.”
Ed Dubois writes after visiting the completed Oyster 100-01: “I was very happy as I left the shipyard in Istanbul, having seen the first completed Oyster 100. It is wonderful how Oyster has managed to combine their reputation for building strong, seaworthy craft with the quality and finish that is now expected in the best sailing Superyachts. As designers, we are of course full of admiration for the builders of our craft and at the same time very particular about who we work with. The all-important relationship between designer and builder is crucial to the success of any project. We now have over 50 yachts afloat of 100ft and over in the world, and this experience combines with that of the best shipyards to keep the quality at the top. We are therefore delighted that Oyster has joined this club and we look forward with confidence and excitement to see the Oyster 125 also reaching completion.”
Ufuk Güçlü, General Manager at RMK shipyard said: “RMK Marine has always believed in the benefits of this unique partnership. It is a very special opportunity to work with Dubois and Oyster and it is very satisfying the potential has been realised. Working closely together as a team, each party has brought its own special contribution to the end product and through this teamwork we are providing wonderful yachts for the clients. We are certain that this team will continue to enjoy success together.
For RMK Marine, our aim is always to provide uncompromising quality and craftsmanship. Having completed our first Oyster yacht in composite, we are proud to have built in all the major build materials used in the superyacht sector, including steel, aluminium and now composites for both motor and sailing yachts, which demonstrates the unusually wide capability of the RMK yard. We will keep on pushing forward and aim to deliver superb quality yachts to our clients and we look forward to launching the next Oyster superyacht in the near future.
http://www.oystermarine.com
Captain Ken Kreisler's Boat and Yacht Report 