Apart From The Rest
Sunreef Yachts Presents An Interesting Line Up For Boaters Looking For A Yacht That is A Bit Different And Quite Exciting.
By Capt. Ken Kreisler
- The Sunreef 114-foot, sloop-rigged CHE
It was Pablo Picasso who said, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working,” and may very well apply to the father and son team of Francis and Nicholas Lapp, the visionary forces behind the exciting line up of Sunreef Yachts. The French entrepreneurs have been working at it for quite some time and in 2000, launched the company, building their yachts at the Gdansk Shipyard in Poland. Since then, their designs have revolutionized the large catamaran sector so much so that the 114-foot CHE, billed by Sunreef as the world’s biggest sloop-rigged cat, has been selected is a finalist in the prestigious World Superyacht Awards for 2011, in the category of Best Sailing Yacht in the 30-45m, or 98-147-foot range. (The announcement of all the winners will be made this coming May 7th in London, at the official bash and dinner there. Lucky the date does not clash with the upcoming Royal Wedding or Kate and William might have found their wedding party a bit thin, if you catch my drift here.) CHE, by the way, is available for charters in the Caribbean via Sunreef Yachts Charter.
Sunreef’s designers are able to take their exciting visions of hull and both exterior and interior deck plans and bring them to reality in a very careful and well-planned manner. But long before any real construction begins, a painstaking and exacting process of being able to successfully balance stability, weight, and all structural calculations are done and includes all the building materials necessary as well as the sail area for the sailboat models, It is only then, when all the mathematics makes sense, that any pre-production drawings, both in 2D and 3D, are generated and passed on to the supervising technicians and engineers in charge of the production process.
Whether sail or power, the hulls of every Sunreef design are shaped for seaworthiness and comfort as well as to optimise performance, paying special attention to finding the perfect balance between aerodynamics and hydrodynamics and combining all the elements into one single unit; that being a Sunreef yacht. For the sailing yachts, this is of particular importance since those properties are critical in determining how proficient the sails are in transforming wind energy into powering the boat through the water. All this is done in-house, allowing the Sunreef engineering team to keep a careful watch on all their designs, especially in the critical stages of early development. Of course, Sunreef works closely with each and every owner, making sure that the individual yacht is built specific to their needs.
As far as construction materials are concerned, Sunreef builds utilize all the latest in advanced composites. Using resin infused fiberglass and polyester and carbon fiber ensures a solid, strong, uniform and lightweight structure that is defect free. In addition, and according to Sunreef, its rapid hardening process is able to reduce production time by several weeks.
For its aluminum hulls, Sunreef uses Sealium® and Alustar® alloys among others which have become the international industry standard for large cruising yachts. These types of alloy optimise the overall performance of vessels in general as they make them more robust, safer, and user-friendly. Both have the advantage of having higher welded yield strength that the standard 5083 alloy, possess improved corrosion resistance and increased fatigue strength. In addition, it superior rigidity prevents any distortion caused by ballast, rigging, or sea state. Finally, as these alloys, in the case of the hull striking an objects, have the capacity to absorb shocks without rupturing, is yet another plus for its choice as an outstanding building material.
The materials Sunreef uses have been approved by the major classification societies: American Bureau of Shipping, USA , Bureau Veritas, France, Det Norske Veritas, Norway, Germanisher Lloyd, Germany, Lloyds Register of Shipping, UK, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, Japan, Registro Italiano Navale, Italy. All construction welds are done according to plans and instructions previously approved by Certifying Society, in Sunreef’s case, usually by Bureau Veritas (BV). All welders working on aluminum construction are cerified by BV as well.
- A Sunreef 114 aluminum hull being flipped.
Sunreef is also active in the charter sector and this coming year, Sunreef Yachts Charter (SYC) has a fair amount of news for the coming months:
The sailing superyacht IPHARRA is heading to Cuba where she will be available for charters until late spring. CHE is scheduled to be in Belize right now while the 62 foot catamaran SPARROW plies the water of the Bahamas. In addition, Also, SYC has become the central agent of a 92-foot sailing catamaran RAFOLY for charters in the south of France and Corsica and Sardinia in June and August. For September, she will head down to he Cyclades Islands of Greece, For more info please contact the SYC team at charter@sunreef-charter.com and visit the website www.sunreef-charter.com.
- IPHARRA
Sunreef also has an extensive power line up. First up is the 70 Power (bottom left), offering a customized yacht with twin engine power options from 455 to 870-hp and fuel capacity of 4,226 gallons. Solar panels and wind generators can be added for long-range cruising. And as with any innovative and forward thinking builder, Sunreef is constantly looking towards the future as its active radar pings away at emerging trends breaking on the technological horizon. To that end, the company has several exciting designs ready to add to its impressive line up. Among them are the semi-custom 60-, 70-, and 85-foot Power; the custom 131- and 147-foot Power Superyachts; 58-, 64-, and 80-foot semi-custom sail, and variations on its single and double deck models. Also in the works is the Sunreef Ultimate Series (center) available in 80-, 110-, and 150-foot lengths, and the exciting Sunreef 75 Sportfish (right). 
From what I can see, all the hard work that father and son team Francis and Nicholas has put into Sunreef Yachts has definitely paid off. Their designs are as striking as their vessels, whether power or sail, are head turners. For more information about Sunreef Yachts, visit the company website at
www.sunreef-yachts.com. As they have offices around the world, it’s best to check the CONTACT US tab to get the phone number of the loc that can best serve your needs. And finally, let’s end this one on another Picasso quote that seems to fit the Sunreef vibe:
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Captain Ken Kreisler's Boat and Yacht Report 