yachtWorthy of Note
These grand launches are exceptional additions to the year’s ’25 over 125’
By Dudley Dawson
Published: November 2001
It became apparent, as we assembled our list of yachts 125 feet and longer delivered in the past year, that it has been a very good year for builders at the market’s upper end. Some cracked the 125-foot barrier for the first time, while others delivered as many as four magnificent creations. We couldn’t feature them all, but neither could we ignore them. Some have been featured on our pages in earlier issues, others have not. Some will be in the future.
Palmer Johnson’s Anson Bell is in this issue, but the Wisconsin-based builder also produced the 131-foot Inevitable. She was the subject of an in-depth Yachting feature earlier this year ("Certain Charm," July). Similarly, Alloy’s Victoria of Strathearn is featured in this issue, but the yard also turned out the 173-foot sailing yacht Salperton during the past year. Joining her in the ranks of large yachts under sail is Timoneer, a 147-foot vessel from Vitters.
Codecasa added to its 50-meter club with Lady Ann Magee, a tri-deck of 164 feet. General specifications are nearly identical to those of Moneikos, but the differences go beyond the considerably longer name board. Lady has five guest staterooms, two with twins and Pullman, and three with double berths. The master is on the main deck, but Lady’s profile shows two large window arrays on each side, rather than the four smaller units that grace Moneikos. Lady Ann Magee’s owners enclosed her afterdeck, while that on Moneikos is open. Both yachts carry Lloyd’s classification, but Lady Ann Magee is fully MCA Code compliant, as well.
In addition to the smaller Thetis, Perini Navi launched another 164-foot sailing yacht. Perseus is the third hull in the series, and a fourth has been contracted. Like Thetis, Perseus has a long deckhouse and flying bridge, but no raised pilothouse. Her ketch rig carries 13,900 square feet of sail. Both masts are electric furling, and there are 10 automatic winches, two electric winches and two manual winches.
Perseus has three spacious guest staterooms. In addition, a sitting room adjacent to the master stateroom can be closed off and converted to a fourth cabin, complete with bath and walk-in locker. Eight crew members are accommodated in four cabins. All staterooms and cabins are on the lower deck. The main deck has a pilothouse forward, and a large bar and dining room amidships. The saloon is aft, adjacent to the spacious, sheltered cockpit. The flying bridge carries a helm station and guest lounge areas.
In addition to Gran Finale, Delta Marine launched the latest incarnation of Gallant Lady at 160 feet. The owner persuaded Delta—known for composite construction—to fabricate Gallant Lady’s hull and main deck of aluminum. The two upper decks were built with composite materials, including extensive use of carbon fiber. Delta engineers the structure using finite element analysis and claims no increase in cost for the advanced material, thanks to precise placement of necessary fibers. Gallant Lady’s belowdecks staterooms were completed in Delta’s cabinet shop and dropped into the hull as modules prior to setting the upper decks. Marble and other fine stone were added to the bathrooms while work proceeded on the upper areas.
Unfortunately, even with the best of builders and crew, things sometimes go wrong. Gallant Lady suffered a casualty of as-yet-undetermined cause not long after delivery. Reportedly, a loose hose allowed water to enter her engineroom, and alarms failed to alert the crew to the flooding. We are unsure of the extent of the damage, but if lessons of general interest come out of the investigation, we will bring them to you.
Feadship had an extremely busy year. In addition to the sleek 153-foot Detroit Eagle in this issue and the exceptional 205-foot Cakewalk ("Taking the Cake," June), the builder delivered Northern Light and Barbara Jean.
The 151-foot Northern Light was completed by Feadship’s Van Lent yard. Designed by De Voogt with a John Munford interior, she has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. A pair of Caterpillar 3508B engines, governed to 1600 rpm for continuous duty, propel her at 14.5 knots. Three Caterpillar 3304B diesels power Stamford generators, delivering 85kW each. Two Atlas 50 kVA shorepower converters allow connections in remote ports. Northern Light is MCA Code compliant and classed, as well. The owner’s suite is a full-beam space on the main deck. Four guest staterooms are belowdecks, two doubles and two twins, each with an additional Pullman berth.
Barbara Jean is also a De Voogt/Munford design, but was built by the De Vries yard. She is a classic tri-deck with a flying bridge. Her 185-foot length lends a sleek appearance not enjoyed by shorter tri-deck yachts. Power is a pair of Caterpillar 3512B diesels, governed to 1600 rpm like those on Northern Light.
Heesen was also a repeat player this year. In addition to Jangada, the yard delivered Lady Halima. She is a tad shorter than Jangada at 129 feet and shares a Diaship displacement hull form and Omega design, but that is where the similarities end. Lady Halima has a Paola Smith interior. A half-dozen large ports forward accent her dark hull and bring lots of light into her on-deck master suite. A large hardtop dominates her profile, shading a majority of the flying bridge. Like Jangada, Lady Halima will cruise at 14 knots and enjoy an extended range unavailable to faster yachts.
In the same ownership shuffle that put Trinity’s Big Easy into Felix Sabates’ hands, his 141-foot Victory Lane, to be delivered in time for the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, became an interim yacht to the owner of a 150-foot Trinity under construction. Victory Lane is a 141-foot tri-deck motoryacht. Powered by DDC/MTU 16V 2000 engines, she will top out at 19 knots and cruise at 17.5 knots in half-load condition. Hull and superstructure are aluminum, and the exterior finish is Awlgrip. She is fitted with a 16-inch American bow thruster and Naiad stabilizers.
Victory Lane has four nearly identical guest staterooms belowdecks and a master suite on the main deck. Wing control stations flank the pilothouse, leaving the flying bridge open for a whirlpool spa forward, a bar aft and deck chairs in between.
Also delivered by Trinity in time for the show was Seahawk. Her arrangement is not unlike Victory Lane’s, but at 177 feet, she carries an additional guest VIP stateroom. There are no other additional rooms, but the existing rooms are considerably more spacious. The saloon, for instance, has a baby grand piano and a game table that do not appear on Victory Lane.
Seahawk carries 19,000 gallons of fuel and 5,500 gallons of water. Power is supplied by two DDC/MTU 12V 4000 diesels, yielding a top speed of 18.5 knots and a cruise of 17.5 knots. Range is 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots.
Oceanco matched Feadship with four 125-foot-plus deliveries and one 200-foot-plus delivery this year. In addition to Lady Christine, there was Sunrise at 170 feet, Pegasus at 193 feet and Stargate at 262 feet. Coming hard on the heels of last year’s 312-foot Al Mirqab, this schedule is impressive.
Sunrise, by decision of the owner, is MCA Code compliant, a designation that required some changes in the already under-construction yacht. As the owner said, "The most valuable thing in your life is your family. Not just a piece of paper, the issue of MCA certification is proof of having full protection in place when you need it."
Oceanco completed naval architecture and exterior styling, with the interior designed by The "A" Group’s Jean Pierre Fantini. "We went to Carrara for the marble, London for the fabrics, and the ’Best Address’ in Paris to select linen, china, silverware and the decorative items in Baccarat," Fantini said. The interior is a mixture of limed oak, silks and kidskin that lends a warmth to offset the extensive use of marble, not only in the bathrooms but throughout the accommodations. There are five guest staterooms in addition to the master suite.
Sunrise has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. She is powered by MTU 12V396TE74 engines delivering 1,714 hp each, and tops out at 17 knots. Fuel capacity is 24,500 gallons.
The springtime launch party for Pegasus was a Wild West blowout that only an American owner could host, and surprisingly gave Oceanco personnel one of their more difficult tasks. The mechanical bull, shooting gallery and country-and-western band were not a problem, but concern about hoof-and-mouth disease was a hot issue throughout Europe at the time. Oceanco found it nearly impossible to get the bales of hay needed to complete the party décor. The hay somehow appeared in time, but to the last, there was concern it might have to be flown in from the States.
The interior design of Pegasus was carried out by Florida’s Marc-Michaels Interiors and reflects the owner’s desire for large, open spaces. There are five guest staterooms belowdecks aft in addition to the on-deck master suite. Open areas for sunbathing and outdoor activities are extensive. The entire top deck is given over to sunpads, a large whirlpool spa, a bar and guest lounge seating. Tenders are stowed abaft the pilothouse on the deck below.
Pegasus is constructed of steel with an aluminum superstructure. Propulsion is two Caterpillar 3512B diesels at 1,650 hp each. Top speed is 16 knots.
Oceanco’s biggest delivery for the year was Stargate II. Not only is Stargate long, but she’s fairly fast, as well. At 23.5 knots, she pulls a total of 16,320 hp from a pair of MTU 20V 1163TB73L engines. The engines are fully aft in a V-drive configuration to allow the finest entry possible for the hull. So long and fine are the hull lines that if you had nothing to go on but a plan view, you might guess this was half a catamaran.
Stargate has four VIP guest suites on the main deck, forward where the owner’s suite would be on a less-overwhelming yacht. She has a sizable saloon and game room for the sole enjoyment of these suites’ occupants. In addition, belowdecks are six guest staterooms, the larger two of which can be combined to create an ultra-VIP suite.
With such amenities provided for the guests, you might expect the owner’s suite to be spectacular. It is. With the exception of the pilothouse and the captain’s cabin, the owner’s suite occupies the entire upper deck. Not only is the dressing room bigger than the average two-car garage, there are two of them, his and hers. The master berth faces aft with a panoramic view through a circular wall of glass.
That’s a total of 22 in the owner’s party. Yes, the dining room is big enough to seat everyone at once. How do you maintain such a yacht and serve the guests? I counted a total of 33 crew berths, but I may have missed one or two.
It became apparent, as we assembled our list of yachts 125 feet and longer delivered in the past year, that it has been a very good year for builders at the market’s upper end. Some cracked the 125-foot barrier for the first time, while others delivered as many as four magnificent creations. We couldn’t feature them all, but neither could we ignore them. Some have been featured on our pages in earlier issues, others have not. Some will be in the future.
Palmer Johnson’s Anson Bell is in this issue, but the Wisconsin-based builder also produced the 131-foot Inevitable. She was the subject of an in-depth Yachting feature earlier this year ("Certain Charm," July). Similarly, Alloy’s Victoria of Strathearn is featured in this issue, but the yard also turned out the 173-foot sailing yacht Salperton during the past year. Joining her in the ranks of large yachts under sail is Timoneer, a 147-foot vessel from Vitters.
Codecasa added to its 50-meter club with Lady Ann Magee, a tri-deck of 164 feet. General specifications are nearly identical to those of Moneikos, but the differences go beyond the considerably longer name board. Lady has five guest staterooms, two with twins and Pullman, and three with double berths. The master is on the main deck, but Lady’s profile shows two large window arrays on each side, rather than the four smaller units that grace Moneikos. Lady Ann Magee’s owners enclosed her afterdeck, while that on Moneikos is open. Both yachts carry Lloyd’s classification, but Lady Ann Magee is fully MCA Code compliant, as well.
In addition to the smaller Thetis, Perini Navi launched another 164-foot sailing yacht. Perseus is the third hull in the series, and a fourth has been contracted. Like Thetis, Perseus has a long deckhouse and flying bridge, but no raised pilothouse. Her ketch rig carries 13,900 square feet of sail. Both masts are electric furling, and there are 10 automatic winches, two electric winches and two manual winches.
Perseus has three spacious guest staterooms. In addition, a sitting room adjacent to the master stateroom can be closed off and converted to a fourth cabin, complete with bath and walk-in locker. Eight crew members are accommodated in four cabins. All staterooms and cabins are on the lower deck. The main deck has a pilothouse forward, and a large bar and dining room amidships. The saloon is aft, adjacent to the spacious, sheltered cockpit. The flying bridge carries a helm station and guest lounge areas.
In addition to Gran Finale, Delta Marine launched the latest incarnation of Gallant Lady at 160 feet. The owner persuaded Delta—known for composite construction—to fabricate Gallant Lady’s hull and main deck of aluminum. The two upper decks were built with composite materials, including extensive use of carbon fiber. Delta engineers the structure using finite element analysis and claims no increase in cost for the advanced material, thanks to precise placement of necessary fibers. Gallant Lady’s belowdecks staterooms were completed in Delta’s cabinet shop and dropped into the hull as modules prior to setting the upper decks. Marble and other fine stone were added to the bathrooms while work proceeded on the upper areas.
Unfortunately, even with the best of builders and crew, things sometimes go wrong. Gallant Lady suffered a casualty of as-yet-undetermined cause not long after delivery. Reportedly, a loose hose allowed water to enter her engineroom, and alarms failed to alert the crew to the flooding. We are unsure of the extent of the damage, but if lessons of general interest come out of the investigation, we will bring them to you.
Feadship had an extremely busy year. In addition to the sleek 153-foot Detroit Eagle in this issue and the exceptional 205-foot Cakewalk ("Taking the Cake," June), the builder delivered Northern Light and Barbara Jean.
The 151-foot Northern Light was completed by Feadship’s Van Lent yard. Designed by De Voogt with a John Munford interior, she has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. A pair of Caterpillar 3508B engines, governed to 1600 rpm for continuous duty, propel her at 14.5 knots. Three Caterpillar 3304B diesels power Stamford generators, delivering 85kW each. Two Atlas 50 kVA shorepower converters allow connections in remote ports. Northern Light is MCA Code compliant and classed, as well. The owner’s suite is a full-beam space on the main deck. Four guest staterooms are belowdecks, two doubles and two twins, each with an additional Pullman berth.
Barbara Jean is also a De Voogt/Munford design, but was built by the De Vries yard. She is a classic tri-deck with a flying bridge. Her 185-foot length lends a sleek appearance not enjoyed by shorter tri-deck yachts. Power is a pair of Caterpillar 3512B diesels, governed to 1600 rpm like those on Northern Light.
Heesen was also a repeat player this year. In addition to Jangada, the yard delivered Lady Halima. She is a tad shorter than Jangada at 129 feet and shares a Diaship displacement hull form and Omega design, but that is where the similarities end. Lady Halima has a Paola Smith interior. A half-dozen large ports forward accent her dark hull and bring lots of light into her on-deck master suite. A large hardtop dominates her profile, shading a majority of the flying bridge. Like Jangada, Lady Halima will cruise at 14 knots and enjoy an extended range unavailable to faster yachts.
In the same ownership shuffle that put Trinity’s Big Easy into Felix Sabates’ hands, his 141-foot Victory Lane, to be delivered in time for the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, became an interim yacht to the owner of a 150-foot Trinity under construction. Victory Lane is a 141-foot tri-deck motoryacht. Powered by DDC/MTU 16V 2000 engines, she will top out at 19 knots and cruise at 17.5 knots in half-load condition. Hull and superstructure are aluminum, and the exterior finish is Awlgrip. She is fitted with a 16-inch American bow thruster and Naiad stabilizers.
Victory Lane has four nearly identical guest staterooms belowdecks and a master suite on the main deck. Wing control stations flank the pilothouse, leaving the flying bridge open for a whirlpool spa forward, a bar aft and deck chairs in between.
Also delivered by Trinity in time for the show was Seahawk. Her arrangement is not unlike Victory Lane’s, but at 177 feet, she carries an additional guest VIP stateroom. There are no other additional rooms, but the existing rooms are considerably more spacious. The saloon, for instance, has a baby grand piano and a game table that do not appear on Victory Lane.
Seahawk carries 19,000 gallons of fuel and 5,500 gallons of water. Power is supplied by two DDC/MTU 12V 4000 diesels, yielding a top speed of 18.5 knots and a cruise of 17.5 knots. Range is 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots.
Oceanco matched Feadship with four 125-foot-plus deliveries and one 200-foot-plus delivery this year. In addition to Lady Christine, there was Sunrise at 170 feet, Pegasus at 193 feet and Stargate at 262 feet. Coming hard on the heels of last year’s 312-foot Al Mirqab, this schedule is impressive.
Sunrise, by decision of the owner, is MCA Code compliant, a designation that required some changes in the already under-construction yacht. As the owner said, "The most valuable thing in your life is your family. Not just a piece of paper, the issue of MCA certification is proof of having full protection in place when you need it."
Oceanco completed naval architecture and exterior styling, with the interior designed by The "A" Group’s Jean Pierre Fantini. "We went to Carrara for the marble, London for the fabrics, and the ’Best Address’ in Paris to select linen, china, silverware and the decorative items in Baccarat," Fantini said. The interior is a mixture of limed oak, silks and kidskin that lends a warmth to offset the extensive use of marble, not only in the bathrooms but throughout the accommodations. There are five guest staterooms in addition to the master suite.
Sunrise has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. She is powered by MTU 12V396TE74 engines delivering 1,714 hp each, and tops out at 17 knots. Fuel capacity is 24,500 gallons.
The springtime launch party for Pegasus was a Wild West blowout that only an American owner could host, and surprisingly gave Oceanco personnel one of their more difficult tasks. The mechanical bull, shooting gallery and country-and-western band were not a problem, but concern about hoof-and-mouth disease was a hot issue throughout Europe at the time. Oceanco found it nearly impossible to get the bales of hay needed to complete the party décor. The hay somehow appeared in time, but to the last, there was concern it might have to be flown in from the States.
The interior design of Pegasus was carried out by Florida’s Marc-Michaels Interiors and reflects the owner’s desire for large, open spaces. There are five guest staterooms belowdecks aft in addition to the on-deck master suite. Open areas for sunbathing and outdoor activities are extensive. The entire top deck is given over to sunpads, a large whirlpool spa, a bar and guest lounge seating. Tenders are stowed abaft the pilothouse on the deck below.
Pegasus is constructed of steel with an aluminum superstructure. Propulsion is two Caterpillar 3512B diesels at 1,650 hp each. Top speed is 16 knots.
Oceanco’s biggest delivery for the year was Stargate II. Not only is Stargate long, but she’s fairly fast, as well. At 23.5 knots, she pulls a total of 16,320 hp from a pair of MTU 20V 1163TB73L engines. The engines are fully aft in a V-drive configuration to allow the finest entry possible for the hull. So long and fine are the hull lines that if you had nothing to go on but a plan view, you might guess this was half a catamaran.
Stargate has four VIP guest suites on the main deck, forward where the owner’s suite would be on a less-overwhelming yacht. She has a sizable saloon and game room for the sole enjoyment of these suites’ occupants. In addition, belowdecks are six guest staterooms, the larger two of which can be combined to create an ultra-VIP suite.
With such amenities provided for the guests, you might expect the owner’s suite to be spectacular. It is. With the exception of the pilothouse and the captain’s cabin, the owner’s suite occupies the entire upper deck. Not only is the dressing room bigger than the average two-car garage, there are two of them, his and hers. The master berth faces aft with a panoramic view through a circular wall of glass.
That’s a total of 22 in the owner’s party. Yes, the dining room is big enough to seat everyone at once. How do you maintain such a yacht and serve the guests? I counted a total of 33 crew berths, but I may have missed one or two.
charter turkey
