Heesen Magazine Spring 2023

Spring 2023

Exploring the untouched

All roads start with the guts to dream. Chasing it wherever it takes you. That dream is the fuel, required to create. Driven by passion, guided by expertise. Follow that path, to explore, to feel. So when you come to that next crossroad you can look back with satisfaction and no regrets.

That attitude defines us. And when that fire burns, we become unstoppable. We shape the hardest steel and strongest aluminium. With skill and dedication. With hard work and persistence. It’s then when you have created beauty.

This is who we are.

Power and Beauty. Confidence and Performance. That’s what our superyachts are made of.

We... are Heesen

Shared passions

Individual adventurers

Heesen executives Robert Drontmann and Mark Cavendish combine a love of sailing and a passion for building superyachts in their own very special ways

Scott

Out of this world

A rare opportunity to talk to someone with a unique perspective on the planet and its problems – from the deep ocean to outer space

Modern mixology

Don’t block the view

An American interiors specialist looks back on a long career that culminated in Lusine, Heesen’s new full-custom 60-metre

Shaking things up

We talk to one of the world’s most talented mixologists about the increasing interconnectedness of cocktails and haute cuisine

36 82

Heesen’s XV67 Explorer

A yacht for all seasons

A true go-anywhere yacht concept is unveiled by the Heesen shipyard, the result of a powerful partnership between the shipyard and Winch Design

Four-legged shipmates

Sailing with sea dogs

It might seem too complicated, but with a bit of common sense and a lot of forward planning, cruising with canines can be a win-win

Parazynski interview

Dee Robinson, designer

WELCOME TO THE HEESEN MAGAZINE!

We will meet with Paul Costerus of Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design to discuss the tour de force of penning the most intricate design in the history of their studio. If Sinot designed it, Heesen and its loyal partners had to build it, and it was nothing less than highly complicated. However, as usual, we love to be challenged and enjoyed being given the opportunity to prove that at Heesen, there is no such thing as mission impossible.

Two iconic and award-winning yachts in the fleet, the 47-metre Elandess, now Atina and the 55-metre Quinta Essentia, now After You, have undergone an extensive refit and have a new life. We are delighted to share with you their stories.

The interview with Capt. Billy Lockhart of Ocean Z is undoubtedly a source of pride for our shipyard. You will hear from an expert how sturdy and robust our yachts are. Heesen yachts are not just luxurious but, first and foremost, solid Dutch ships one can confidently and safely sail in all sea conditions.

Amongst the many fun and exciting stories in this Spring issue, one is particularly dear to me: Dogs on board. You cannot imagine how many of our clients take their canine companions along during their nautical adventures. Jesse, an 11-year-old cocker spaniel, and Vidar, a three-year-old Swiss shepherd, are the first VIP dogs featured in our magazine, and many more will follow.

As always, clients can take advantage of the shortened delivery times of our Series yachts built on speculation. Read about the projects available and for sale on page 18 and meet our sales and marketing team at the boat shows in Dubai and Palm beach to discuss your next yacht with them before coming to visit us in the Netherlands.

We look forward to welcoming you to our shipyard in Oss!

Arthur Brouwer, Member of the Board Stichting Continuïteit Heesen Yachts Group

In this issue, we’ll be exploring many exciting subjects from the world of business and yachting to offer a different angle and add some flavour to our industry and the marvellous world of super yachts.

PALM BEACH

AMERICA’S POSH PLAYGROUND

How

and unlimited

Above Watching boat races in Palm Beach, 1906

TEXT BY MARILYN MOWER

n

Mary died the following year, but Flagler, who co-founded

Indian River to Miami, and along the way he built more hotels to entice tourists. Under Florida's generous land-grant laws, 8,000 acres could be claimed from the state for every mile (1.6 km) of railway built. Flagler would eventually claim in excess of two million acres (8,094 km2) in exchange for building his railway, and land development would become one of his most profitable endeavours.

wife a bit farther south in St. Augustine. He liked the modation and transport he bought and renovated

1890, private rail cars and Pullmans could comfortably

In March 1894 his railway reached what is today known as West Palm Beach, a settlement of 30 to 40 houses. Flagler first constructed the luxurious 1,100-room Royal Poinciana Hotel overlooking Lake Worth Lagoon’s steamship and ferry docks. At the time, this was the largest wooden building in the world. He followed that with the stunning Breakers Hotel on the ocean side, and Whitehall, his private 55-room winter home, in 1902.

the state of Florida authorizing him to build a line along the

The development of these properties, combined with direct railway access, established the island as a winter resort for America’s wealthy. To distinguish their piece of paradise from the surrounding area, they began referring to

Left Statue of Henry Flagler

1878, on the advice of his wife’s physician, Henry Flagler and his wife Mary decamped for the winter

it as Palm Beach, after the coconut palms that flourished on shore following the wreck of a ship loaded with Cuban coconuts bound for Spain.

Flagler loved to entertain and his parties came to define the season. Following his example, the mansions on Palm Beach tended to include ballrooms for galas and loggias for afternoon teas and garden parties. Today Whitehall is a museum, a fantastic time capsule from that elegant era, complete with Flagler’s private railway carriage.

In 1917 the Palm Beach Country Club opened with an ocean-to-lagoon golf course. Next came the Everglades Club founded in 1919, which remains the most exclusive club on the island. From its discreet entrance off Worth Avenue, its complex of club buildings pioneered architect Addison Mizner’s mash up of Spanish Colonial and Mediter-

ranean styles that has come to be known as the Palm Beach look. Soon some of the wealthiest people in the world were staying at Palm Beach hotels and building huge winter homes.

One of the first of these was Philadelphia financier Edward T. Stotesbury, who along with his wife Eva, commissioned Mizner to build a 37-room mansion. Completed in 1919, El Mirasol was the scene of many fabulous parties, its grounds stretching from the Atlantic shore to Lake Worth, where they had an impressive dock for their string of yachts.

Another of the family names synonymous with Palm Beach was Phipps, starting with Henry Phipps, Andrew Carnegie’s partner in the steel business. He used to lease an entire railway train to carry members of the family, their servants and pets to Palm Beach for the winter and back

to Long Island in the spring. The family once owned 28 miles of Florida coastline between Miami and Palm Beach, and his grandson Ogden loved yachts, naming his last one Buckpasser after one of his prize race horses.

The Twenties certainly roared in Palm Beach, where land speculation and a building boom created energy and wealth. Even Prohibition, the nation’s strange exercise in enforced sobriety from 1919 until 1933, failed to put a damper on things -- the same fast commuters that whisked tycoons between New York and Newport, or the boats that took gentlemen deep-sea fishing, were equally suitable for running rum, gin and wine from the Bahamas and Cuba. The boundary between the US and international waters was just three miles off the coast. Ships lined up in this zone -- Rum Row it was called -- and shady sailors zipped out under

Top-left Royal Poinciana Hotel

Top-right Everglades Club

cover of darkness to fill their holds with booze and race back to land, outrunning the Coast Guard. Al Capone, who lived in Miami then, was famous for bootlegging.

Each winter, Palm Beach docks were full of assorted yachts, many of them the Mathis-Trumpy houseboats whose shallow draft made them perfect for Lake Worth. These mahogany gems, like the 104-foot Freedom built for F.W. Woolworth’s daughter Jessie Woolworth Donahue was a perfect example with its narrow beam and gold scrollwork at the bow. These glamorous cruisers were favourites with famous families like the DuPonts and the Guggenheims. Sequoia II, originally built for Emily Roebling Cadwalader and later the US Presidential yacht, was another Trumpy that frequented Palm Beach. Mrs. Cadwalader and her husband once built five yachts in six years, culminating in Savarona, which became the state yacht of Turkey.

It wasn’t just America’s upper class that found Palm Beach attractive. From 1937, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (the ex-King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson) wintered at Palm Beach regularly, and while the Duke was Governor of the Bahamas they often traveled to and from Nassau in Harold Vanderbilt’s seaplane.

For years one of Palm Beach’s most famous residents was Marjorie Merriweather Post, daughter of cereal tycoon C. S. Post. A brilliant businesswoman, she turned the cereal company she inherited into the giant General Foods corporation and was for decades the wealthiest woman in the US. It took three years to build her Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, where she wintered from 1927 until 1973. During its construction, she and husband E.F. Hutton supervised from aboard their 49.9-metre schooner Hussar IV, later supplanted by the 110-metre four-masted barque Hussar V, which she renamed Sea Cloud after her divorce.

Local yachting enthusiasts founded the Palm Beach Yacht Club in 1911 in an old library which was carried by barge to its current location, adjacent to the spot where the Palm Beach Boat Show is held each spring. Andrew Carnegie, Henry Phipps and Henry Flagler were early members, as were the Kennedy clan after patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy bought an oceanfront estate in 1933. Their 92-foot yacht, Honey Fitz, was a frequent visitor, especially as the Kennedy estate was the Winter White House during JFK’s presidency in the 1960s.

Palm Beach has always been about money. Unabashedly elite, it is as its founders promised, a private paradise. Today, it is a little anachronistic -- even the casual restaurants have dress codes -- but it would largely still be recognizable to its founders, although the giant yachts might give them pause and the nickname for stately South Ocean Boulevard has been upgraded from Millionaires to Billionaires Row.

Above Tea garden, Palm Beach Florida

Below portrait of Jessie Woolworth Donahue

INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURERS

SHARED PASSIONS

Heesen executives Robert Drontmann and Mark Cavendish combine a love of sailing and a passion for building superyachts in their own very special ways

TEXT BY BILL SPRINGER

The large, luxurious, fully crewed yachts that Heesen builds are quite different from the sailing craft that company senior executives Robert Drontmann and Mark Cavendish own and spend of their free time on.

But after seeing how both of them bring their shared love of sailing, adventure, the sea, and spending quality time on the water with their families, it’s obvious that their passion for sailing

informs and inspires their passion for superyacht shipbuilding. And their bond as sailors helps them gel as a team, and makes work more fun too.

The racer

To say Heesen sales director Robert Drontmann loves to sail is a bit of an understatement. He was world champion in the Cadet in Melbourne in 1985, represented Holland in the 470 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and continues to be an

avid racer in numerous small boat classes today. He says he gets his love of sailing from his father, but he didn’t want to talk about the past when we spoke. He was too excited -- Holland was expecting its first big freeze of the winter that weekend.

“I love sailing on ice as much as I love sailing on water,” he says. “The speed is amazing. Since there is basically zero drag, I can hit 80 to 100km/h in my small and simple DN iceboat. The sound the skates make and being so close to the ice is phenomenal. And there are tactics and sporty elements when you're racing. Maybe the best part is I just love being part of the crazy community of ice boaters who drop everything to sail when the ice is good.”

And while Mark may not be as keen an ice boater, Robert is grateful to work so closely with someone who shares his simple passion for all types of sailing. “I did a very nice race with Mark a couple of years ago,” he says. “It was fun. We share all sorts of connections that are special – work, sailing, what we like to do our holidays.

“I'm also lucky in that all my family members, on both my wife's side and my side, have boats. So we do lots of sailing with the family too.

“And, while I never talk much about the Olympics,” he continues, “it’s great to be reminded how I used to compete all over the world when I was younger. That experience helps with my job as well. Having sailed in many of the places our clients are from or would like to visit on their yachts is a great asset when we talk about how they want to use their new boat and where they want to go.”

“ It’s great to be reminded how I used to compete all over the world when I was younger“

The English yachtsman

Heesen ECO Mark Cavendish has worked in Holland for years, but the way he talks about his sailing history is as English as it could be.

“Well,” he says with his very proper English accent, “I actually left school at the age of 16, went into the British Merchant Navy and had my 17th birthday on a ship in Bombay Harbour.” How English is that?

“I was in the Merchant Navy for about five years training as a navigating officer, and then worked on big cargo ships sailing all over the world for a while before I left all that and bought a sailing yacht of my own. I actually sailed quite a bit in the Mediterranean. Then I captained a 110-foot motor yacht at the ripe old age of... God, I don't know, I was probably about 23. It was called the Henry Morgan, which I was hired to take to Los Angeles from Monte Carlo. Needless to say, the boat needed some work and we never did make it all the way to Los Angeles.

“I captained a couple of other boats in the Mediterranean but got bored of it when I was about 25. That’s when I came ashore and worked as a yacht broker, and then at a shipyard in Italy, and now Heesen. But pretty much most of our married life we've had a boat one way or another. When we were in Italy, we had motorboats. My last boat was a 47-foot Grand Soleil sailboat.

When I ask Mark what makes sailing so special for him, he struggles for an answer. “The problem is,” he says, “it's everything. I enjoy being out there. Switching the engine off. Getting the boat to sail as best you can. I enjoy the navigation because I enjoy working out the most efficient route. I love looking at the log and just watching the speed go from six, seven, eight, nine, maybe ten knots. If you

get the tidal races in the English Channel right, going around the Channel Islands, you can get the boat doing well over ten knots over the ground with the tide underneath you.

And after all that, there's nothing more exciting than wending your way into a new harbour and going ashore for a beer or some breakfast.

Then you explore the area and move on. It's an adventure. It's just an endless adventure, you can keep doing it forever.”

And luckily, Robert and Mark are the experts to talk to when you want to have your own adventures, and see the world from the deck of a Heesen.

“ I captained a couple of other boats in the Mediterranean but got bored of it when I was about 25“

A rare chance to talk to someone with a unique perspective on the planet and its problems – from the deep ocean to outer space

INTERVIEW: NASA ASTRONAUT SCOTT PARAZYNSKI

OUT OF THIS WORLD

We met at the Superyacht Captains’ Forum in Monaco, where I sat down with Scott to hear his perspective on the future of exploration both at sea and in space – and to discover the qualities uniting people who can flourish in such high-stress environments, whether they work in superyachts, submarines or space stations.

The highest point

Now 61 and retired from NASA, Scott’s achievements speak for themselves. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, of Polish heritage, Scott is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, with numerous career highlights including “taking care of Senator John Glenn when he returned to space at the age of 77”, he explains.

TEXT BY GEORGIA TINDALE

Those of us lucky enough to work in the industry are privileged to be able to meet some of the world’s most inspiring, influential and high-profile individuals – entrepreneurs, philanthropists, explorers and scientists. For me, even in such illustrious company, Scott E. Parazynski, American physician and former NASA astronaut, stands out as one the most interesting and thoughtful people I have ever spoken to.

In common with 15 to 20 per cent of US astronauts, Scott is also medically trained – graduating with honours from Stanford Medical School in 1989. He reached the summit of Mount Everest while serving as the team physician for Discovery Channel in 2009, following an earlier attempt in 2008 which was aborted due to a back injury. As the first person to have both flown in space and scaled the highest point on Earth he was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2016.

Below the surface

Scott’s interest in space exploration was kindled at the tender age of five. He says: “I am basically

Left Scott E. Parazynski

a product of the Apollo programme. My dad worked on the lunar programme when I was very young and I remember seeing the launch of Apollo 9 when I was a little kid – and that was what prompted me to want to become an astronaut.”

Running parallel to this space obsession, however, was an interest in another vastly under-explored territory: the ocean. As Scott explains: “I am fascinated by our oceans. I grew up in deep admiration of Captain

Cousteau – I saw all of his presentations as a kid and learned to scuba dive when I was 11 and we were living in West Africa. I learned the hard way – some older kids strapped a pair of twin 80s on my back and said, ‘Go down and come back up when you run out of air!’ Luckily, I managed to make it a round trip.”

He continues: “After that first trip, I was completely hooked and it changed my life. Not only seeing our oceans, up close and personal like that but having the three-dimensional mobility

"After that first trip, I was completely hooked and it changed my life"

| HEESEN MAGAZINE SPRING 2023

and the freedom to move like an astronaut in the water column: it was a dreamlike experience for me. When I was diving in California out in the kelp forests and the water used to be completely turbid – you could float there and just let the tide take you there. Once in a while, a seal might come up and play with you. The whole experience almost felt like walking in space.”

High-stakes survival

There are certain leadership characteristics which overlap between those required to spend prolonged periods of time out at sea and in space in leadership roles. “One commonality that astronauts have with seafarers, captains and mariners is the need for resilience – it’s a seven-day-per-week job which never stops. You’ve got duties and responsibilities, which can be very high stakes at times, and you can’t let the worries of things back home get to you.”

Rather than taking a ‘stiff upper lip’ approach to difficulty and not admitting to any perceived ‘weakness’, Scott says this resilience is bolstered by creating a supportive atmosphere on board. “You might notice if someone was having an off-day, backfill for them and try to be supportive because even a two-week mission on a shuttle is very intense – you’ll often find yourself working 16-plus-hour days. You become attuned to identifying when your colleagues need support and they will reciprocate for you.”

Indeed, speaking to Scott offers a lesson in the importance of clear communication and admitting to any mistakes – particularly for those in command, whether of a Shuttle or a superyacht.

“It doesn’t take much for a small problem to amplify into a huge problem. In fact, if you look at accident reports and failure analyses, typically there are multiple steps along the evolution of a catastrophe which could have been avoided.

It’s not typically one throw of a wrong switch that leads to disaster, it’s often a series of incidents of poor communication which could have been interrupted.”

‘Exploring strange new worlds’

As there are numerous notable ultra-wealthy individuals who are aiming to take space travel to the next level – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson to name just three – there is a similar impulse which can be found when it comes to undersea exploration.

“We live in extraordinary times where the motivating force to innovate and open up these horizons is coming from the ultra-wealthy. There is Victor Vescovo and his ocean research company Caladan Oceanic, who has already made numerous dives down to Challenger Deep – the deepest point on planet Earth – and there is Stockton Rush and his company, OceanGate, who are taking citizen explorers down to the Titanic and opening it up to large numbers of people. I went myself during the summer before last, and it was a truly extraordinary experience.”

An oasis of blue

As Spiderman’s Uncle Ben highlights, however, “with great power comes great responsibility”. The message which Scott would like to impress upon those looking to break new ground in both space and oceanic exploration is all about taking care of what we already have.

“From space, you can see jet contrails, you can see deforestation and smog – it’s really quite dramatic. The scars impressed upon our planet are visible from this vantage point. Looking down from space, our planet looks so vulnerable, and our eco-systems so fragile. Balanced in the enormity of the universe it is just this small oasis: so brilliant blue and captivating.

“And it’s a long way to anywhere else.”

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

THREE OF A KIND

TEXT BY JUSTIN RATCLIFFE

Heesen’s speculative construction strategy has proved successful time and again, especially during times like these, when demand is high and build slots are in short supply. It’s an approach that saves customers both money and time.

Fantastic features – Project Orion

Orion is the third hull in Heesen’s 50-metre FDHF hybrid series, with exterior design by Omega Architects. Built of aluminium with a sub-500GT volume and shallow draft, she is designed to offer the ultimate in quiet, fuelefficient cruising. She is available for sale with delivery in February 2025.

“There are so many fantastic features on this all-aluminium, Fast Displacement yacht that it’s hard to know where to start,” says Mark Cavendish, executive commercial officer at the shipyard. ”The exterior design is über-cool, with long, crisp lines and a near-vertical bow, and the contemporary interior styling by Italian designer Cristiano Gatto is a perfect much for the exterior lines. She’s also one of very few yachts in her size range with six cabins: the master on the main deck forward, a full-beam VIP and four guest staterooms on the lower deck – a draw for both private use and charter.

“But I think the biggest plus of this project goes back to the initial design concept, which was to create what is one of the most efficient yacht in its class. To start, you have the lightweight aluminium construction and Fast Displacement Hull Form. This means she can be powered by twin MTU engines of just 600kW each for a top

Three key figures in the company highlight the features of three of Heesen’s on-spec projects that are available right now – Projects Orion, Jade and Venus. One of them could be yours

speed of 16 knots, where a conventional steel-hulled displacement yacht would need a pair of 1,000kW engines. At 12 knots, she will burn 98 litres per hour, excluding hotel loads, for a range of 3,750 nautical miles. That translates into around 40 per cent less power and 25 percent less fuel for the same range, which for a 50-metre yacht displacing 295 tons is an outstanding achievement.

“And last but certainly not least, there’s the hybrid propulsion. There are four different modes, including the opportunity to cruise silently using just the generators. But in hybrid mode at 10 knots consumption drops to a mere 45 litres per hour. I don’t know of another 50-metre yacht with those kinds of consumption figures.”

“ There are so many fantastic features on this all-aluminium, Fast Displacement yacht that it’s hard to know where to start“

Fits like a glove – Project Venus Venus is the eighth hull in Heesen’s successful 55-metre Steel series, and the third with the newly restyled exterior lines by Omega Architects. These new design elements also include a fixed French balcony in the master stateroom, separate crew access to the sundeck, and continuous sheets of thermo-bonded exterior glass on the main deck. The yacht is available for delivery in Spring 2025.

“This is a design that complements the Heesen range of series yachts so well, and fits the brand like a glove,” says Heesen’s CCO, Mark Cavendish. “The price per gross ton is extremely competitive, and I would argue that you won’t find a spec yacht of north European build with the same dimensions, features and quality. In fact, at 760GT she offers a lot more volume than a

50-metre yacht, but not much less in terms of onboard experience and amenities compared to a 60-metre. That’s an important consideration and one reason why the concept performs so well as a charter yacht.

“The layout is another attraction, with four guest cabins on the lower deck, the master stateroom on main deck and a VIP suite on the bridge deck. This is a boon for clients interested in charter, but also Middle Eastern clients who like to have a lot of cabins. The choice of Luca Dini for the interor styling was inspired, and he really brings additional pedigree to the game, which is something we’re always keen to emphasise.

“Not forgetting the Fast Displacement Hull Form, for improved performance and fuel efficiency, without sacrificing the comfort and seakeeping of a full displacement yacht. Her two

Above Main saloon, sky lounge and owner's suite Project Orion

MTU engines provide a top speed of 15.5 knots and a transatlantic range of 4,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 13 knots.

“Heesen pioneered the on-spec construction of superyachts in the 2000s, and as the latest in our 55-metre Steel series, Project Venus highlights how we’ve mastered the art of series-building superyachts based on proven engineering platforms that are continuously fine-tuned.”

Fast but efficient – Project Jade

Project Jade is the third yacht in Heesen’s 50-metre fast-cruising class, and the first of its kind below 500GT to comply with IMO Tier-III regulations. The sporty exterior design is by Omega Architects and the shipyard chose once again to work with Cristiano Gatto on the interior styling. Project Jade is available for delivery in April 2024.

“Project Jade and the 50-metre fast-cruising series is an evolution of our very popular semi-displacement model that began with ‘Satori’, of which we sold eight examples,” says Heesen sales director Robert Drontmann. “The current design was partly driven by the need to comply with the Tier III Class rules that require big and bulky Selective Catalytic

“Project Venus highlights how we’ve mastered the art of series-building superyachts“

Right Project Venus: preliminary render of the main saloon

Reduction (SCR) units on the engines to filter out harmful exhaust emissions. The result was a complete redesign from top to bottom, including the hull, to allow for extra space in the engine room without detracting from the guest areas.

“Our engineering team developed an optimised, low-drag hull with a reduced transom depth for a shallow shaft angle, which makes Jade comfortable on longer passages, and in rough seas, but she is also perfect for island-hopping in the shallow waters of the Bahamas, for example. The ultra-efficient hull shape basically offers the same performance as the previous iteration but with smaller engines, reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions.

“Omega styled a gently curved superstructure for a sleeker aft end and we created a multipurpose beach club that doubles as a tender garage. Usually on yachts of this kind you have to take a few steps down into the beach club, which means you lose the views and intimate contact with the sea. But on Jade, when the tender is launched and the transom hatch deployed, the whole area is on the same level, which makes all the difference.”

"We thought, what a shame to keep this beautifully crafted machine all to ourselves"

INTERVIEW: JASPER SMIT, EYSING

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Combining retro design and sustainable technology with a legendary racing heritage, these exclusive, hand-made e-mopeds are designed and built just down the road from Heesen

TEXT BY HAN THOMA

The resurrection of this famous Dutch automotive company reads like an adventure story. Alain van Dijk, Rik Smits and brothers Jasper and Stijn Smit are childhood friends from Vught, just 30 minutes from Oss. Alain, an industrial designer with a passion for cars and motorcycles, was inspired by the history and heritage of Eysink (originally spelt with a k), the first Dutch car manufacturer. Founded in 1886, the company made everything completely in-house, and later also found fame for its racing successes on two wheels.

A memorable win in the prestigious ‘Six Days Trial’ in the Italian Alps in 1931 inspired the construction of the legendary Eysink Alpenjager (Alpine Hunter) motorcycle, known for its speed and durability. The Eysink Jubilee was ridden to victory by many a Dutch motorcycle racer in the 1930s.

100 sold in one weekend

The four friends decided to bring back the design of the Eysink motorcycles, but with a contemporary, more sustainable twist: as an all-electric, hand-built retro moped. It started as a hobby project, to build something cool to ride around town. But the first prototype exceeded their expectations. Recalls Jasper Smit: “We thought, what a shame to keep this beautifully crafted machine all to ourselves. So we decided to gauge interest by showing our moped at a large luxury fair in Amsterdam. The response completely blew us away: after the weekend we left the show with 100 signed contracts!”

Zero cancellations

The young entrepreneurs had a short but serious conversation about their future plans and decided to go all-in. “This meant completing a long but crucial certification process, and setting up extensive production facilities,” says Jasper. “It took us two years to turn the prototype into a high-quality production model. But our presale clients were patient and we received zero cancellations.”

The first Eysing, appropriately named Pioneer, is something else. Around 85% per cent of all components are designed in-house, even the

1934 Alpine Hunter model

tyres. Most parts are hand-made, like the carefully crafted fuel tank, and the handlaced spoke wheels. In contrast to its looks, the propulsion is very ‘now’, with a 2.0kW electric motor providing a top speed of 45km/h.

Heesen-branded Eysing

Coming from the same region, and sharing the same design, engineering and craftsmanship philosophy, it didn’t take long before Heesen and Eysing ran into each other and started talking about a partnership. This resulted in two very special Heesen mopeds, shown to the world at the Monaco Yacht Show.

Like the shipyard, Eysing offers its clientèle extensive customisation possibilities, as shown in the Heesen branded colour scheme and design details. Heesen owners can add to their stable of on-board toys with a personalised Eysing e-moped, for stylish and sustainable shoreside expeditions – or perhaps decorate their yacht interior with one, as a shining example of Dutch retro design.

www.eysing.com

" It took us two years to turn the prototype into a high-quality production model

But our presale clients were patient and we received zero cancellations "

THE HEESEN ACADEMY

Maintaining the standards that Heesen is famous for requires continuous investment in the shipyard’s outstanding team. We interview Maike Bonke, Heesen’s head of human resources, to find out how the new Heesen Academy nurtures talent, and assures continuous self-development for all employees

TEXT BY HAN THOMA

Anyone who has visited the shipyard in Oss, or the vast interiors production facility in Winterswijk, knows how many talented people it takes to build a Heesen yacht.

You won’t find any robots or automated production lines in yacht building. Every weld in the hull, each sliver of veneer in the lavish interior, and all the pipes, brackets and joints in the vast mechanical installation are hand crafted, the result of years of experience and training.

This makes the industry unique, but vulnerable at the same time. Traditional craftsmanship always used to be passed down from one generation to the next, but stepping in your mentor’s footsteps is not always as easy as it used to be. It is also less common to have a lifelong career at the same employer. So how does Heesen manage to attract and nurture talent and secure rare skills for the future?

Knowledge is key

With these clear objectives in mind the shipyard launched the Heesen Academy in 2021. Maike Bonke explains: “Knowledge is one of our key assets. We aim to have the right people, with the right competences and skills, in the right positions. The Heesen Academy is the platform that recognises the importance of investing in the development of our people. This is just as essential as, for instance, creating a safe and healthy working environment.”

The Academy offers a wide variety of programmes to help employees develop on every level and in all departments. “For our produc-

tion departments, this means that we want to encourage the next generation to learn the skills on the job, as apprentices”, says Maike. “This is particularly important because our workforce is slowly ageing. It’s crucial to keep their invaluable knowledge within the company, and pass it down to the younger cohorts. Quality assurance also means applying standard procedures to everything we do,” she adds. “For example, how we bring new employees on board, or how we transfer work and brief colleagues according to these standards, minimising the risk of errors and making quality less dependent on one person’s specific knowledge or skills.”

Attracting the next generation

Recruiting production specialists with the unique skills to build superyachts can be a real challenge. To source talent, shipyards need to get creative. The product certainly helps to interest people in a career in yachting – there are few more spectacular advertisements than a superyacht. So Heesen regularly organises talent

The next generation specialists visiting our event

days in the production sheds to give candidates a taste of the exceptional product and quality level. The shipyard teams up with schools, joins talent and recruitment events, and is very active on social media.

But what if candidates are too scarce or simply do not exist? Heesen is one of the very few shipyards to use aluminium for both hull and superstructure, and welding aluminium requires very special skills. Experienced aluminium welders are hard to find. To overcome this problem, Heesen has developed a specialised internal training programme in welding, including aluminium. Candidates with basic welding skills can grow and specialise on the

job and are rewarded with valuable certification, which is recognised both inside and outside the industry. The success of the welding programme has led to additional technical training programmes within the Heesen Academy.

Outdoor cinemas and beach clubs

The programmes of continuous learning and self-development promoted by the Heesen Academy have become more and more important. “Technology is evolving at an ever increasing pace,” Maike explains. “At the same time, our builds are becoming more and more complex, especially our custom projects. Yachts are getting bigger, with advanced features like outdoor cinemas and extensive beach clubs.

" We create brand ambassadors that help promote the shipyard with future employees"

This requires special skills from our production department, but also next-level project management skills to make sure the yachts can be delivered on time and within budget. So continuous training is not restricted to production employees. Heesen Masters & Heesen Professionals are our leadership development programmes aimed at management, project leaders and supervisors.”

Still being able to learn and grow even after years of experience on the job is one of the things that colleagues most appreciate, says Maike. “They re-energise and start to see training as fun. And don’t forget the social

aspect of learning and working together, which really motivates and encourages teamwork.”

Brand ambassadors

When asked about her personal motivation to do her job, Maike answers without hesitation: “I love nurturing talent and helping people to find and develop their skills. Each year we source trainees for our department, and I’m always amazed by how quickly they grow and develop into real professionals. We invest in people, and yes, sometimes, the competition benefits from our efforts. But that’s not how I see it: we create brand ambassadors that help promote the shipyard with future employees.”

NOT JUST FOR CIGARS

STEEPED I N TRADITION

Lotusier’s range of hand-crafted tea humidors elevate the aesthetic appeal of tea to a level redolent of superyacht craftsmanship

TEXT BY JULIA ZALTZMAN

Whether green, black, infused or bubble, the global consumption of tea remains a constant. It was the Chinese who first took to the thirst-quenching beverage, back in 2700 BC, later building exquisite tea gardens as tributes to the Emperor. But it was the Dutch who first brought tea to Europe, in 1606, from Japan, where the spirituality of the tea ceremony had already spread from Zen monasteries into the wider world.

As tea became a fashionable and expensive novelty in England’s coffee houses, Dutch taverns served the drink from their newly invented ‘tea set’, and the East India Companies of both countries set up trading posts across Asia to facilitate the lucrative tea and spice trades. By the 19th century tea was in such demand that ships would dash to bring the

new season’s crop to London in the exciting ‘tea clipper’ races that stretched from China across the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope. Huge bets were placed on these fast and sleek ships, which were specifically designed to speed up the transportation of tea.

Tea went on to conquer the globe. The British smuggled tea bushes from China to India. An Iranian trader secretly carried tea plants from India to Iran at the end of the 19th century. Today India and China still dominate tea cultivation, but it is tea grown on the Black Sea coast that sees Turkey as the most tea-drinking country per person in the world.

As a commodity with such a history and a tradition of exclusivity, tea has long been associated with paraphernalia of the highest quality, from exquisite lacquered caddies in Japan to the finest European porcelain. Today’s tea enthusiasts can celebrate their love of the

leaf with the Lotusier tea humidor, which is exceptional in every way. Conceived for the storage of a variety of fine teas in optimal conditions, it is handmade from the beautiful woods and materials, sensitively and responsibly sourced, and draws on the loftiest European artisanal skills and traditions.

The humidor is the brainchild of Åsa Eriksson-Ahuja, a Swedish-born and London-based entrepreneur with a passion for tea. Each one takes between 10-12 weeks to craft and assemble, depending on the intricacy of the

design and marquetry. Some designs have more than 600 individual hand-cut wood veneer pieces that need to be coordinated by colour, grain and shape.

Containing over 20 distinct components crafted in 12 workshops across four European countries, Lotusier’s humidor showcases the work of multiple skilled artisans. Specially designed to promote the beauty of tea whilst preserving its flavours and qualities, the humidor opens to reveal hand-blown crystal containers that form the hub of an elegant humidification system.

“We consulted with and commissioned a wide range of technical experts and craftsmen during the development of the humidors“

Lotusier’s Andales collection tea humidor

A technically sophisticated device that will protect and preserve the nuanced flavours and aromas of tea"

The crystal containers offer silicone-sealed protection from the light and the atmosphere, while an advanced two-way humidity control allows the user to add or remove humidity for up to six individually housed teas.

“We consulted with and commissioned a wide range of technical experts and craftsmen during the development of the humidors, from Swiss hinge makers to silk tassel weavers,” says Eriksson-Ahuja. “The German-made instruments that record the humidity and temperature inside the humidor – four to six hygrometers and a thermometer – were finely calibrated and made to the highest specifications.”

Some commissions have been specially adapted for superyachts and aircraft. The glass and metal sand timers are secured so as not to rattle in choppy seas, while the crystal containers are fixed to metal holders using hidden magnets. “These features were not in the original design, but have been adopted following extensive research, in response to specific requests from the yachting fraternity,” she says.

Available in five collections, each inspired by a specific tea drinking culture – China, Japan, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and the Euro-American Occident – the creation of the humidor bears witness to a growing enjoyment

of fine and rare teas around the world. Every component and material is selected for its beauty and practicality. Prices starting at around £12,600.

Various finely grained woods such as sycamore and Tanganyika, are used for the external body, many of them dyed especially for Lotusier, and all are responsibly sourced. On the inside, alongside the crystal containers, are refined metallurgy pieces in both chrome and stainless steel. The humidor key is decorated with tassels made from strands of Indian silk.

When it comes to customer appeal, Eriksson-Ahuja is in little doubt: “People want a technically sophisticated device that will protect and preserve the nuanced flavours and aromas of tea for longer than other available methods. And an object that will make the presentation and serving of tea uniquely personal to them.”

Considering how tea is now second only to water as the world’s most popular drink – the British alone consuming 60 billion cups per year – it seems only fitting that the ceremony of tea should incorporate a bespoke palace in which to store it.

A YACHT FOR ALL SE A SONS

A true go-anywhere yacht concept, devised by the powerful partnership of Heesen and Winch Design

“Only the cream of the crop is capable of reaching remote atolls”

TEXT BY SAM FORTESCUE

Type the term ‘explorer yacht’ into a search engine and you are presented with a welter of hits, running from 14-metres launches up to the world’s largest private yacht – all 182.9 metres of her. Clearly not all explorer yachts are born equal. Some say it is simply a boat that can cross an ocean independently - but that would include any boat with big enough tanks to motor the 2,600 nautical miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

“Building a boat that goes anywhere is not only about seakeeping,” says Heesen CCO Mark Cavendish. “It also has to do with autonomy and supplies, fresh and black water storage - all these aspects must be taken into account. And in cold regions, the whole philosophy behind building the boat is different – you have to make some adaptations.”

Only the cream of the crop is capable of reaching remote atolls or high latitudes in total comfort and safety. At the extreme end of the spectrum

are so-called ‘expedition yachts’ – usually based on the technical platform of a commercial vessel, and with a finish to match. They are equipped to spend months out of port.

Heesen takes a different view with its new XV67 explorer, seeking that elusive balance between true superyacht comfort and go-anywhere design. “It is a yacht that can bring you safely and comfortably to remote areas, from Greenland to Bikini Atoll, but still provide an optimal platform for cruising hotspots like the Med,” says Cavendish.

XV67

Monaco is no stranger to superlatives. Its annual Yacht Show draws the biggest and the best from around the world. Yet Heesen’s latest design attracted special attention when it was presented at last autumn’s show. With her bold lines, businesslike helicopter pad and go-anywhere steel hull, the rugged new XV67 explorer certainly looks the part. But much of the yacht’s appeal lies in her chameleon ability to cruise distant waters and still look thoroughly at home on the Riviera.

“It is a crossover yacht,” confirms Jim Dixon of Winch Design, who helped Heesen to develop the concept. “That is to say that the XV67 is based on a true superyacht platform and incorporates all of Heesen’s very valuable performance features. It offers the capability

Above A ‘drone’ rendering of the XV67 at sea

to sail to the extremes of the globe, but equally looks very much the part in Monaco.”

This is no mere reappropriation of a commercial vessel, bringing a touch of class to an offshore hull. Nor is it simply an iterative exercise of adapting Heesen’s previous 57m XVenture explorer yacht. Winch and Heesen have developed the XV67 from the keel up, incorporating four years’ feedback from across the industry

and pouring every ounce of their experience into what might just be the ultimate yacht.

“The GA has been carefully balanced to offer an optimal combination of high-end luxury interior, with enough real estate to carry lots of toys, a big 10m tender, a personal sub and even fully-rigged sailing dinghies on the aft main deck,” says Dixon. “It is available with or without the heli platform, which is fully certified for the

“It offers the capability to sail to the extremes of the globe, but equally looks very much the part in Monaco”

Airbus H145 – a big machine for this type of platform, and very capable.”

Together with a well-equipped dive centre and fold-down wings on the quarters, this is a yacht that caters to almost every activity on or under the water. And its extensive storage capacity for fresh food, fresh water and waste means that it can easily stay out of port for a month. But the XV67’s accommodation is just as impressive. There are five guest cabins, a bar, skylounge, sun deck with firepit and dining indoors and out. The wheelhouse is designed so that the owner and the captain can plan their next itinerary in comfort. And there’s even a private crow’s nest, for taking in the view.

The star of the show, however, is a breathtaking three-deck owner’s suite. From the full-beam master cabin on the main deck, twin staircases lead up to an elevated owner’s lounge, and then up again to the foredeck, where armchairs and a table can be set under an awning for private downtime. There’s even access to a rare bowsprit viewing platform for dolphin spotting.

“It is the first time these features have been combined in an explorer yacht,” says Cavendish. “That’s part of what makes the XV67 such a unique proposition.”

Recognising that guests and owners alike will also want to relax, the XV67 has an extensive

wellness centre that runs to a sauna, massage and treatment centre, hot tub and ice shower. There’s also a pool with a view on the sundeck and a gym with floor-to-ceiling windows, while the helipad converts into an outdoor lounging or exercise area.

“We have noticed a new type of superyacht owner getting in touch,” says Cavendish. “They want to keep in good shape and stay on the move, rather than chilling out in St Tropez or Porto Cervo. But equally they don’t want to compromise on quality or comfort when they do go off the beaten track. With our superyacht-quality finish and full-custom design programme, we are the only brand in the segment that can tick all these boxes.”

Despite its 67m length, the new yacht retains a very manageable volume and moderate draught. Both Heesen and Winch are hoping that their hard work pays off by attracting a new generation of ocean wanderers. “We have lots of clients talking to us about this type of vessel –they tend to be younger and want something practical,” finishes Dixon. “They are as interested in brands as they are in other aspects of their life, so that combination of Winch and Heesen together is attractive. Our names are front and centre on the bow plate.”

Winch Design

In a star-studded firmament, Winch Design stands out as one of the brightest of the world’s yacht design studios. The business was established in the UK by the inimitable Andrew Winch over three decades ago, and has grown from a first commission for a Swan 36 to produce the interiors of some of the world’s biggest private yachts.

Along the way, Winch Design has branched out into aviation design and architecture. And in some ways, the XV67 project has drawn the best from all these disciplines, with its require -

Above The XV67 is available with or without a helicopter platform

ment for extreme autonomy, its robust but lightweight build, and a focus on total luxury.

But intriguingly enough, environmental responsibility is one of the key interior design trends. “We’re focusing heavily on using more sustainable materials and suppliers, and that is creating a rich seam of gold in terms of new materials,” says Jim Dixon. “It won’t be long at all before we’re not using teak, but there are a number of natural timber alternatives available.

“Applying the same rigour to the selection process, we are looking at alternative stone types, too, and at how we can be less indulgent and less prescriptive about slabs of stone – using offcuts and wastage instead, for instance. Then there are terrazzo or mosaic-type products, and we’re trying to interest clients in alternatives such as Paperstone.”

“We’re focusing heavily on using more sustainable materials and suppliers”

YOUR GUIDE TO UNDERWATER LIVING

EXPLORING INNER SPACE

Legendary underwater cities like Atlantis have captured the imagination for centuries, but could they ever move beyond the realms of fiction? We asked the founder of Triton Submarines

TEXT BY GEORGIA TINDALE

If there is one common characteristic among those in the superyacht industry, it is a love of the ocean. Whether crossing from coast to coast by yacht, racing across the surface on a jet ski, or diving the depths in a submarine, the urge to immerse ourselves in the world of the oceans seems to be almost universal.

But what about actually living there? L Bruce Jones has recently retired as CEO of Triton Submarines and now spearheads numerous technological projects, including a forthcoming venture, Singapore-based Undersealiving, which plans to build fully submerged residences and resorts.

This new company harnesses Jones’s expert knowledge of what it takes to build the ultimate, resilient underwater residences – Triton, after all, built the first and so far only manned submarine capable of reaching the deepest point of the world’s oceans, 11,000 metres down. Excitingly, as Bruce explains, these

residences are not the stuff of crystal balls and pie-in-the-sky thinking: “The technology already exists, and certainly the novelty of being able to exist underwater is pretty terrific. You get to see and experience things that no one has ever seen or experienced before. Personally speaking, I find being underwater to be an incredibly peaceful, relaxing experience, and I think most people would agree,” he says. “From that

perspective, I think there is definitely a market for these undersea resorts and private residences – maybe even some high-end commercial space that can warrant the initial capital expenditure. As an important distinction, however, as far as wholesale cities or towns are concerned, such as Jacques Cousteau’s Conshelf villages in the 1960s, I just don’t see that happening in the near future.”

“ The technology already exists, and certainly the novelty of being able to exist underwater is pretty terrific“

Practically perfect In terms of practicalities, there are many locations around where these undersea resorts could be brought to life, as Bruce highlights: “It all depends on where someone would like to build the first one. For the early ones, you want to be in a protected area so that you are not subject to the full intensity of the weather and storms. But there are lots of possibilities –whether that is the Florida

Keys, or natural lagoons in the South Pacific.”

And what about the environmental impact? Bruce and his colleagues have thought of that. “The concept is designed to be totally innocuous environmentally. The houses would all be fully certified as such by the authorities before we build them. You are not discharging sewage into the oceans and there are no diesel fuels involved at any stage.

In terms of getting them onto the sea floor, what we do is put attachments of pilings onto them, and cut the piling off, then the whole structure is cantilevered over the sea floor, about a metre or so off, so that it doesn’t do any damage to the environment.”

As for getting to your underwater house, it’s a breeze, according to Bruce: “We would build a pier out to where you’ve got 50 or 60 feet of water

Visuals by Karine Rousseau Interior Design Studio

(15 to 18 metres). You have a platform beside the pier, and you walk from the pier right onto the surface platform, open a door, get in, and take the elevator down – with a spiral staircase system in case of emergencies. You would remain fully connected to land for all the essentials – the homes are powered by

electricity coming from land, you pump all of your sewage back to shore, you have fresh water, and so on.”

Under pressure

Naturally, building residences under water comes with various structural considerations, but perhaps not as many as you might think. Compared

to the difficulties involved in building submarines to withstand pressures at the bottom of the ocean, for Bruce and team, these residences are simple, as he explains: “An important point to realise is that these structures will be one atmosphere. This means they are at surface pressure, irrespective of the depth of emplacement. As a

Above Retired CEO Bruce Jones, co-founder of Triton Submarines

result, there are no physiological ramifications to your body as a result of being down there.”

Obviously, the underwater environment will also have an impact on the design of these residences, as Bruce highlights. “The external structure is sort of like a pie

tin, which is a structural requirement in order for the buildings to successfully withstand the hydrostatic pressure, and it also offers those inside an amazing 360-degree view.”

Where the interior is concerned, there is far more room for owners to put their own stamp on the residences: “The interior can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. We have a 3,600 square foot unit (335 square metre) with three bedrooms on two levels – and you can have more bedrooms if you want. It’s pretty luxurious.”

Current yacht owners may also opt to coordinate their new residences with the style of their current vessels, as Bruce himself is planning to do. “My boat, for example, is a contemporary vessel with a beautiful, high-gloss cherry interior. I like this kind of traditional boat, so when I build the first residence myself, it is going to be in the same style.”

Twelve million dollars

So with the technology in place, what is it that is currently separating us from these exciting underwater opportunities? Firstly, the capital investment, and, secondly, the willingness to be a guinea pig.

Bruce explains further: “It is a really simple thing to build once you are familiar with the technology. In terms of costs, we would be able to build one for $12 million or a much bigger one for $20 million, and it could be finished in around a year. In terms of a market, there is no existing, easy market for it, as no one has seen it done before, so they can’t imagine it. But once they’ve seen it done, they might think, ‘Oh, I’d like to have one of these!”

And what better way to provide proof of the concept than to build one for himself?

“I will fund the first one myself with some business people I know. We’ll set it up where you can lease or charter it for around $125,000 a week –which is absolutely comparable to the price of chartering a yacht – and this is a one-ofa-kind experience. People will come, and if they enjoy the experience, they may want us to build one for them. This is the best way I can think of to prove the concept – we’ll just have to see what the future holds and which owners are up for being trailblazers under the sea!”

www.ussubstructures.com

“ I will fund the first one myself with some business people I know“

" Yacht?

The only boat I’d ever been on was the Staten Island Ferry "

DON’T BLOCK TH E VIEW

An American interiors specialist looks back on a long and illustrious career that culminated in Lusine, Heesen’s full-custom 60-metre

DESIGNER PROFILE: DEE ROBINSON

TEXT BY MARILYN MOWER

There are various paths to becoming a yacht designer, but Dee Robinson’s route was perhaps unique. For the woman who oversaw the interior of Lusine, the full-custom 60-metre Heesen, it began with not one but two detours from medical school. “When I was five years old, I made up my mind to become a doctor,” she says. “That’s all I wanted to be.”

Then, while studying biology and physics at the University of Maryland, she took the abrupt step at age 19 of enlisting in the US Navy. It was the middle of the Vietnam War. “It wasn’t that I wanted to show support for the war. Those were my friends who were being drafted and shot at. I wanted to help them.”

With her pre-med background, she became a hospital corpsman and trained in emergency medicine and trauma care. She hoped to be assigned to a hospital ship, but in those days, women could not be billeted on US Navy ships. Frustrated with the glass ceiling, after her tour of duty, she returned to school and resumed her studies, now with the dream of being a reconstructive surgeon. Urban hospitals soon realized that the returning Navy corpsmen and Army medics had more advanced trauma skills than most of their classroom-trained specialists and recruited these veterans as emergency room physician assistants. Dee worked the night shift at George Washington University Hospital, attending class by day and preparing medical illustrations.

“I slept every other day,” she recalls. Then, while standing in line to select her senior year courses, she saw students lining up for courses in Interior design. “I didn’t know you could get a degree in that. I looked at the course list and saw things

like ‘History of Furniture’. I realized I had seen a lot of what‘s ugly in this world. I wanted to work with people, but to make their lives beautiful instead, so I abruptly switched my major to Interior Design.”

One night Robinson, an avid Harley Davidson owner, wrangled a ticket to a celebrity roast for the daredevil Evel Knievel. At the event, she caught his eye. An assistant was sent to ask if she wanted to come to the after-party on his yacht.

“Yacht? The only boat I’d ever been on was the Staten Island Ferry. Sure, why not?” At the party, Knievel introduced himself and asked her what she did. “Rather than say I was still a student, I exaggerated and told him I was an interior designer. He said, ‘Great, you can redo my boat. I like blue’.” The ‘boat’ was a 124-foot Feadship he had renamed Evil Eye. He gave her a $10,000 check for materials on the spot. The next day, she hired her professors as her subcontractors.

“I needed them for their licenses and contacts,” she said. When she finished redoing his suite, he asked her to complete the rest of it. “I did a complete re-fit only to find out later that he was just chartering the boat. One day I got a

" It wasn’t that I wanted to show support for the war. Those were my friends who were being drafted and shot at. I wanted to help them"

call from a man who identified himself as an assistant to the yacht’s owner. I said, ‘Do you mean Evel’? ‘No’, the voice on the phone said, ‘the real owner, and he’s mad. He wants to see you right away.’

“When I arrived for the meeting, the owner looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I hate what you did to my boat’. He paused for a moment. ‘But I’m hiring you to put it back exactly the way it was’. My second job was undoing my first.”

It was a rollicking start to a new career, but after graduation, the real yacht design work was in the trenches refitting 50- to 70-foot Hatterases, Browards and Burgers. “I remember my first new build over 100 feet, Lauderdale Lady. The builder put a price of $1 million on it, and I thought that he was crazy.” He wasn’t. After several years as the house designer for Hatteras of Lauderdale, she opened her own studio. Steadily, Dee

Robinson Custom Yacht Interiors grew into one of the most prolific such firms in the US. She designed a series of spec yachts called Victory Lane, first built in composite at Hatteras and then in aluminium at Trinity Yachts in New Orleans. In all, Robinson did nearly 20 Trinities up to 180 feet.

On Trinity’s pontoon at the 2003 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, she met the second pivotal client of her career, the future owner of MY Lusine. “He was interested in building a 150-footer, but before he would sign, he asked to meet their designer. He invited me to sit and asked, ‘Can you tell me why I pay for the boat and then get the worst cabin? Why do I have to be forward where the boat gets smaller and the motion is greatest? I want to be in the best part of the boat. Can you do that for me?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I can redesign the entire bridge deck for you.’” He signed the contract with Robinson as his designer. The boat became White Star and

Left The 50-metre White Star

(image courtesy Boat International)

was a game changer, with an owner’s stateroom, lounge office and private deck aft of the bridge.

Next, he hired her to design the interior of a 130 Westport as a Dubai-based mothership to his fishing tenders and a place to hang out with friends. She also renovated apartments for him in Paris and Beirut. Meanwhile, her yacht design career continued apace, often with three or four refits and a new build going on simultaneously. And then came the global financial crisis and new yacht contracts evaporated.

“I saw the writing on the wall. I thought I’ve had a good run, I’ve done everything I wanted to do except a new build in Northern Europe. But I knew it was time. I called all my clients to say that I was retiring and closing the business.”

Robinson clearly remembers the conversation with the owner and this sharp reply into the phone. “No. You will not,” he said. Robinson replied that she had made up her mind and had already released her staff. “Then you will become my personal design consultant. I am not going to start over,” he said, adding

Below Visual of the main saloon, MY Lusine

he was already negotiating for a replacement for the Trinity, a custom build at Delta Marine. “He was always open to new ideas and applications, but the basic requirements never changed: the view, privacy

Despite assisting with the build at Delta, she made a break with yachting by moving to western Kentucky with her husband, Phil, and immersing herself in establishing a charity, PAWS, that helps local sheltered pets. Upon discovering that Kentucky had no laws against animal abuse, she set out to fix that. Her once-solo crusade for animal welfare has become a state-wide legislative movement. And consistent with her first career detour, she is the Chaplain for the American Legion Honor Guard supporting efforts to help US veterans.

Then the owner called again. It was time to replace the Westport and he wanted Robinson on his team, evaluating not only designers but also yards for a custom yacht. He chose Heesen and the Dutch firm Sinot to create the interiors, with Robinson as his personal consultant to approve layouts, fabrics, finishes and furniture.

" You do not have fabrics as beautiful as God’s sea , so make the windows big and don’t block the view"

Thanks to Covid, it was not an easy build. “I knew from working with the Heesen group and his personal team it was going to be my very best effort yet, although by far the most difficult. Sadly, the gentleman died before his first trip aboard Lusine.”

The beautiful 60-metre perhaps checks the last item on Dee’s superyacht wish list. Robinson is an Italian-American New Yorker with a brilliant smile and a take-no-prisoners attitude, while Lusine’s owner was a quiet Middle Eastern businessman. “He told me, ‘you do not have fabrics as beautiful as God’s sea, so make the windows big and don’t block the view’.”

Theirs was an unlikely client-designer relationship, one that lasted 20 years through four yachts and several residential projects. Like many things in life, it began with a twist of fate.

WELCOME ABOARD LUSINE

FLY ME TO THE MOON

A stunning new 60-metre Heesen FDHF superyacht with an interior that is simply out of this world

TEXT BY JULIA ZALTZMAN

When Lusine’s owner pictured his new custom fast-displacement yacht, his vision was out of this world. This cosmic creation features more than 180 rare materials in a dazzling interior penned by Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design. Over 30 different types of wood, precious fabrics and exquisite finishes come together to create one of the most

detailed superyachts ever crafted. And the jewel in the crown? An intergalactic inlay of meteorite, mounted centre-stage in the middle of the main saloon table.

Oak Versailles-patterned floors, crystal chandeliers by Precision lighting, and gold leaf and white onyx sideboards complement the lifestyle of a Middle Eastern owner with classic French tastes. Stingray skin lines the walls. Mother of

Left Main saloon

pearl adds a lustrous sheen. Clocks of all shapes and sizes are found in every room to underline the mantra that “time is precious.”

Though the owner sadly passed away just a week before Lusine was delivered in spring 2022, his focus never wavered. Above all else, Lusine – meaning moon in Armenian – was intended to be a boat enjoyed with friends and family, an intention that is reflected in an exhaustive attention to detail.

“The owner really considered every aspect of the design and layout,” says Paul Costerus, senior designer at Sinot. “From how guests are greeted when they board the boat, to the precise height of a bedroom drawer, even to the angle and placement of the bedside light switches in the master suite. He was very particular about all the practical needs.”

Lusine has more single beds than are typically found aboard a yacht of this size – albeit larger than the standard single. It’s a setup that reflects the owner’s wish for Lusine to be a place where time aboard could be spent in the company of friends and “everyone should feel equal”.

“The guest bathrooms are symmetrical, each with a dual set up, for when the cabin is shared by two individuals who are not necessarily a couple,” says Costerus.

Though travel was restricted during the pandemic, multiple samples of every material were sent to the owner for approval. Though brightly lit with natural light, the main saloon enjoys a moody atmosphere with rich woods in all guises, such as open pore walnut, lacquered walnut and high gloss walnut in various shades. A stainless steel trim with a champagne gold leaf inlay illuminates wood panelled walls. In one room, it’s blue puffer fish trim. In the next, green chagrin, a luxury goat leather.

“There are nuances of all types of materials in each room,” says Costerus. “Whichever one is spotlighted is always in sync with something else in the room.”

At the heart of the design was the owner’s desire to craft something worth seeing. “He wanted to be proud of this thing that he was creating.”

Right Lusine’s central elevator

Below 3D artwork embossed in leather

Artworks complement the inventive interior. Soaring up the stairwell in the central atrium that reaches up from the lower deck to the sun deck is a cream wall of tooled 3D leather by British artist Helen Amy Murray. It illustrates three dimensions of nature: marine life on the lower deck, birds and clouds on the level above, and at the top, the moon and stars.

Celestial wall charts made from blue agate and straw marquetry represent the night sky, with stars crafted from moonstone. Moonstone is also found in the main saloon, surrounded by palladium leaf. The yacht’s namesake symbol is found throughout the interior, and even in some exterior guest areas, such as the sun deck, where a touch-and-go helipad is personalized with a crescent moon, replacing the usual letter H. Minimal furniture makes the sun deck highly flexible. It can serve as a dance floor, yoga deck or sun lounge. Unusually, this level houses a twin suite forward, which has its own private terrace.

On the dedicated owner’s deck resides a fullbeam suite with king-sized bed, his and her

bathrooms, and a study. At the touch of a button, the master suite windows frost, creating a sanctuary in which to relax. The private terrace has lounge seats that face the stern with panoramic views and an on-deck jacuzzi. The area is also set up for secluded private dining.

“The owner considered all aspects of crew service to minimize disruption to guests,” says Costerus. “All access and crew areas are hidden away, so they can operate like a secret service.”

Nothing has been spared in the way of comforts, including marble-clad ensuites with underfloor heating and a beach club for lazing by the edge of the ocean. Lusine’s owner may have been denied the joy of enjoying his yacht on the water, but his vision to play among the stars lives on.

Above Owner’s bathroom

Below Owner’s bedroom

ISLANDS OF YOUR DREAMS

Our round-up of the top five private island experiences that every superyacht owner needs to try

TEXT BY JULIA ZALTZMAN

Le Grand Jardin, C annes

Cannes has thrown open its doors, housing 24 guests in 12 exclusive bedrooms.

Dine on fresh produce grown in the botanic gardens. Spend the night in Louis XIV’s revamped 16th century tower, where Napoleon once slept.

Layered with history and bound in time, Le Grand Jardin is a newly reopened Garden of Eden located on the largest of the French Riviera’s Îles de Lérins. Some 150 hectares of

outstanding natural heritage, Île Sainte-Marguerite has long been off limits to visitors looking to stay the night. Now, the private walled estate just half a mile from the Bay of

Dine al fresco among the palm-fringed gardens where Napoleon grazed his horses and soak up the island’s golden sunsets. Only accessible by boat, it’s a secret escape, far from the madding crowd.

lgj-cannes.com

Eilean Shona, Scotland

Eilean Shona is a car-free wilderness set on Scotland’s dramatic west coast. The island’s lichen-cloaked hills stand proud above tranquil Loch Moidart. Here moss and wildflowers thrive in a rich biodiverse environment, a true hideaway that once inspired author J.M. Barrie when penning the Peter Pan screenplay. Charmingly rustic and reached by helicopter or boat, there are nine guest cottages and one great house

in which to rest weary feet. The abundance of wildlife gives way to a forager’s heaven, where homegrown mussels are cooked on the beach and ice cold fresh oysters are shucked with sand between your toes. Celebration meals are held on Shoe Bay, toasted with whisky and gin blended with the island’s botanicals.

eileanshona.com

Lanai, Hawaii

Breathe in deeply, exhale slowly and relax. You’ve arrived. Sensei Lāna’i is the Four Seasons’ first adults-only offering focusing on tailored wellness, nutrition and health. The 96-room hotel sits high up in the dusty mountains on Hawaii’s smallest volcanic island, majority owned by American businessman Larry Ellison. Plantation chic with a modern twist, landscaped gardens envelope the main house. A yawning pine tree-lined view descends to the coastline. Voluptuous Botero figurines lie seductively by the main entrance, and are just a few of the striking sculptures that pepper the 24-acre gardens, alongside

Onsen baths and high-end restaurant options. Just 8.8 miles from sandy Hulopoe Beach and with an onsite zipline over Kaiholena Gulch, island offerings include off-roading around the Pālāwai basin, hikes across the volcanic moonscape terrain and spa treatments in private spa ‘hales’.

fourseasons.com/sensei

Moskito Island, British Virgin Islands

We thought it wasn’t possible, but Richard Branson’s Moskito Island – the Caribbean’s newest private isle – just got more inviting. Guests can now drink in the experience from the privacy of their own estate. Named The Village, the nine-bedroom personalised retreat rests on a clifftop on the far west of the island. It offers extraordinary seascapes, sleeping up to 18 guests in thatched-roof cottages. Enjoy movie nights in a private home cinema. Work out in the fully equipped gym with motivational sea views. Take yoga classes in the garden. And party with friends in the two-story infinity pool and cantilevered glassbottom hot tub, overlooked by a hidden DJ booth that rises from the outdoor deck. The property even enjoys its own hiking trail and a slide that wraps around the edge of the estate.

virginlimitededition.com/ en/moskito-island

Velaa Private Island, Maldives

Velaa Private Island is a destination to remember, now bolstered by a wellness village launching in 2023. Here world-class athletes and practitioners will tailor exclusive workshops attuned to guests’ preferences and designed to promote inner balance and health. The island’s signature eatery, Aragu, headed by award-

the archipelago to be accessed by boat, equipped with its own private chef, treatment rooms and waterside living. Nestled within the constellation of islands that form the Noonu Atoll, activities include Hatha yoga classes, the Cloud 9 pod that cradles guests into a state of deep relaxation, and the Maldives’ first and only snow room that cleanses the body and improves quality of sleep.

velaaprivateisland.com

AFTER YOU’S STUNNING REFIT

SIMPLY IRRE SISTIBLE

TEXT BY JULIA ZALTZMAN

Originally launched in 2011, the 55-metre After You (ex-Quinta Essentia) offers ample space to unwind, a raft of modern amenities and a dedicated, professional crew of 13. Delivering an unrivalled charter proposition for up to 12 guests, After You proves an irresistible option for families, couples and friends.

After You sits within a coveted size range that combines accessibility with large entertaining areas. Since its extensive nine-month 2022 refit which gave the boat a striking Aristo blue hull, Kingston grey superstructure and an entirely refurbished interior, the sporty charter vessel has become even more in demand in its Mediterranean and Caribbean cruising grounds.

“We charter throughout Europe during the summer months, often with multiple charters in Italy, Sardinia and Greece, before crossing the Atlantic to the balmy Caribbean,” says rotational chief officer, Kevin Dumont. “The owner is keen on extensive Pacific cruising in Patagonia and Alaska too, which gives us a worldwide cruising itinerary outside of peak season.”

After You was acquired by the current owner in June 2021 and quickly underwent a refit with the aim of making the yacht a unique charter platform. British designer Mark Berryman was commissioned to reimagine an onboard environment that meets the owner’s needs while also appealing to a broad, year-round charter market.

“The family loves blues and pops of colour, which repeat throughout the yacht as soft furnishing accents, but the ambience is largely relaxed and calming with neutral tones and

A 12-year-old Heesen gets keel-up attention from a specialist yard and emerges as one of the most alluring charter propositions in her class

tactile fabrics that carry international allure,” says Berryman. “These complement some of the yacht’s original features, such as the lacquered bulkheads that have been kept for contrasting effect.”

Consistency runs throughout, with new furniture commissioned in ebony macassar and bog oak to match existing features. The onboard experience centres around guest comfort, with soft wool carpets underfoot, leather venetian blinds that let guests control the interior sunlight, and distressed European oak flooring for a chic yet durable finish.

“The redesign was all about light and shade celebrating subtle lifestyle elements on board that have a story to tell, such as the fantastic collection of bourbons displayed in the main deck bar,” says Berryman.

Leathers in plain, woven and embossed patterns bring a softness to the interior, while on the exterior decks, flexibility rules. The coffee tables rise to incorporate a sun pad for reclined seating. When it’s time for lunch, the sun pads are removed, and the height further increased, creating seating areas for dining. All the deck areas can be configured differently giving flexibility to the entire exterior, but key to the

offering is the opulent sun deck which puts wellbeing to the fore. It incorporates a wellness spa with gym, treatment room, sauna, hammam and relaxation area forward for vistas and vino.

“The owner is an experienced charterer,” says Dumont. “He bought After You to enjoy with his friends and family, but he knows what charter guests want.”

Top of his must-have list were the latest water toys for the whole family to enjoy, from jet skis and Seabobs to e-lifts, wakeboards, kayaks and paddle boards. A collection of inflatable platforms sits at the stern meaning all the toys and all 12 guests can be accommodated in the water at the same time.

Alongside delivering a seven-star service, the multilingual crew possess a range of skills to help guests make the most of their time on the water. These include jet ski instructors who offer training and guidance, onboard dive masters who accompany both novice and experienced divers, as well as supply all the necessary equipment, and kite surfing instructors.

“We have everything you can imagine for a 55-metre yacht,” says Dumont. “It’s a gold set up, from which guests can take their pick. As fun as that is, our main priority is always safety, which is why so many of our crew are also qualified instructors. Our sous chef is one of the fastest kite surfers in the world, clocking speeds of up to 46 knots. She travels way faster than the yacht at full speed,” smiles Dumont. Should it rain, there is also a cinema.

Not many 55-metre charter yachts incorporate four rotational chefs, but with the owner prioritising excellence in onboard gastronomy, After You enjoys a head chef who creates mouth-watering culinary dishes for guests, and a sous chef who keeps the crew fed on

nutritional goodness. Oenophiles will also appreciate the well-stocked wine cellar, with wine pairings available on request.

After You is a resplendent charter platform, with a limousine tender for stylish guest transfers and a 16-metre sportfishing boat for active days away from the mothership. From morning swims in the pool to sunset drinks in one of the yacht’s two Jacuzzis, few charter yachts can offer a comparable onboard experience.

The refit

After You’s refit in La Ciotat, France, included a full exterior paint respray and an entirely new interior/exterior proposition to ensure that comfort and style reign supreme. Key to the charter-friendly concept is guests’ enjoyment regardless of age, ability or interests, which is why the refit focused on creating such an impressive entertainment set up.

The original tender garage was converted into a luxurious beach club that the entire family can enjoy together – adults drinking in the views while the children play in the water. In lieu of this change, the yacht’s foredeck was reconfigured to neatly store four jet skis and the cinema. When it came to digital entertainment, the yacht’s technology package was stepped up a gear. Now equipped with the latest in AV/IT, it includes Apple TV, Bluetooth audio, 100-inch TVs in every salon and super-fast internet connection.

When the sun has set, the main deck aft converts into a dance floor on which to party the night away, with karaoke, a 5000-Watt sound system, disco lights and a colour changing illuminated name board to set the mood.

Complementing the yacht’s shallow draft –a Heesen calling card – and a long explorer range, After You’s refit ensured the yacht’s transformational deck space offers all the amenities and extras any guest can dream of.

" We have everything you can imagine for a 55-metre yacht"

The world of cocktails is changing fast. We talk to one of the world’s most talented emerging mixologists about the increasing interconnectedness of cocktails and haute cuisine

SHAKING THINGS U P

TEXT BY FERNANDA ROGGERO

Alessandro Di Gregorio has had a dazzling career. He opened his first bar at the age of 23, in Sicily. He went on to serve as a brand ambassador for Campari, and to manage the bars of the Pourcel Group of triple-starred chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel in Montpellier, where he now lives, overseeing their operations in France, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

But he still remembers how he got started, in a downtown

bar in Caltagirone, standing on a plastic box behind the counter at the age of 12.

“I couldn’t reach the coffee machine!” he laughs. “But that world fascinated me – I felt important, and liked to think how fundamental those five minutes they spent in our company were for our customers.”

“ I felt important, and liked to think how fundamental those five minutes they spent in our company were for our customers”

Working for the Pourcels, he says, he discovered "the important interconnection between cocktails and haute cuisine," which has revolutionized the bartender's work over the past two decades. The great classics have given way to increasingly complex signature cocktails, and increasingly innovative techniques. "It's all very interesting," says Alessandro, "except that the hospitality side has been lost a bit. We are all so focused on the show and the complexity of the cocktails to be served, that we are forgetting our main goal, which is to make our customers have a good time.”

So he never forgets to engage with them, even with the most basic inquiries: alcoholic or non-alcoholic? Dry or sweet? The rest, he says, follows on naturally from that first contact.

Just as in kitchens, these days behind bar counters professionals talk of extractions, infusions and fermentations. "These are very old techniques that are making a comeback, in both haute cuisine and

mixology - which increasingly draws inspiration from fine dining,” explains Allessandro. “They certainly allow us to experiment and offer new taste palettes to our guests."

And to offer new products. Considering the new trend of alternative pairing, Di Gregorio has thought about creating mixed, infused and / or fermented drinks that are ready bottled, very low in alcohol content or even nonalcoholic. "It is very difficult to create virgin cocktail pairings that are not too sweet and overpowering in terms of taste,” he says, “so I am dusting off ancient procedures in order to create perfectly balanced drinks that can be enjoyed as an accompaniment to a wide variety of dishes.” At first these new creations will be available only in his new venue, which opens in Montpellier next March. He will also offer gourmet versions of Italianstyle aperitifs.

If bartenders have changed, it is because customers have too, and are now much more knowledgeable and curious. "They are familiar with the great classics but at the same time they are more willing to try new tastes and new

“ I couldn’t reach the coffee machine! ”

experiences," agrees Alessandro. "The demands vary from person to person, but I would say that for a variety of reasons – health, ethical, religious –low-alcohol cocktails are now a growing trend everywhere in the world. People are more health-conscious and, above all, they realise that it is possible to drink well without alcohol. People who want a non-alcoholic drink are no longer obliged to ask for a simple soda or a juice."

Take aperitifs. The idea is to stimulate the taste buds in anticipation of the meal. Bitterness provokes the greatest reaction on the tongue, as in a Spritz, Negroni, or Americano, but how is this achieved without alcohol? "A nonalcoholic aperitif that I really

like is the carbonated infusion of gentian root mixed with blood orange nectar,” says Alessandro. “Simple and effective. You can make it at home or on the boat by putting the gentian root in boiling water, letting it sit for 24 hours and then adding carbon dioxide with a siphon or soda stream. Just serve with a good sweet blood orange juice and lots of ice." The ingredients that can be the most useful are those that tone down the sweetness of seasonal fruits, such as tea, ginger, lemongrass, mint and spices.

And on board, what are the professional's suggestions?

"On the boat, I suggest keeping it simple. During the day, non-alcoholic drinks with fresh fruit extracts, soda

(or champagne, if you want low-alcohol) and lots of ice. An example? Pineapple juice, ginger extract, ice and top with soda or champagne. In the evening, I would suggest having a cocktail of vodka, fresh crushed fruit (choosing local and seasonal ones at each port you stop at), soda and lots of crushed ice, or just a good glass of champagne or white wine.”

Alex joined the Heesen press cruise on board the 60-metre full-custom MY Lusine. For the twelve lucky guests on this exclusive voyage from Monaco to Ramatuelle, near St Tropez, he prepared three refreshing ‘mocktails’: fresh squeezed lemonade with wild fennel soda and lemongrass syrup, coconut water with pineapple juice and cinnamon reduction, and pink grapefruit juice with lime and honey and jasmine infusion tea.

Alex says he loves exploring gastronomic cultures when he travels, and he gets inspired by local products. In the Côte d'Azur, for example, a chilled Côte de Provence rosé, served with some fresh raspberries, is hard to beat.

And what does he drink at home with his wife Lorena?

"I love to drink a good whisky. It is by far my favourite spirit. For mixing, though, I prefer pisco and mezcal."

“ On the boat, I suggest keeping it simple ”

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE GIFT ING IN STYLE

When invited to spend time on board as a guest, navigating the world of suitable superyacht gifts can seem like a daunting task. We asked luxury lifestyle supplier Glancy Fawcett for ideas for the perfect present to take to sea

TEXT BY JULIA ZALTZMAN

LALIQUE MOSSI VASE

Synonymous with beauty and elegance, the Lalique Mossi Vase would be a flawless addition to any yacht interior. René Lalique designed this flagship piece in 1933. His original choice of material was plain glass, which the company transformed into the vibrant intensity of crystal. Bringing a kaleidoscope of colour to any occasion, the Mossi plays on the contrast between the brilliance of its cabochons and the frosting of its base, and is now also available in an extra-large size. It’s an exquisite example of why the house of Lalique is globally renowned for its timeless designs and exceptional craftsmanship.

ROBBE & BERKING DANTE CHAMPAGNE FLUTES AND COOLER

Robbe & Berking’s stunning silverplated Champagne flutes and cooler elevate the simplest of drink accessories into a statement piece of art. Made from 90g silver plate (with the option of a gold-plated finish if required) and handmade by silver experts in Germany, the Dante collection is hard-wearing and brings subtle sophistication to an onboard celebration. The silver assumes the crisp temperature of the finest Champagne, ensuring beverages remain refreshing even in tropical heat. It’s also ideal for exterior deck settings, where glass is best avoided, and the finest Champagnes are gleefully quaffed.

SAINT-LOUIS CRYSTAL CHESS SET

An exceptional gift of some of the world’s finest crystal, the Saint-Louis Crystal Chess Set is also an artful interpretation of the ancient game. Expertly crafted by master glassblowers and beautifully designed with a contemporary touch, it is as beautiful to behold as it is compelling to play with. A timeless classic and conversation starter, each chess piece reimagines one of SaintLouis’ classic decanter stoppers. The game board is crafted from clear or dyed dark beech wood and covered with a matte varnish, while the pieces are crafted in grey and clear crystal.

LORO PIANA OASIS THROW

GLANCY FAWCETT JEWELLERY BOXES

Snuggle into a world of luxury with a sumptuously soft throw from renowned Italian brand, Loro Piana Interiors. Synonymous with excellence and exquisitely crafted, this 100 per cent merino wool throw is the perfect warming addition to a starlit evening out on deck. Featuring geometric patterns and a fringed edge, it combines exquisite design with high-end comfort, ideal for keeping in the heat outdoors or adding a touch of refined glamour to an indoor setting. It is as versatile as it is elegant, available in a range of colours, and a luxurious addition to any yacht.

Designed in-house by Glancy Fawcett and crafted in collaboration with skilled British artisans, this incredible jewellery box is available in a multitude of designs, appliqued using sustainably sourced butterfly wings. From iridescent blues to flaming reds, the most eye-catching butterfly wings are artfully arranged to bring beauty and admiration after their lifespan is over. Every detail is carefully considered to make each exquisite box a thrilling container for prized jewels, and a special addition to a yacht’s interior.

For prices and info, contact Glancy Fawcett on contact@glancyfawcett.com

Tel: +44 (0) 161 876 5356. www.glancyfawcett.com

" You're not calling Sea Tow twelve hundred miles from shore"

MID-ATLANTIC MISHAP

EXPECT THE UNEX PECTED

It was neither the time nor the place to get

TEXT BY CECILE GAUERT

Captain Billy Lockhart began his yachting career two decades ago, after working as a dive instructor and on cruise ships. He has plenty of experience. When he tells the story of how the 50-metre Heesen known as Project Aura got disabled in the middle of the Atlantic on her way home to Fort Lauderdale, he uses no hyperbole. There is no need.

The yacht was somewhere over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, in deep water and 1,200 nautical miles from land. There was a hurricane in the offing, not too close but already causing five-metre swells. Lockhart was on watch with the chief stew at three in the morning when the port engine stopped abruptly, all alarms blaring. He calmly pulled the throttles back and asked the stew to raise the engineer. Down below, in the belly of what Lockhart admiringly calls "the beast", all appeared normal.

A displacement yacht with a steel hull and a 2.75-metre draught is solid and capable, but bobbing in the middle of the Atlantic with only one engine, and the prospect of worsening weather, is no fun. After a first assessment, Lockhart decided to re-engage the starboard engine to activate the stabilisers. Better for the nine people on board, and to preserve the interior.

But what had gone wrong? He asked his crewmates to check if the portside propeller was turning. It wasn’t, and soon they knew why. Part of a line, roughly 18 centimetres in diameter, was trailing behind them. They secured the loose end, but it was all they could do in the dark and in those waves. When morning came, the sea was still rough.

“Clearly, no one was getting into the water, so we rigged up an endoscope to a deck brush pole and stopped just long enough to throw the endoscope in and take video and pictures of the underside of the boat.” It was a horror show. “Fifty feet of a nylon ship hawser was tied in a giant bow around the strut and the prop, twisted about six times, and wrapped around the port rudder.”

Lockhart decided to wait a few hours for better weather. But even as it improved, he knew no one was coming for them in the middle of the Atlantic. “You're not calling Sea Tow twelve hundred miles from shore,” he says with a laugh. He knew then he would have to go in, even without his diving gear, which was waiting in Fort Lauderdale. From a hose, a fender inflating pump, and some duct tape, the crew rigged up a breathing apparatus so he could go down and try to cut the line loose. The chef also went in as a spotter. A stew worked the radio to relay information while Lockhart attacked the line with a bread knife, breathing through the hose clenched between his teeth. He eventually realised it was hopeless. There was no cutting through the thick nylon line.

Right Tough customer: the guilty hawser, before and after

“Even if we had been anchored in an idyllic cove in the Bahamas, with unlimited divers and dive gear, we would probably still have spent an entire day trying to cut that thing off, and possibly still not succeeded,” says Lockhart, who reluctantly gave up on the plan.

So now what? The engineer had contacted friends, and a captain told them he had resolved a similar problem by reversing the engines. Initially, Lockhart was dubious: “The way that thing is tied around there, I’m thinking the last six wraps are melted to glass!”

But what other choice did they have? After tying weights to the rope's loose ends to keep them clear, and running a line up to the capstans on deck, the engineer fired up the engine in reverse while Lockhart, back down in the water, kept his eye on the process. And the line gave. A little bit. And a little more. The last six turns were so tight that the capstan alarms went off. But ninety minutes later, they were free.

“We tidied up our mess, and on we went,” Lockhart says. The crew discarded the offending line upon arrival in Fort Lauderdale, just one day behind schedule.

Looking back on what transpired, the captain says: “It was an enormous team effort, from the delivery engineer pitching me the idea of what finally freed us, to the second stew, now an unofficial radio officer, to the bosun working the capstans on the deck, and to my chef and part-time rescue swimmer.”

There is always the chance of encountering a problem at sea. And whatever it is, you need to be ready for it. “It’s a difficult concept, to embrace the unforeseen,” says Lockhart. “But that's something my father taught me – there's only one way to handle change, and that’s to embrace it.”

" It was an enormous team effort "

FOUR-LEGGED SHIPMATES

SAILING WITH SEA DOGS

TEXT BY RISA MERL

For many pet owners, their furry friends are part of the family. And for many Heesen yacht owners, their vessel is a home away from home. So it seems a natural fit to include their dogs in their nautical adventures, as the owners of Heesens, including Amare II, Ocean Z and Lady Petra, have done.

But pets come with questions: how do you keep them safe, plan an itinerary that allows for plenty of walks ashore, and keep the interiors spotless? And how can the design of a yacht take such things into account ahead of time to make the yacht perfect for a pet? To get these answers and more, we turned to the expertise of Captain Nick Powell of 50-metre Heesen Amare II, which counts two dogs among its guest list: Jesse, an 11-year-old cocker spaniel, and Vidar, a three-year-old Swiss shepherd.

The dogs are welcomed aboard by crew who have their toys out to make them feel at home, and they have beds in the primary cabin as well as the owners’ son’s room.

Taking your dogs on the boat might just seem too complicated - but with a bit of common sense and a lot of forward planning, cruising with canines can be a win-win

“They are completely different dogs with different needs,” says Captain Powell. There is a patch of Astroturf on board, but the spaniel prefers to relieve himself only ashore, which means Jesse joins the yacht for shorter jaunts in the South of France but not on longer-haul voyages. The bigger dog needs to stretch its legs more often, and he goes ashore at least

three times a day for walks. “The owners will take him for a big hike to let him run,” he says. So frequent stops ashore need to be factored into the yacht’s itinerary. Powell says that when cruising in more remote parts of the Mediterranean, he will use Google maps to find places. “Google maps shows us little jetties we wouldn’t see on the charts,” he explains. During inclement weather or long voyages, when going to shore isn’t an option, the owners will walk Vidar on the foredeck. Captain Powell says he’s never known the dogs to get physically ill from seasickness in rough weather, but they might get a little quieter and hunker down.

Keeping dogs safe is of prime importance. Amare II has mesh nets to keep the dogs off the swimming platform (and to keep them on it, so they can be showered off after a swim). Smaller dogs that could fall through a cut-out in the bulwarks would need more elaborate precautions, including lifejackets and personal EPIRBS, says Powell. But even on Amare II, dogs wear lifejackets in rough weather and in the tender. The tender has also been augmented with a grippy custom cushion at the bow that allows them to safely jump into the boat. It also protects the tender from scratches.

The dogs like to splash in the water with their people, and Heesen’s SeaScape bathing platforms can be a huge help. “We lower it so Vidar can swim onto it and then lift him out

that way – big dogs when they go in the water can become heavy and hard to get out.”

Another element to plan for at the design stage might be hard-wearing materials on the furniture and easy-to-clean carpets. Provisioning must also be taken into account. “We have a designated freezer where their food is stored. We buy a month’s supply and defrost it the night before they need it,” says Powell. He advises the captain to keep paperwork and certificates handy for all pets on board in case Customs ask to see them. “In Europe, pet passports are pretty straightforward, but further afield, there will need to be an all-clear from a vet 36 hours before going ashore,” he says. For dogs registered as support animals, such restrictions don’t apply.

One of the best parts of having a pet on board, says captain Powell, is how they boost crew morale. “The crew like having dogs on board – it’s good for their mental health, and their routines help to give a focus to the day,” he says. “It’s not as much of a hassle as it might appear.” Of course, when it comes to hiring crew, a captain needs to make sure applicants don’t have any pet

While pets on board bring their own challenges, with proper planning it can be a simple task to keep them happy. And the joy of having a fourlegged shipmate (or two) along is certainly worth

“ We have a designated freezer where their food is stored. We buy a month’s supply and defrost it

FULL STEAM AHEA D

What’s happening in the yacht market in the USA, and why does Heesen seem to be so well positioned to take advantage of the surge in Stateside interest?

TEXT BY JILL BOBROW

Talk to any yacht broker and, without a doubt, they’ll tell you that the hottest market for superyacht sales today is the United States. Heesen only attends four international yacht shows a year, and two of them are Stateside - Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach.

It is no secret that 2021 was off the charts in terms of US yacht sales, and 2022 came a close second. The American appetite for buying brokerage boats and commissioning new builds remains robust. The lack of brokerage inventory (as well as charter yacht availability) means yacht brokers have to scramble to meet their clients’ requests.

There are several theories as to why there has been such a recent spike in yacht sales and charter bookings. While exact statistics of the number of US billionaires fluctuates depending on whether you ask Wealth-X, Forbes, FOX, or CNN, suffice it to say the total wealth of US billionaires hit an all-time high in the last couple of years with a hugely significant gain over pre-pandemic assets.

Obviously not every billionaire owns a yacht or wants to. But unquestionably, the increase of personal wealth for some and the isolation of the global pandemic had many looking for somewhere to quarantine in safety and comfort with their families. Also, given the unpredictability of the duration of the pandemic, many people—undertaking less travel, and working remotely—had time to take stock of their lives and reassess what was important to them. The upfront realisation that life is ephemeral has become particularly poignant. Many experienced yacht owners traded up to include more family and friends aboard. And the uninitiated who got a taste of the yachting experience — maybe through friends — are now actively looking to get involved.

“We have not seen the Euro on par with the US Dollar since 1998,” says Thom Conboy, Heesen’s director of sales for North America, Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. “And that helps tremendously with Americans looking to buy a European built yacht.” Conboy first worked for Heesen in 2001 and knows the company probably better than any American broker.

“We own the market in the 50 to 60-metre size range in Northern Europe — and that is the

"We build great boats, and we offer great after sales service"

sweet spot for our American clients.” He elaborates: “Ten shipyards in North America and four in New Zealand that used to build in our size range have ceased to exist, but we at Heesen have staying power. We build great boats, and we offer great after sales service.”

Conboy also attributes Heesen’s success in America to a larger Heesen fleet, which is resulting in more brand recognition. “Back in the early 2000s when I started with Heesen, we built apples and oranges. They were good apples and oranges, but the company did not have the clear consistent trajectory that it has now.”

Bob Denison, president of Denison Yachting, who grew up in the yachting industry in Fort Lauderdale, reiterates that the 2021 sales stats were record breaking and says: “2022, while a little off from 2021, was still stronger than any other year in the last 20.” Denison’s grandfather Frank Denison and father Kit Denison founded Broward Marine and Denison Marine respectively. Bob assumed all management roles of his father’s brokerage in 2002 and is well apprised of market trends. “The supply and inventory are light now,” he says, “but since we have a really stable market, the good news is yachts are holding their value. We have seen many scenarios whereby yacht owners are selling their yachts for more than they paid for them.”

Denison explains that Heesen is well positioned in the American market for a number of reasons. “Americans have a love affair with speed, and Heesen yachts are known to go fast; we also appreciate shallow drafts so we can zip over to the Bahamas, and Americans like ‘not waiting’ and Heesen has a shorter build time frame than other northern European yards.”

Christian Bakewell, a veteran Beverly Hills sales and charter broker with Burgess, has recently returned from Burgess’s annual brokers’ conference in Amsterdam. The word from the conference was that while the US was always a significant market for Burgess, it has only got bigger since the Covid pandemic. “People are not used to not being able to control their own destinies,” says Bakewell, “so a yacht became a vehicle to regain that control coming out of the pandemic. Many of our clients were anxious to charter as a way to travel with a feeling of security. Not only were our usual clients looking for charter and sales, but their friends also got introduced to yachts for the first time and they wanted in.”

Bakewell says that with inventory so low, quick sales at boat shows have become more common. “I had a sale that happened in two days, with the particulars of the deal literally being consummated in real time on board the yacht.” Bakewell also touted Burgess’s management services. “New people in the yacht market do not know how to navigate

"Americans have a love affair with speed , and Heesen yachts are known to go fast"

Above Fast 50-metre aluminium yacht Book Ends

all the legal intricacies of owning a yacht, crew management and so on, and are seeking our help. Burgess does not advertise many of its yacht sales due to privacy concerns of our clients, but I can share with you that as a company we have had a record sales year.”

Bakewell mentions that currently with a market backlog of slots for custom builds, Heesen has the advantage of shorter build times. “This is very attractive to first time buyers,” says Bakewell. “Also, the full custom build process can be a bit overwhelming, so having a yacht built at Heesen where there are a number of series platforms to choose from and where a buyer only has to a make personal light touch to the interior, makes the whole process less daunting. Clients can get new construction with north European pedigree at a slightly reduced cost because Heesen yachts are built on tried and true platforms. It’s a win-win situation. We have many US clients looking for a 50-metre yacht under 500GT. Heesen has carved out a very good niche in that market.”

Josh Gulbranson, a Fort Lauderdale-based broker with Fraser Yachts for the last 15 years, is a former captain who made the decision to come ashore and become a broker when he got married and had children. Josh’s most recent connection to the shipyard was the sale of a highly customized Heesen that was originally built for Heesen founder Frans Heesen — the 47-metre Odyssea.

Gulbranson says that while sales numbers for 2022 are not as strong as 2021, the market is moving along with numbers well exceeding those in 2019. “Fraser has a strong client base of existing and new clients looking to buy, some of whom are repeat owners who took a break over recent years but are now coming back into yachting. There’s been a great deal of new wealth created in the last decade and those people are now interested in a yachting lifestyle,” he says. “Heesen offers short delivery times paralleled with northern European quality. Few builders can offer this.” Gulbranson also says the Heesen team has been an asset in working alongside his clients. “I’ve found Heesen very willing to support their early model builds. In recent years, after several visits to the shipyard, with confidence, I can assure customers they will receive a fair deal and support from the shipyard to follow them during their ownership. Heesen’s quality for value is exceptional. It’s reassuring to know the Heesen company has been able to adapt its ownership structure and will continue to grow into the future.”

While Heesen has certainly enjoyed the 2021/22 boom, the company is not one to look backward. Thom Conboy says the next several months will be telling as to how 2023 shakes out. But one thing is certain - Heesen is a forward-looking and forward-thinking company.

Left 47-metre yacht Odyssea

MODERNISING THE 47-METRE ATINA

ALL CHANGE

New ideas from a new owner and a refit for a 14-year-old Heesen. She wasn’t showing her age exactly, but was perhaps in need of a little rejuvenation

TEXT BY RISA MERL

When the new owners of the 47-metre Heesen

Atina purchased the yacht in June 2021, they wasted little time having her updated to suit their needs. Launched in 2008 and previously named Naseem – and prior to that, Raasta and Elandess – Atina went in for an eight-month refit at the FDC Yachts shipyard in Bodrum, Turkey, in November 2021. Focusing primarily on the exterior layout, but also tackling

interior decor and technical systems, this thorough refit has breathed new life into the yacht.

“The owner wanted to have more entertainment and relaxation areas,” says Eyup Ozbelen, managing partner of FDC Yachts. The refit sought to optimise the exterior living spaces to better fit with the owner’s lifestyle on board. This included redesigning the sundeck and bridge deck, as well as converting the garage to – naturally –a beach club. Red Yacht Design, which FDC has worked with for years, was called upon for the design.

“The sundeck has been completely revised,” confirms Fatih Sürekli, co-founder of Red Yacht.

“A central bar is now at the heart of the sundeck – it became the owner's favorite spot. He invites

friends and gets together with family around it, he watches games, has lunches and drinks there, and he even likes to work there! Having this big a bar and giving up the usual dining area on the sundeck was a bold decision.

Now it’s set an example for our other clients.” In addition to this 12-seater bar, the sundeck has a new sound system, lighting, TV, air-conditioning, a teppanyaki kitchen and a pool with adjacent sunbathing areas.

One of the ways in which the owner wanted to make the exterior areas more liveable was to have them better protected from the elements. So the sundeck has more awnings, a new hardtop

“The sundeck has been completely revised “

Left Atina’s revised sundeck

and a custom-designed sliding door that separates the bar from the pool area to block the wind. LED lights around the bar, along the hardtop ceiling and on the new mast highlight these additions.

The bridge now deck has a round dining table, as requested by the owner, and a new wet bar. The main deck aft has been given a more convivial seating arrangement, and a beach club that is much loved by the owner’s family has been added down below. Jet skis were moved to the foredeck, freeing up space in the garage to create the beach club, which has a TV and gym equipment. “Besides that, we installed a new ceiling down there, with new lighting, to provide stylish touch,” says Ozbelen.

Inside, the refit saw a renewal of the leather, fabrics and carpets. “In terms of styling, the

Right Swimming pool and bar area Far

owner has a timeless taste. We went for black and white, comfort, and elegant details, and used these throughout the yacht,” says Sürekli. Most effort was spent adapting the skylounge saloon to the family's lifestyle. The skylounge floors, for instance, were changed from carpet to a more durable parquet flooring.

Technical updates included an engine room overhaul, opening up and cleaning the tanks and bilges, updating the navigation equipment and a refitting the deck gear.

Now, with a new paint job in a harmonious colour scheme of white, black and grey, Atina certainly stands out on the water. “We are proud of the way the exteriors gave her a more modern, exciting design and added value to an older yacht,” says Sürekli.

After taking delivery, the owners enjoyed the summer cruising on their new yacht in the South of France. Thoroughly revitalised, Atina is now poised to sail the seas in style – and with better functionality – for many more years to come.

The man behind FDC

Managing partner at FDC Yachts, Eyüp Özbelen is a seafarer who was educated at nautical high school and graduated from university with a degree in Business Administration. He worked in yachting for 20 years as crew and captain, and also used to work with shipyards on new build projects as a supervisor and build captain.

Özbelen could clearly see that with more and more yachts launching every year, refit and rebuild services were becoming an important segment of the industry. He set up Fiducia International with two friends, Halil Durmaz and Engin Acikgoz, who have decades of experience in business, shipyards, carpentry and mechanics. The company’s first international success came when it won Refit of the Year at the 2015 World Superyacht Awards for the refit of the Heesen AlumerciA. Since the setting up of the company, FDC has successfully delivered major refits and rebuilds of 15 yachts.

YACHT SERVICES

Original Spare Parts

We believe that efficient installation of original, high quality components, from fan coils to shaft bearings or propellers, is the best way to ensure operational reliability and avoid a delayed or cancelled cruise due to technical failures. Of particular relevance to owners is that using original spare parts also helps to maintain the resale value of a yacht over time.

Heesen Refit

Unlike the luxury car sector, the yachting industry often relies on local shipyards and subcontractors when maintenance or repair work is required. Unfortunately this often means that the original high standards of engineering and construction are compromised. The aim of Heesen refit is to ensure that Dutch quality standards are maintained throughout the lifecycle of the yacht.

Contact & information

Paul van Herpen / John van Wijk

Telephone +31 412 665 544

Email services@heesenyachts.com

Website heesenyachts.com/services