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 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 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.