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Lady Lene has the world at her feet
LADY LENE
HAS THE WORLD AT HER FEET
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The 34-metre tri-deck explorer Lady Lene was custom-built for repeat clients (see page 8), perfectly encapsulating their thoughts on how an ideal motoryacht should look and feel while taking into account every stage of life. Their vision certainly inspired the judges at the 2022 World Superyacht Awards who presented Lady Lene with a special commendation.
A multi-disciplinary team of talents were responsible for realising the highly-bespoke requirements of the owners of Lady Lene, which included making her fully wheelchairaccessible with flush floors and an elevator connecting all decks. Our craftsmen and engineers worked tirelessly with the owners’ team at YachtCreators along with Guido de Groot Yacht Design, Carla Guilhem Design, Ginton Naval Architects, Diana Yacht Design and Hull Vane.
Comfort and efficiency
Together they ensured that another owners’ wish – to optimise hydrodynamic performance at both cruising and top speed – was fully met. Lady Lene’s fast-displacement hull is fitted with a hull vane appendage to lift the stern, keeping the yacht level at speed while increasing hydrodynamic efficiency. This saves some 12.5 per cent on fuel consumption at the cruising speed of 11 knots. Comfort is further assured by twin SeaKeeper gyro stabilisers and a Humphree electric fin stabilising system. The main deck is a firm favourite of all who step aboard Lady Lene thanks to its spacious open-plan lounge and dining area bathed in natural light. All luxury areas feature very high ceilings, just one of the many ways the owners utilised their formidable cruising experience to ensure the best of the best this time around. The same goes for the capacious aft entertainment area which has zones for lounging and dining plus an al fresco bar and inviting swim platform.
No rival
In granting her a prestigious Judges Commendation at the World Superyacht Awards in London, the panel of leading yacht owners praised Lady Lene for having ‘styling and performance quite unlike her rivals in this class’ and ‘a wealth of merits that deserve recognition’. The jury of industry peers was also enamoured with the rugged and eye-catching exterior design for the way it ‘took into consideration the owner’s request for a high, robust bow, softly rounded lines and a spacious aft deck’.
That’s a fine tribute to what we mean by fully-custom at Van der Valk. An elegant yacht with a sleek and slim profile that belies her height, other exterior features of note include the way a black line extends from the bow to the high dining room windows before dividing at the bulwark to head aft. A darker ceiling where the TV domes and mast are located is another element that helps give Lady Lene a stylish allure all of her own.
Clean quality
The World Superyacht Awards judges were also impressed by other aspects of Lady Lene, signalling out ‘the clean style of interior design throughout her five cabins’. This recognition capped off a fine yachting debut for interior designer Carla Guilhem, who had previously partnered with the owners on various prominent residential projects. Taking the many round corners in Lady Lene’s exterior design as the starting point, she adopted a striking Art Deco theme that works exceptionally well in this maritime environment.
Curved walls, fluted woods and metal touches in champagne gold generate a calm, timeless and truly welcoming space. An abundance of natural oak, a light-toned marble called silk georgette and lots of leather and suede add to the panache of a sophisticated interior that features an owner’s stateroom with office, a VIP suite on the bridge with its own balcony and terrace, two doubles and one single cabin.
One final quote from the judges report that was much appreciated by the men and women who worked many months behind the scenes on the build of Lady Lene: ‘Her high-quality construction is the icing on the cake for a versatile vessel that offers a transatlantic capability’. We couldn’t agree more.
