SUPERYACHT INTERIORS

19 SUPERYACHT

INTERIORS

The 36 metre Sanlorenzo SD118 superyacht balances a classic exterior design with a number of options to customise the interior. Its large interior volumes, high quality choice of interior designers and capacity for individual personalisation have made it a big market success, which is enjoying particular traction in the Asian market. A new specialised training academy has been established at the Gold Coast City Marina and Shipyard to fill labour shortages across the superyacht industry. Among the lavishly-appointed arrivals was 68 metre superyacht Lady Christine, worth $82 million (pictured at the yard as dusk falls), which arrived at the Gold Coast for a multi-milliondollar, six-month facelift. OCTOBER 2022 • MARINA INDUSTRY

SUPERYACHT INTERIORS Asymmetric design gives interior options

The 36 metre Sanlorenzo SD118 superyacht balances a classic exterior design with a number of options to customise the interior. The GRP vessel has a beam of almost eight metres and a volume of 290 gross tonnage due to an innovative design solution that features an innovative skylounge

Bernardo Zuccon, son of Gianni and Paola Zuccon, who founded the Italian design studio Zuccon International Project, created the yacht’s exterior. She has three decks plus a sun deck that’s wellintegrated. The cockpit has a fixed couch that faces the saloon through sliding glass doors that open wide, but from there the possibilities to personalise the yacht are down to the buyer as Sanlorenzo’s customisation process foresees five stages through which the builder

The ‘skylounge’ on the upper deck has open doors to the portside walkway

develops a personalised space plan that identifies the customer’s ideal number, size and type of cabins, while also delineating special-purpose areas for sport, entertainment or relaxation needs.

Owners can opt for interiors by a wide range of designers including Bernardo and Martina Zuccon, Daniel and Michel Bismut, Guillaume Rolland from Liaigre and Patricia Urquiola, who has already collaborated with Sanlorenzo on the interiors of their SD96 model.

The owner’s suite has a fullbeam cabin with a walk-around bed placed slightly to port, leaving plenty of room for seating to starboard and an office area overlooking the water to port. The suite’s bathroom has separate toilet and shower compartments divided by a sliding glass door, while a central corridor leads to a private staircase that runs directly from the cabin to the forepeak.

On most yachts, the main-deck saloon is the largest space for social gatherings, but the SD118 has a ‘skylounge’ that becomes the place to meet. Zuccon’s design for the upper deck has an innovative asymmetrical layout where a portside passage leads fore to aft, but to starboard the interiors are built out to the side of the yacht.

An additional exterior foredeck lounge area in front of the bridge and an aft dining area shaded by the sun-deck overhang make the upper deck a space that invites all aboard to mingle all day and enjoy the owner’s hospitality well into the evening.

Further guest accommodation on the lower deck includes two spacious VIP cabins and two doubles, all of which are en-suite. These spaces can be set up as something other than cabins such as a massage room or a gym.

The crew area, also on the lower deck, has cabins for up to five staff, enabling a two-to-one guest-tocrew ratio.

The Sanlorenzo SD118’s large interior volumes, high quality choice of interior designers and capacity for individual personalisation have made it a big market success, which is enjoying particular traction in the Asian market.

Gold Coast training academy for superyachts

Anew specialised training academy has been established at the epicentre of the booming superyacht industry on the Gold Coast of Australia to support record growth and demand for workers as local and international buyers continue to splash out on luxury marine craft.

With a flood of new boats of all sizes being delivered to buyers in Australia, arriving for refits or just visiting the Gold Coast, the training academy will be the first in Australia to be established at a shipyard.

The academy at the Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard (GCCM) will begin turning out an in-demand pipeline of skilled marine trades workers to fill labour shortages across the $80-billion industry, from marine labourers, to trade assistants, trimmers, fabricators, painters, electricians, carpenters, shipwrights and plumbers.

Trenton Gay, CEO of GCCM, said the marine sector had grown at an unprecedented rate, offering a massive spread of sophisticated and innovative job opportunities. “The marine industry is fast-paced, multi-layered and ever-evolving, so for those seeking out new career paths, the academy is an ideal way to get the right advice and appropriate training.

Australia is being recognised internationally now for the quality of marine trades we offer, so it is important that we enhance the flow of job opportunities and talent within the industry.”

Close to 40 superyachts have been brought into Australia in the past year, compared to around ten superyachts in a ‘normal’ year, and the key gateway for the influx is the Gold Coast and Queensland.

Among the lavishly-appointed arrivals was 68 metre superyacht Lady Christine, worth $82 million, which arrived at the Gold Coast for a multimillion-dollar, six-month facelift.

Owned by British billionaire, Lord Irvine Laidlaw, who is a former member of the House of Lords and founder of the Institute for International Research, the craft was also used by George Clooney and Julia Roberts for their latest blockbuster, Ticket to Paradise, being filmed on the Gold Coast and around Queensland.

The GCCM is part of the 250 hectare Gold Coast Marine Precinct, the largest refit and repair yard in the Southern Hemisphere. More than 90 businesses operate from the precinct, covering all aspects of marine refit, maintenance and construction for vessels.

Local employment and training specialists, DGT Employment and Training, will head the GCCM Marine Trades Academy program to deliver tailored support for the on-site businesses and deliver skilled marine trades workers to fill labour shortages globally.

The GCCM Marine Trades Academy will operate alongside a new TAFE Queensland Marine Centre of Excellence, also due to open in the Coomera marine precinct in early 2023.

Kris McCue, CEO of DGT Employment and Training, said demand was currently outstripping supply for qualified marine trades, making the new academy a much-needed conduit between businesses requiring a skilled workforce and trainees or workers wishing to enter or advance within the industry. He added, “The pathways created will enable people seeking traineeships and apprenticeships in particular to complete work experience with leading marine businesses located in the shipyard to get the start they are wanting in the industry.

“We’ll be ideally located to connect the right candidates with the right opportunities to service an expanding market and furthermore, create a workforce with appropriate education and/or safety and other skills required by GCCM businesses.”

According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia’s marine industry contributes more than $80 billion annually to Australia’s national economy. In 2021, the industry directly employed more than 27,000 people.

On the back of rising wealth, the global market for luxury craft has continued to surge and is projected to jump to US$84.7 by 2027. This has risen from US$64.1 billion in 2020 when the Covid crisis began, according to the latest Yacht Industry Global Market Trajectory and Analytics report.

Gay confirmed that the Gold Coast continued to develop as a marine industry centre of excellence to support the booming billion-dollar global superyacht trend, pointing out that GCCM was currently working to deliver infrastructure, including a 20 hectare Stage 2 facility that would offer the capability of lifting vessels up to 1,400 tonnes.

In conclusion, he stated: “GCCM’s ongoing success is highly dependent on the skills and experience of our trades. It’s vital that we continue to maintain the workforce of strong and competent trades that we have been globally recognised for since we first opened the gates over 22 years ago”.

Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard info@gccm.com.au www.gccm.com.au

The working day begins at Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard.