Seven new Feadships see light of day in 2016
Seven is a lucky number in many cultures and it’s certainly been a magical year for Feadship. As we enter 2017, there are seventeen Feadships at various stages of construction. However, while the future is bright indeed, let us first reflect on the seven Feadships launched during the course of 2016.
The first Feadship to hit the water in 2016 was the 66-metre Vanish, built to make all who come aboard feel at one with the water. This intimate contact with the surroundings was enabled by some incredible terraces, especially on the starboard side where they span some 14 metres in length. Vanish drew crowds of curious onlookers in Amsterdam when she moored up at the famous National Maritime Museum for a couple of days, which also made for a great photo.
The 70-metre Joy was also a pleasure to build and a Feadship of many firsts. The owner had never owned a large yacht before. Together with Bannenberg & Rowell (first Feadship exterior design since 2002) and Studio Indigo (first interior design, full stop) we created a great deal of outdoor space and lots of relatively small suites to house the owner’s family. With her awesome concave shapes, Joy was an incredibly complex boat to build and a fine example of teamwork in action.
The same can also be said of the imposing 97-metre Vertigo. The many challenges on this yacht included a revolutionary swimming pool on the main deck made of glass panels that also form the ceiling of the beach club below. The deep end of the 42,000-litre pool has a dramatic S-curved shape and descends to some 2.5 metres, while a drop-down cap rail allows a curtain of water to flow into the forward section of the pool and fashion a natural divide between this exterior area and the interior. Beneath the pool, the vast sea-level beach club doubles in size when the transom and fold-down side terraces are opened. Amazing stuff all round.
Another giant Feadship launched in 2016 was the 92-metre Aquarius, built for a very experienced client. Having enjoyed his time on yachts from other renowned yards, the owner recognised that the only way to move up to the highest possible standard was to come to Feadship. A terrific amount of light in the ceilings and in the comprehensive (and energy-conscious) LED lighting system, combined with a phenomenal amount of glass in the superstructure, made Aquarius one of the brightest Feadships ever launched. The client’s expertise in the high-end hospitality sectors is apparent on Aquarius, with the infrastructure of the galleys, pantries and crew service areas optimised to the finest degree.
On a very different size level but no less sophisticated, we also launched three 34-metre Feadships in 2016 with cutting-edge vertical bows. Moon Sand Too, Avatar and Kamino had similar exterior parameters (although Avatar has a distinctive grey livery), reflecting their owners’ desire to explore places with shallower depths and limited marina options such as the Far East and Scandinavian fjords. While the interior layouts and styles were different, all three of these innovative superyachts featured the largest window surface expressed as a percentage of the profile ever seen on a Feadship. In addition to the visual effect of these giant slabs of glass, the lounge and dining areas are equally expansive thanks to their 2.45-metre high ceilings, uncommon even on yachts twice the size.
