The modern superyacht industry is more dynamic than ever before. It’s become a place where technical innovation and design ingenuity are enabled to flourish courtesy of ever more committed owners, who nurture vastly challenging one-off projects with patience, courage and no small degree of finance. Never before have we seen superyachts of such scale, complexity and conceptual ambition making that once thorny transition from the designer’s drawing board to the oceans. Through pioneering design, integrated management and technical innovation, we already live in a world of floating islands, submersible yachts and flying boats but, as superyachts threaten to breach the 200-metre mark, the pace of innovation shows no sign of slowing. Ever more outrageous looking concepts are being unveiled at the world’s premier yacht exhibitions – and while once they might have drawn nods of respect for the abstract tangents of the designer’s imagination, now they generate serious postulations about when and how these concepts might become reality.
ART OF LIFE by Sander Sinot
Celebrated Dutch designer, Sander Sinot, generated his ART OF LIFE concept on the basis of the contention that we need to invest as much time as possible in ‘quality of living’ – in ‘freedom, love, family and friends’. And the means by which he addressed this was a radical upscaling of the classical 16th century Dutch schooner into the form of a superyacht. At 115 metres in length, its “monolithic hull” comes with a spacious and clearly delineated interior with intimate access to the external environment, courtesy of multiple skylights, open decks and vast glass panels, both on the upper deck lounge and at the stern.
SHADDAI by Gabriele Teruzzi
As superyacht designers increasingly strive for greater interaction between the occupants of a yacht and their surrounding environment, Gabriele Teruzzi is doing more than most to take that principle to its logical conclusion. SHADDAI is a 150m design with a glass-bottomed pool, an aquarium and an elevated cabin providing spectacular views from 38 metres above the ocean. That cabin also benefits from 105 square metres of private terrace, while the 300 square metre beach club on the lower deck comes with an integrated glass infinity pool built into the deckhead above it.
TUHURA by Lobanov and Oceanco
Conceived by Oceanco in collaboration with the Lobanov Design studio, BMT Nigel Gee and Achille Salvagni, the disarmingly simple shape of TUHURA is designed to be reproduced at anything from 80 to 120 metres in length. The sweeping Polynesian-influenced hull form, based on the earliest canoe-style craft, conceals a wide-open walkaround main deck and an inherently flexible interior that echoes the primitive external form, with organic shapes, brushed teak, natural bronze and Japanese style tatami floors. Hybrid propulsion would be expected to take TUHURA to speeds of around 18 knots.
EXPLORIS by Steve Gresham
Steve Gresham’s latest concept comes in the squat, pugnacious form of EXPLORIS, a fresh take on the do-it-all expedition yacht, with a vast 18m beam and a prodigious 7,000Nm range. Based upon an ice-class hull, features include a helipad and hangar, plus a pair of bespoke 12.5-metre tenders, a dive station with decompression chamber and a Trident submersible. Her exploration equipment is supplemented by authentic superyacht-style luxuries, including a private ‘promenade deck’ with forward observation lounge, plus a panoramic forward saloon and ‘compartmentalised’ outdoor spaces, with dedicated areas for swimming, dining and lounging.
HYPNOSQUID by Roberto Curtó
HYPNOSQUID is a 63-metre aluminium superyacht concept inspired (you guessed it) by the physical appearance of a cuttlefish. Absurd though that might sound, taking design cues from the ocean is actually quite commonplace. Zaha Hadid’s ‘Unique Circle’ concepts were based on the corporeal fluidity of sea creatures and various production yachts already embrace organic curve in preference to overtly manufactured linearity. Here then, courtesy of Roberto Curtó in collaboration with Super Yachts Monaco, is a yacht for ten guests and 12 crew, with an upper master suite encompassing a full-beam lobby and garden and a lower deck accommodating the guest cabins, the lounge and the library. Though designed for cruising the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, its four 16V 2000 M96L engines equip it with a transoceanic range of around 3,000Nm and a top speed of 30 knots.
EPIPHANY by Andy Waugh
Although it shares certain aesthetic design cues with other memorable concepts from British designer, Andy Waugh – not least NOUVEAU and REVOLUTION – what makes EPIPHANY particularly striking is its internal layouts. While the owner is lavished with an entire private deck with a hot tub, a cinema and a study, the bridge is positioned on the upper deck, with a fold-down platform to improve visibility without disrupting the aesthetic. The external form meanwhile attempts a simplification of design – a reduction in line and structure – to help cleanse the profile and reinforce the power of its visual impact.
TABOO by Gill Schmid
TABOO, a 90m ice-class explorer, is the result of a collaboration between US-based Gill Schmid Design and Tim Dempers Studio of Cape Town. Conceived as a high-volume expedition yacht, it aims to enable you to enjoy first-class luxury in the world’s most remote and inhospitable regions. While the dual-level beach zone with its aquarium-lined pool is a prime example of that, the yacht also prioritises flexibility, with a range of zones that can transform from private spaces to party zones and from inside to outside areas without fuss or delay. Features include a pair of hot tubs, a cocktail lounge, an expansive beach club and pool and a guest gym and spa. In addition to room for 26 guests and 40 crew, TABOO also comes with a full-deck owner’s suite with private offices, lounge and outdoor space, plus a multi-function aft summerhouse that can be rigged as a guest suite, a lounge space or a casino.
100m Motor Yacht by Isaac Burrough
This powerful concept comes from Amsterdam-based studio, Isaac Burrough Design. Created as an experiment in the application of large, straight-lined surfaces and hard angles, it uses a vast bow with an 11-metre freeboard and a substantial cab-forward stance. This enables the shortening of the bow section, creating a purposeful aesthetic alongside radically increased aft deck areas. These take even greater advantage of the 17-metre beam by supplementing it with a pair of side terraces and an additional extension aft. That generates a huge beach club with expansive views and the benefit of additional light courtesy of the glass bottom on the circular main deck pool overhead.
