SA will soon be part of a new superyacht route, which will be launched at the upcoming African Boating Conference. For most people, the idea of a superyacht means a vast motor yacht with multiple decks rising way above the water line, but there are those that want all that luxury with a touch of nostalgia in the form of sails.
Cape Town yacht builder Southern Wind is one of the leaders in sailing superyachts, but Dutch builder Royal Huisman has been creating yachting masterpieces since 1884. Its latest is the Trident 810, an 81m flybridge schooner designed by Dykstra Naval Architects and Mark Whiteley Design. It features a huge 2,580m2 of sail across three mainsails, all of which can be raised all lowered simultaneously at the touch of a button.
Naturally there are days when the wind is not playing along and so a couple of 1,081kW Caterpillar engines ensures your voyage of discovery continues.
Alternatively, you could just relax with your guests in the opulent interior. It features six sumptuous staterooms, as well as accommodation for up to 14 crew. Luxurious lounges provide expansive views of the world outside or guests can make the most of the relaxed entertaining areas on the deck itself.
While it’s easy to get excited about the debut of a luxury mega sailing yacht, the debut of the largest superyacht yet from the Sanlorenzo yard is equally attention-grabbing. Not surprisingly, 74Steel measures 74m with an incredible 300m2 owner’s deck.
“This is our most ambitious project and it marks a new pinnacle in our steel range, but the 74Steel is more than just our largest yacht; it’s a statement of our values, representing elegance, restraint, and the purity of living life at sea,” says Massimo Perotti, chair and CEO of the Sanlorenzo Group.
Italian design studio Zuccon International Project was responsible for the striking exterior styling, created to convey both strength and elegance. That elegance continues in the interior, created by Francesco Paszkowski and Margherita Casprini, with pronounced curves and sinuous shapes, all created to reflect the sculpted form of the exterior and combine modern aesthetics with traditional values.
“The choice of materials, meticulously curated and elegantly refined, plays a crucial role in achieving the yacht’s warm and modern atmosphere”, says Casprini. “The interiors are dominated by matte wood finishes, giving the yacht a natural, refined feel, while more eclectic materials bring vibrancy and uniqueness to the various spaces. Each ensuite bathroom, for example, features a different variety of marble with colours and textures that are carried through into the artwork on board.”
Some of that artwork is in the vast Owner’s Deck, complete with its own private open space. Inside there is a private lounge and office, two spa-inspired bathrooms, walk-in wardrobe and a king-size bed overlooking a private forward terrace with a hot tub.
The Sun Deck offers al fresco dining with a bar, sofa seating around a fire pit and there’s yet another hot pad, although this one would have to be shared with guests. Those guests might well arrive and land on the helipad on the Bridge Deck, which as well as featuring the wheelhouse has a sky lounge with a TV room and additional outdoor dining space.
The main deck also has a lounge with a dining table for up to 14 people. This deck boasts a VIP suite, again with its own lounge and then there are four other ensuite guest cabins. All have access via a staircase to the lower deck where the galley and crew dining area’s are situated, as are two tender garages that house a luxury tender, a crew tender, jet skis and other water toys.
The lower deck is also where the real fun happens, with a beach club and wellness area. There’s a gym with its own fold-down platform for views of the water while working out, a massage room, sauna, hammam plunge pool and a playroom for the kids.
Further down is the Tank Deck, with crew accommodation as well as some cool features. The crew get their own gym and then there’s a wine cellar and an area for hydroponic cultivation, or in layman's terms, an indoor vegetable garden.
If that sounds like a nod to being environmentally friendly, then so too is the propulsion system. Admittedly it does have huge diesel engines, but 74Steel is a hybrid, so it 1.5MWh capacity of batteries and two Schottel E-Pods producing 1,000kW each.
Whether you want your superyacht to sail silently using wind or electrical power, there are plenty of options out there these days. Fortunately for the very wealthy, they don’t mean compromising on that all-important characteristic, luxury.
