Feadship: expedition yacht with a huge gyroscope
AALSMEER – Feadship, the Dutch maker of one-off superyachts, plans to finish Project 708 this year. It is a 55m expedition yacht designed for polar waters. Feadship unit Slob Shipyard built its ice-class steel hull and superstructure.
The yard says the yacht has been designed to operate in arctic waters such as the Northwest and Northeast Passage. That’s why the as yet to be named Project 708 has no stabilizer fins for fear they will be damaged by submerged ice.
Instead, it features what Feadship calls the world’s largest gyroscopic system. Made by Italy’s GyroMarine, the GM 600 gyroscope weighs 23 tons. Other hardware aboard Project 708 is equally impressive.
It includes a submarine on the aft deck weighing more than 6 tons and a crane that can lift 7 tons and spans almost 8m meters. It will be used for the sub, a limousine tender and the owner’s car. Project 708 will be completed by year’s end. Its exterior design is by Philippe Briand, who has won many awards for yachts of any type and length. The interior is by Boutsen Design of Monaco. www.feadship.nl
Heesen Yachts: here’s to the Year of the Ox!
OSS – The year began gray and rainy in the Netherlands, but Heesen Yachts saw only blue skies. It has 14 yachts under construction. It sold five yachts in 2020 and will deliver six in 2021. Heesen’s fist-thick order book lists deliveries through 2024.
“We are anticipating Chinese New Year with more than the usual enthusiasm,” cheers the yard. The Year of the Ox starts in February. The ox is special to Heesen and features prominently in the coat of arms of its home base, the town of Oss – Dutch for ox. Which explains the town’s coat of arms.
Heesen says it has the qualities of an ox – hard work and dependability – which let the yard turn the pandemic year of 2020 into one “from which we have emerged stronger and better.”
The six yachts Heesen will deliver in 2021 span 315m and have a combined 3,816 Gross Tons volume. The yachts Heesen will deliver between now and the end of 2024 include both semi-custom and full-custom craft, from 50 to 80m.
Among them: the soon to be launched Project Aquamarine, the first in the Heesen Yachts’ new 5000 Aluminium Class. And in November, Heesen will launch the 80m Project Cosmos. www.heesenyachts.com
Damen Yachting: 40th Limited Edition in 15 years
VLISSINGEN – Damen Yachting marked the start of 2021 by seeing the 74m (242ft.) Synthesis, the yard’s 40th Limited Edition superyacht since 2005, leave the yard to begin a round-the-world cruising schedule.
Synthesis is Damen Yachting’s 5th Amels-branded Limited Edition of 242ft. The yard, a Damen shipyards Group unit, builds yachts on standard platforms, giving buyers much room in customizing.
Synthesis, built for a repeat client, features an owner’s deck with a foredeck jacuzzi, unique dining and entertaining locations on multiple decks. There is a large aft deck swimming pool, a lower deck Spa and a swim platform. The bridge deck aft features a helipad.
“It has been a wonderful experience to welcome back our client and to see them incorporate so many personal touches to his Amels 242,” says Damen Yachting Managing Director Rose Damen. “It is a fantastic example of what our Limited Editions concept is all about.” Synthesis’s captain, James Griffiths, joined the project last spring. “It is fantastic to see such an amazing product come together after what hasn’t been the easiest of times given the global circumstances,” he says.
Synthesis can accommodate 12 guests in 6 cabins with a 19-strong crew. Its garage holds two 9m luxury tenders. www.damenyachting.com
