Relentless demonstration

If anyone can achieve high levels of sophistication, accomplish up the last wish of an owner and combin­ing in a yacht the conservative im­age with the most innovative sen­sations, achieving a conventional yacht and give the impression that it is always the same boat when it is the number 800 that they produce, this is Royal Van Lent.

Luxury Rationalism

On the new Riva 86 Domino everything is in its right place. Its layout is accurate and functional and, however, the levels of excellence in terms of equipment and finishes are the highest. It can not be otherwise on a Riva.

A family is able to offer to itself a new yacht that, in fact is, the same one on which they have been sailing for twenty years: they have obtained it after a rigorous restoration process and a modern decoration, but with deep respect with the original design.

Sailing with a design of sporting qualities, equipped with four engines is an inexhaustible source of sensations. Primatist G70 is Bruno Abbate’s latest creation, inspired in state of the art design criteria, very special in technological terms and with the stylistic contribution of Pininfarina, who also provides her last name.

The Ferretti 761 is one of the latest models of the Italian make, presented at the end of 2004. On the exterior image it uses the large lateral windows on the hull that identify many of the most recent Ferretti models, but its distribution is not as daring as in other models. For that reason some owners consider that it has a correct combination of aesthetics and comfort.

Couach has been the first French shipyard able to build yachts of more than 20 meters of length to the unit. The possibility of choosing the interior layout and the inner decoration is also within reach of the owner of the large 2800 Open, a yacht that combines the sport performance with ocean going range.

Offered in aluminium and composite versions, this luxury catamaran provides unthinkable levels of comfort on a sailboat that would not be afloat on two hulls.

Sunreef Yachts began its activities for a little bit more than three years and has been able to settle down as benchmark in quality sailing catamarans. Initially the production, based in a shipyard in Gdnask, Poland, was dedicated to produce char ter units that were operated by the French company Sunreef Travel; but the acceptance of their models and the interesting price reached thanks to the production in that country, with reduced labour costs, led to a new public sales strategy, guaranteed with excellent results in very little time: after the first 74 footer and this 60 footer, the shipyard is finishing other three similar units and has under construction a 60 feet mono hull. The designs of the multi hulls come from Sunreef in house creative depar tment, while Luc Bouvet signs the above-mentioned sailing mono hull.
What also stands out in the Sunreef 60, in addition to a more than competitive and excellent quality-price relation, its the by unit concept, in which both the interior layout as its execution and the carpentry, plus many other details of the installations and the rig itself, can be decided by the owner when signing the contract. A good example of that versatility are the aluminium or composite construction options, for which the shipyard produced at that time complete moulds for the hulls, the deck and the superstructure, the possibility of choosing between an aluminium or a carbon mast and the diverse configurations that the staterooms distributed in their hulls adopt.

Flybridge

If any cruising catamaran enjoys an additional space when making the best use of their hulls and the amplitude of the central platform, on the Sunreef 60 that expansion is still more spectacular due to the inclusion of a flybridge, an authentic terrace over the saloon deckhouse and whose additional square meters multiply the on board living possibilities. Usually reserved to motor yachts and to large sailboats, the flybridge is compatible with the sailing pleasures and in a relatively reduced size thanks to the catamaran typology that widens the platform. Sunreef design ability in that sense does not have to be undervalued, coming from an in house technical team, that integrates with great ability the ample upper platform in a well-balanced superstructure. Those owners that would not give up the flybridge can congratulate themselves.
Besides crowning the glassed bridge house with long lines volumes and an agile design, the flybridge reunites the functions of manoeuvring cockpit, steering position and relax area. The trimming mechanisms for the sails have been sent to two wide platforms that welcome the winches on the frontal par t, where the visibility is better and there is total contact with the helmsman. The helmsman has a very comfor table bench and a complete binnacle that, with the addition of a multipurpose screen with diurnal vision, avoids going into the inner navigation position of the saloon. Handrails and protections against the sun are not missing for those long navigation days were they would become necessary.The use of electrical motors on the main winches makes agile a manoeuvre that, taken into consideration the displacement of the yacht and the size of its sails would become hard without those aids.
Behind that work area there is a table surrounded by padded benches, also protected from the sun, and that judging by our experience on board will become a key spot of the usage of the yacht. Its popularity increases thanks to the presence of large solarium long cushions. The typical heeling and rolling absence of a catamaran, brings to an even better pay off of that location. Such is its popularity that it led us to ask ourselves if the lower poop cockpit was necessar y at all, even if being ampler. We will describe it later.

220 miles per day

To sail on a catamaran is with no doubt a different experience than sailing on a mono hull. The deck offers large areas to enjoy the sea, with several strolls or perspectives where, due to the lack of movements or inclination, all the square meters available are comfor table.The guests are at ease. For the skipper, the loss of sensitivity caused by the presence of two hulls in the water and their corresponding shor ter appendages loses impor tance as the size increases: on the 18 meters of the Sunreef one is almost there with the same precision than on a 24 meters mono hull.
The inertia of the hulls eliminates the tacking difficulties that are seen on smaller units, whereas the high freeboard reduces the resonant beats that the sea can give under the central platform. The Sunreef 60 responds to the helm with an impeccable and almost surprising trustwor thiness once accepting the lack of tact of the wheel that must be compensated with a rudder angle indicator. It is able to accelerate under sail as soon as it has five knots of true wind, and on the contrary, it shows an imposing security when the wind increases and the sea gets rough. The course stability produced by both winglets and two rudders is perhaps its better attribute.
Its hidden engines in individual compar tments astern, well separated from the accommodation, are almost soundless unless one is over one of the her metic cover s that protect them. With a cruising speed of nine knots, it is able to cruise over 220 miles per day combining sailing and motoring even with a reduced crew, and that is thanks to its well-solved manoeuvre.

More in Super Yachts Review nº 026
 

The 58 Zephyros is the largest boat built to date by the prestigious Norwegian shipyard Windy and, with no doubt, one of the most exclusive 58 footers on the market. It is a model that combines the latest construction trends with the usual quality of the Scandinavian boats.

The Pershing 90 is a sedan model that follows the wake of its bigger brother, the Pershing 115. Just as this latest one, the ceiling of the main deck cannot be opened, but it is used to create a solarium.The elegance of its decoration, the amplitude of the available spaces and its technological features place it at the highest level of the international market.

The Italian shipyard Azimut is renewing the totality of its range, with new design elements and inner decoration styles. The Azimut 105 follows in the line started by 116 Azimut and the Azimut 75, but keeping its own personality adapted to its size. The first unit was launched in July of last year and presented at the Cannes Boat show 2005.