Dutch Pelican-80 takes wing with full-view deck saloon
by Robert Wielaard on 22 Apr 2013
Dutch designer Olivier van Meer, creator of the Puffin and Zaca concepts, has launched a new breed: the Pelican-80 Olivier van Meer
Luxury boating is dominated by big, brawny in-your-face motor yachts. But truly ruling that high end of the market are not boats with many decks and bling-bling, but rather complex and very sophisticated sailing craft. A yacht like the Pelican-80, for instance!
The latest blue water design from the Olivier van Meer naval architecture studio is a fast, 80-ft cruiser that positively flaunts Van Meer’s trademark panoramic deck saloon. To market it worldwide, Van Meer has linked up with Marcel Borgmann, CEO of Sea Independent, a high-end brokerage, and a man with years of yachting sector management experience under his belt.
Marketing new, highly customized yachts through global brokerages is not uncommon. Nor is it an easy one-stop option. It requires a considerable depth of organization to groom clients worldwide and find the right builders with a consistent commitment to your quality.
'The Pelican-80 is going to be built at the yard we find most appropriate,' says Borgmann. 'That means we have different options. For us, continuity and quality are key.' Borgmann will handle marketing, sales, contracting and legal stuff. Van Meer will provide the customized production drawings and supervise any Pelican-80 construction project. Since 1985, Van Meer’s design and engineering team has worked on over 600 projects: new builds, renovations and refits for recreational and commercial navigation.
'This setup should work well for clients. By contacting any Sea Independent office, they come in contact with me and Olivier van Meer,’’ says Borgmann. 'Together, he and I can pitch a proposal to any client.' The Pelican 80' concept will be customized for each owner. 'At this stage the yacht is still a design, but we are in talks with several parties. We expect much of this yacht. It’s a modern vessel, a high-seater with a truly panoramic look from the cabin,' says Borgmann.
The PeIican-80 may be a newcomer, it’s a fledgling from a well-known nest. Since 1985, Van Meer has left his mark on offshore and ocean-going sailing through hundreds of design, construction and refit projects. The Pelican-80 comes with an aluminum or core cell/epoxy composite hull, a hydraulic lifting keel, twin rudders and a no-runners carbon rig. Van Meer was one of the first designers to offer full-fledged panoramic deck saloons without destroying a yacht’s exterior appearance. He remains true to that concept in the Pelican. The yacht’s light and airy deck saloon is connected is only a few steps from a well sheltered cockpit with a separate helmsman position with all equipment for single handed sailing. Van Meer bills his design as 'an ideal short-handed performance cruiser.'
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