Singapore Yacht Show 2017 – Singapore Supersized!

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 9 Apr 2017 We’ve seen superyachts before – they come in three sizes. Big, better and best, and the interior design varies between anything from Stately Home to Ikea. It’s all a matter of taste. Now say hello something entirely different: meet Silver Fast.

From the Silver Yachts yard just south of Fremantle, Western Australia, comes the all-aluminium Silver Fast, the fourth in a line of quite extraordinary superyachts designed by Espen Øino. Silver Fast is 77m LOA but only 10m on the beam – a silvery arrow waiting to be loosed. Anyone who says they don’t like this is chewing sour grapes.

Silver Fast is an extraordinary work of art, much like the fabulous trimaran Adastra. It’s what happens when a naval architect is given an entirely free rein: Øino has created something that is not only beautiful, but also fast and (in superyacht terms) immensely efficient. A conventional shaft drive arrangement of two fixed pitch 5-blade props powered by a pair of MTU v16 4000 M90 engines allows Silver Fast to cruise from Australia to the Med in just 21 days. There’s a top speed of 27kts, but are you really in that much of a hurry? Before coming to Singapore she was in Dubai, and will be going back to the Mediterranean shortly – it’s just a trip to the shops for Silver Fast.

Indoors, Silver Fast may well be the most delightful yacht interior we have ever seen. There are no rococo frills. It’s not a gentleman’s club, but nor is it post-modern minimalism. Warmth, elegance and comfort make it a descriptor of perfect good taste.

Silver Fast is currently for sale, and owner Guido Krass believes that she is the perfect vessel for cruising in Asia, being able to cover long distances at greyhound pace, and economically too. Silver Fast has all the toys tucked away, and is ready to go most anywhere. The next silvery generation, Silver Loft, is in build. We look forward to seeing her.

Now walk just a few yards down the dock at the Singapore Yacht Show and you’ll find something completely different - Ambrosia III, a 65m Benetti, designed by… Espen Øino. Ambrosia was built in 2006, and her distinctive profile is a tribute to her designer’s imagination. Clearly, Øino is someone who can take on absolutely anything, make it work, and put a signature on it.

Ambrosia has recently undergone a USD6m refit at Jade Yachts in Taiwan, and continues to be the icon for superyachting in Asia: five decks of unabashed luxury, with a helipad, Jacuzzi, cinema, multiple fine dining areas, an elegant spiral staircase, piano bar and six luxuriously-fitted cabins decked out with sophisticated Italian interiors, with an ‘oriental influence’. Ambrosia’s owner is an unapologetic technophile, and worked closely with the Benetti design team to make this yacht one of the yard’s most technologically advanced vessels. She was the world’s first superyacht to be installed with ABB Azipods, marking a technical breakthrough in the yachting sector.

Vincenzo Poerio, Benetti CEO, with Chief Commercial Officer Fabio Ermetto and the founder of key design partner Omega Architects, Frank Laupman, were on board Ambrosia lll to announce a new direction for Benetti. “With the fast emergence of new wealth in Asia, interest in luxury boating is gathering pace anew. We are here to learn, understand, and then better anticipate the demands of potential Asian clients. At Benetti, we take great pride in personal service and in delivering exactly what a client envisions. We have been doing this throughout our 145-year history. We are now ready to do it in Asia.”

At a press conference, Benetti announced that their latest range of superyachts will be built to meet an increasing ‘need for speed’ – these will be the Benetti Now and Benetti Now FAST lines. The ‘Now’ models will be the the world’s first pre-designed superyachts, built in steel and aluminium, with customisable exteriors and a choice between a closed sundeck and raised pilothouse with an optional helipad – recognising the tastes of Asian yacht owners.

The Benetti ‘Now’ range is created in collaboration with naval architect Stefano Natucci and British design studio Redman Whiteley Dixon, to produce haute couture yachts - in just one year from start to finish.

The Benetti ‘Now FAST’ range is a perfect storm of design and technological brilliance. Combining exteriors by Omega Architects, naval architecture by Mulder, and interiors by Enrico Gobbi, the fast displacement hulls that give these yachts their name makes them 30% through the water.

The shipyard is currently working on 38 projects covering all of its three major product lines, namely Class, Custom and Giga from 30 to over 100 metres. Poerio is here to show Asia that Benetti is committed to servicing clients in the region. In addition to a fleet of 16 yachts in Asia, Benetti has just announced that it has been commissioned by the Tokyo metropolitan government to build a 35m custom-built motor yacht. Benetti is in the midst of developing and cultivating its presence in Asia including a strong sales and agent network and a dedicated, local 24/7 after sales team for owners.

“We are the largest privately owned megayacht shipyard in the world. We have the production facilities to build yachts from 30m to over 100m,and we are well positioned to offer our full range of yachts to Asian owners”, added Mr. Poerio. “We are confident that by coming to the Singapore Yacht Show we have delivered a taste of the Benetti lifestyle to Asia. We will certainly be back next year”.

Staying with the really big boats, just next door you’ll find Charley, the sort of vessel that re-writes all the definitions. Charley is a 46m three-deck catamaran, built by Echo Yachts in Australia, just a step along the road from Silver Yachts. Charley is the largest composite resin-infused vessel ever built in Australia, and is very much designed and built for function: she is a ‘shadow ship’, meaning that she is intended to act in support of an uber-luxe superyacht carrying all the ancillary vessels that the mother ship may not have room for – in Charley’s case this includes several RIBs aft of the wheelhouse, a 12m custom catamaran tender on the large aft platform, four jetskis and a hovercraft, while her upper deck doubles up as a touch-and-go superyacht helipad. There’s also a dive store, decompression chamber and sonar system for searching out wreck dives. She is, truly, an adventure ship par excellence.

But it’s not all about cargo carrying capacity: Charley has an expansive and sheltered observation deck, an informal dining area with seating for eight around a circular table, and a lounge complete with flatscreen television and on-board piano. Accommodation includes three double cabins, and crew quarters allows for a staff of 13. Naval architecture is by New Zealand-based studio LOMOcean Design, who also contributed the exterior and interior styling.

For the techno-minded, power comes from a pair of 2,700hp Cummins QSK60 engines, and a fuel capacity of 60,000 litres means that she has a maximum cruising range of 2,500 nautical miles at 16 knots.

You can’t talk about superyachts without mentioning Feadship, often cited as the world leader when it comes to pure custom design superyachts. Founded in 1949, there are three parties that make up Feadship: Royal Van Lent Shipyard (1849), Koninklijke De Vries Scheepsbouw (1906), and De Voogt Naval Architects (1913). Feadship’s tradition of unparallelled craftsmanship is paired with innovative strategies and spectacularly advanced technology. The futuristic Feadship ‘CHOICE’ App is on display at the show, and incorporates ideas and concepts in an impressive digital display that shows what could be possible in the next generation of superyachts.

Feadship has launched an impressive fleet of eight yachts over the last year, with three yachts going to Asian owners. They are m/y Avatar and m/y Moon Sand Too, both 33.5m and based in Hong Kong, and the 70m m/y Joy which is currently available for charter in the western Mediterranean before she moves to the Aegean Sea and eventually finding herself sailing the awe-inspiring atolls of the Indian Ocean. These bespoke motor yachts are created in partnership with owners who are prepared to invest in a wonderful building experience. As they like to say, “There are ships… and there are Feadships.”