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Sea Sure 2025

YYachts launches custom build carbon sailing boat Tripp 90

by Michael Schmidt Yachtbau 7 Jul 2021 07:43 PDT
Tripp 90 © YYachts

The latest example of the ability of our Custom Division is YC Tripp 90 a 90-foot-long carbon sloop designed by the American naval architect Bill Tripp. The interiors are outfitted by Winch Design, superyacht design leader based in London.

The yacht has been recently launched in May 2021 for an international customer that intends to sail in regattas as well as cruising worldwide.

On one hand, we have been trying to ensure the best-in-class interiors, with volumes equivalent to100 footers. On the other hand, avoiding exaggerate lengths, Tripp 90 can perfectly suit with a human dimension, keeping away useless spaces that are difficult to manage and maintain.

A boat with a lot of value and beautifully finished with great sailing capabilities. It is a boat designed to go sail around the world for long and fast cruises. It is going to be a great adventure where the boat takes off for places unknown, crossing the oceans, discovering islands.

The way YYachts has been able to proportion the boat in terms of building the boat out of carbon, implementing a lifting keel on the boat, with the twin rudders. We are able to get a boat that while it has all the equipment of a true cruising boat it is a boat that will sail really well not compromising the performances in any way.

According to Naval Architect Bill Tripp "I think the hardest part of putting together a project like this is to make the technology invisible" because YYachts are charged with the latest cutting-edge technologies that make the boat so unique and very usable. But at the same time, the beauty is that you can't see it, not affecting the design and the owner's friendliness.

Interview with naval architect Bill Tripp

What about the new Tripp 90?

Hi, I am Bill Tripp, the designer of the new 90 that is just launched by Michael Schmidt Yachtbau. I am really happy to have helped arranged the building of this boat with this yard it has been a great collaboration. The new boat here I think is really a new goal that other people are going to have to try to meet now. A boat with a lot of value and it is really beautifully finished that sails really well so far. I am really excited about what this boat will do with for our client. It is a boat to go sail around the world, it is going to be a great adventure where the boat takes off for places unknown, crossing the oceans, discovery islands. It is going to be a great time for everyone involved and the yard is really step up with this boat, I am really happy to be here.

Sailing the Tripp 90 what is unique?

Really this is a boat for sailing with short crew, I think with three sailors onboard, this is a boat you can take pretty much anywhere. Of course, do watch when you go at sea but I would say with three people you can sail with this boat pretty comfortably with. A boat of this size, we find the biggest trick is getting the boat in and out the dock. We have got thrusters and the boat handles really well. I think the boat as soon as is out of the harbour, the boat really is easy to sail. It is really nice to have a big boat at sea, because the boat will take care of you.

What is your favorite feature on the Tripp 90?

I think the way we have been able to proportion the boat with the yard in term of building the boat out of carbon, putting a lift keel on the boat, with the twin rudders, we are able to get a boat that while it has all the equipment of a true cruising boat it is a boat that will sail really well. In power boats you are always saying are we there yet and in sailboat we are here. I think the enjoyment of the use of the boat will come first.

What was the hardest part on the Tripp 90 project?

I think the hardest part of putting together a project like this is to make the technology invisible, because you want all the technology makes the boat very very usable, but you don't want to see it. It is like in an I phone, you don't want to know what it is inside. In here we want the lifestyle of the boat to come through, the use of the boat to come through and you do not want to see what makes it work, and getting all of them integrated into the boat, hiding them away in the spaces has been a challenge but also very rewarding.

What about the unique technologies onboard the Tripp 90?

Well, the lifting keel would be one example of it, integrating the location of the lifting keel into the interiors so that you do not realize that the boat has a lifting keel it was one of the first places we had to start. Having the engine room under the saloon, so that you have the whole volume of the boat all the way through, and you do not lose it into an engine room.

What is the benefit of a lifting keel?

The benefit of a lifting keel is we can sit here inside the shallow harbor and have this lovely conversation, and you can do that in Saint Tropez or you can do that in Black Island. When you go out of the harbor and put the keel down, the boat is much easier to sail because of it.

What is special about a light boat?

A light boat makes the boat much easier to use, and the advantage of a light boat is that we start virtuous spiral, where we are able to have a bit smaller rig, wider engine, less fuel, and we evolve the boat into a boat that is easier to use, and less complicated.

Lignia Wood what is this?

This is the second boat we have done with Lignia Wood, the wood here is quite a beautiful looking, veneer over the deck it is great to walk on, it does not get hot, it feels and looks like teak and we are not cutting down trees in Burmese for it. I hope that this becomes the future, here we are using less wood to do the same thing.

What is special about the way the Tripp 90 is built?

Sitting here on a carbon composite boat, it is built in epoxy, it is not a plastic boat and when you go down below on the boat you are immediately hit with the smell of wood and the smell of leather, it is a wonderful environment, it no longer smell like stirring, it is a completely different world, you feel like you are in luxury hotel, you feel like you came to a place where you really want to stay.

What about the design of the Tripp 90?

The linear design of the boat incorporates a very long pilot house for inside the boat, and we managed to put vertical windows of the boat, what that does is that expands in feel of inside volumes of the boat, and also prevents slides from hammering into the interior needing to run more air conditioning in result. In this way the light comes in and keeps the boat cool in the same time, so that is of course, more energy efficient, it also means run the generator less, it means you can go with battery power more often and therefore you burn less fuel and you can go further with the same amount of fuel. So again, that is another example of virtuous spiral.

Tripp 90 technical specifications:

  • LOA: 29.77 m
  • Beam: 6.80 m
  • Draft: 2.81 to 4.64 m
  • Displacement: 55.76 t
  • Ballast: 20.00 t
  • Mainsail: 231.7 m2
  • Jib: 180.3 m2
  • Naval architects: Interior and exterior by Winch Design, Tripp Design

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