SUPERYACHT #8
Spring 2006
Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest
and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical
articles, images and yachting news
Summary
Subscription
Yachting catalogue
Navigation tests
Used boats
Boatshow
Video Nautica
Article by
Angelo Colombo
Photos by
Rick Tomlinson
and Hoek Design
|
|
VITTERS SHIPYARD ADÈLE
Designed by Hoek Design Naval Architects and built at Vitters
Shipyard in Holland, Adèle is a lady of the sea with
classic forms that conceal avant-garde technological content.
| |
TECHNICAL DATA
LOA: 54.64 m
Length on waterline: 38.40 m
Beam: 9.50m
Draft: 4.80 m
Average displacement: 298 t
Water tanks: 8.000 litres
Fuel tanks: 24.000 litres
Ballast: 85 t
Construction material: aluminium for hull and superstructure
Engine: 1x1.015 HP Caterpillar 3412 DITA
Manoeuvring propellers; stern and bow, both 125 HP
Rigging: Lewmar and Rondal
Masts and booms: carbon
Mainmast: 53.45 m
Mizzen mast: 27.48 m
Sails: North Sails
Sail area: mainsail 490 sq.m., mizzen 214 sq.m, yankee 620 sq.m,
staysail 225 sq.m, MPS 1.300 sq.m, mizzen staysail 300 sq.m.
For further information contact Vitters Shipyard BV,
Zwartsluis, The Netherlands; phone +31 38 386 7145; fax +31 38 386 8433;
e-mail: info@vitters.com website: www.vitters.com.
|
Once again we find a creation that unites classic and modern,
where the former regards aesthetic details and forms and the
latter the constructional and design principles. The coupling of
these two elements results in superyachts capable of offering the
performance and safety levels which every modern vessel must
guarantee, but also the atmospheres which only the forms of the
past can convey to those who live aboard and those, a far greater
number, who can only observe. Undoubtedly the variation of forms
in time, especially where the quick-works are concerned, was not
just the mannerism of a designer in search of an innovative formal
synthesis but rather a requirement linked to experience of a
hydrodynamic nature. The aim is always to obtain the maximum
possible in terms of performance and safety from a hull, and this
is what leads to seeking - in the appendages, the sail plan, the
immersed volumes and the distribution of masses - increasingly new
configurations that contribute to the achievement of that purpose.
Having said this, it may seem illogical to ask a designer for an
avant-garde boat in terms of sea performances which at the same
time evokes a classic in its forms. In fact the owners who ask for
designs of this sort are numerous, and their needs are satisfied
precisely by the evolution of materials and building systems. We
need only think of the weight differences between last century's
rigs and today's to get an idea of how distribution of masses
alone affects this reasoning. In cases like the one we're about to
deal with, the designer had to bring in all his technical
experience and then enclose it in something different from a hull
whose forms are dictated by the most obvious logic, such as pure
racer forms. All this is always achieved through careful research.
Before arriving at the definitive design of Adèle, Hoek
Design built scale models for tank testing from which it gleaned a
great deal of information useful for achievement of the end
result, experimenting with the response to all types of stress and
with seaworthiness and performances. Adèle's owner is a
Swedish gentleman who got in touch with the designer because he
wanted to change yachts. Formerly he had a 24 metre sailboat with
which he made no less than three circumnavigations. Needless to
say, we're talking about a sailor, a man who knows very well what
he wants from his boat, but this is something that helps the
designer, does not hinder him. Adèle's owner was captivated
by an old Hoek Design project that was never built, a 164' sloop
with classic lines and numerous details never seen before, such as
the owner's cabin with deckhouse and cockpit. Mr. Osterlund,
Adèle's owner, immediately identified Hoek Design as the
people best qualified to give a concrete response to his
requirements, probably because the studio, with about 50 boats of
this kind produced, can boast long experience. The initial design
of Adèle envisaged a length of 164', later extended to 180'
to better meet her future owner's needs. Consider that no less
than five different models were built - each one subjected to a
battery of tank tests - before arriving at the definitive hull.
The sail plan configuration also underwent numerous experiments
before the designer settled on ketch rig. One of the reasons
behind this intense research on the sail plan was that the owner
had expressly requested that he be able to handle the sails
autonomously, just as he wanted to be able to sail the boat alone,
a requirement that had never before been satisfied for yachts of
this size. Thanks to the extensive sail area and its ratio to
displacement, Adèle can sail at very respectable speeds
under all wind conditions, and the running rigging can all be
handled with power assisted systems. In order to be able to voyage
throughout the year, also in places where there are usually flat
calms, Adèle is equipped with a 1.015 HP Caterpillar with
shafting line transmission that keeps her going at a fair pace.
The interiors, designed and developed by the Hoek Design studio
who also did the deck and the general layout, are very special
inasmuch as there are really very spacious indoor relaxation
areas, but above all because they are developed in three distinct
deckhouses whose low, vertical forms are typical of the sailing
ships of other times. On deck there are three tenders of sizes
suited to the owner's needs: he has already taken Adèle
through the icy north and will shortly be heading for Brazil,
Panama and other destinations where suitable tenders extend the
possibility of visiting places otherwise unreachable.
Going back to the interiors, the amidships deckhouse is directly
connected to the great saloon on the lower deck, creating a very
large living area which is highly evocative for the views it
offers. Farther aft there is a very spacious open air living area,
with central dining table and side sofas, from which there is
access to the external bridge towards the stern. There are two
command stations from which the sails can be handled and observed
on all points of sailing. There is another deckhouse aft, which
houses the indoor bridge and a relaxation area with sofa and
table, while farther aft there is another open air relaxation area
with a semicircular sofa and central table. An interesting feature
is that from the indoor bridge there is direct access to the
owner's quarters on the lower deck which comprise a double bedroom
suite, sofa and table, office corner, spacious bathroom and
wardrobe with dressing room. Forward of this area there are two
twin-bedroom cabins with private bathrooms, accessible both from
the corridor connecting them to the owner's quarters and from the
stairway that leads down from the amidships deckhouse saloon. The
lower deck saloon has natural lighting from two large skylights in
the deck. Going forward there is a spacious office opposite a
double bed cabin with private bathroom. The whole forward area is
for the crew and the service rooms. There are four cabins, three
with bunk beds and one with a double bed, all with private
bathroom, plus the galley, pantry and crew relaxation area.
|
