SUPERYACHT #533
September 2006

Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical articles, images and yachting news

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Article by
Fabio Petrone

LÜRSSEN YACHTS OASIS

Leader in what many call the gigayacht market - the biggest pleasure craft which sometimes even exceed 100 metres - the German shipyard Lürssen launched this little giant last April. "Only" 195 feet, "Oasis" has a steel hull and superstructure in aluminium. The interior and exterior layouts were designed entirely by Glade Johnson and his studio.

TECHNICAL DATA LOA 59.40 metres beam 11.42 metres draught 3.50 metres displacement 1.060 t. engines 2 x 1.440 kW Caterpillar 3512 B generators: 2 x 350 kVA Caterpillar C18 + 1 x 220 kVA Caterpillar C9 maximum speed 16 knots cruising speed 12 knots range at cruising speed 5.000 miles. For information: Lürssen Yachts - Zum Alten Speicher 11 - 28759 Bremen, Germany - tel +49 421 6604 166 - fax +49 421 6604 170 - email yachts@lurssen.com - website www.lurssen.com.

This factory of United States design - Glade Johnson Design INC has its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington State - had already designed a Lürssen built boat, the Capri, launched in 2003. Oasis strikes the eye with an elegant design that we would define as clean and well proportioned, notwithstanding her generous volumes.

"The owner had very clear ideas for Oasis," says Glade Johnson. "He wanted something unique, a boat with a precise aesthetic personality, up to date and with warm, luxurious interiors. Among the many boats he'd seen in recent years, as user and enthusiast, he particularly liked Capri. So setting out from a fairly similar technical base we drew up a completely new design that took up some of the same concepts but reworked them in such a way that in the end the two boats are considerably different. We worked in close contact with the owner in order to achieve this, deciding everything together." And in fact the boat seems to exude this, thanks to the personality of her almost essential lines, the containment of her vertical development and the interesting use of lateral uprights virtually linked to the two pole masts on the yacht's top: a solution that gives the whole a considerably soaring aspect.

"The interiors," continues Johnson, "have a unique layout, developed to create six luxurious cabins, three with king size beds, two with queen size and one with twin beds." A solution, we add, that makes the yacht well suited for charter, as may also be seen by her MCA standard certification. So great emphasis has been placed on the owner's cabin on the main deck: a suite that runs the whole width of the beam and consists, apart from the actual night area, of a sitting room with a large retractable plasma TV. A second screen, viewable from the bed, is concealed behind a painting. The bathroom, in green onyx from Pakistan, has a big central tub that separates two distinct his and hers areas. The owner also requested a private study which is adjacent and reached by way of a corridor.

A feature of Oasis is her large windowed areas which give the interiors a bright, airy atmosphere. The whole main deck, for example, benefits from this, where the owner's area is well separated from the shared areas by an evocative stairway leading to the other decks. The design and décor on this deck, like in the rest of the boat, mix classic, elegant elements with modern details and the use of sinuous forms which certainly contribute to personalising the spaces. The dining area has an oval table seating up to 12, while the saloon with its spacious living areas is an extremely convivial environment that can perfectly accommodate even a great number of guests. The wood mainly used on this and the other decks is satin-finished anigre but there are also outstanding panels rich in grain and carving which give highly effective chromatic contrasts.

The galley, on the same deck, is really huge with a central island and a vast range of equipment, to say the least, plus a pantry.

The four guest cabins are on the lower deck, illuminated by natural light from large vertical ports, similar in size but each one personalised with its own design and setting. Farther forward on the lower deck, the crew's quarters can sleep up to 15. The tank deck comprises the crew mess, laundry, walk-in refrigerators and freezers, storage rooms and machinery spaces.

The upper deck offers guests a second saloon with numerous sofas and a long bar. Forward, adjacent to the very well illuminated wheelhouse with its latest generation high tech instrumentation, there is a sixth luxurious guest cabin.

There's also a spectacular sundeck which, in the forward area, includes swimming pool and sunbathing area but also barbeque, bar and an open air shower. Aft on the same deck there's an open air dining area, well sheltered by the hard top and also by a retractable awning, and a vast sunbathing area with sun beds. The latter area can be converted into a helipad.

As for performance Oasis, which is about 60 metres LOA, has a top speed of 16 knots, powered by two 1.938 hp Caterpillars, while at a cruising speed of 12 knots the yacht has an accredited range of 5.000 miles.