Luxury Sailing Yacht Red Dragon & Pirates

Here is a very interesting account of an encounter with pirates by the crew of a new sailing yacht on her first voyage from New Zealand, where she was built by Alloy Yachts, to the Mediterranean.

“Whilst transiting through the Gulf of Aden, we had three people on watch at all times as during the previous few weeks the Somalian pirates had been very active. Whilst in a position of approxi-mately 13 degrees North and 53 degrees East, we saw a large dhow change course at eight miles from us and head towards us. At four miles, they stopped and launched six fast boats with about three people in each towards us. This certainly got the heart racing and adrenalin pumping.

On arrival, they were surprised to find eight people in flak jackets with guns awaiting their arrival and decided that they would do better to wait for an easier, less prepared target. Six hours later a merchant vessel came under fire in the same location and 24 hours after that three ships were also hijacked in the same area and are at the time of writing all off the Somalian coasts awaiting ransom negotiations.

We then had a brief stop in Rhodes before heading to Istanbul in Turkey for a trip with the boss. At present we are cruising the Greek islands with the boss on board and everywhere that we stop there are lots of admiring faces and questions.”

About the Red Dragon:

Red Dragon is a 52m flybridge sloop designed by Dubois Naval Architects and built by ALLOY YACHTS and launched in February. From September 24 – 27, Red Dragon will be on display as part of the Alloy Yachts presence at the Monaco Yacht Show. See more info here.

DILBA Lürssen luxury yacht

DILBA Is a magnificent new 110m Lürssen luxury motor yacht launched in June 2008.  Previously the project for the massive megayacht was known as Project Opal – hull number 13648 - by Lurssen shipyard of Germany. This giant new superyacht has a length of 110m which makes her the World’s 17th largest private luxury yacht.

Tim Heywood designed M/Y DILBA which is owned by a Russian.  This man also owns the beautiful 66m Oceanco motor yacht Dilbar launched in 2005. When completed later this summer, the new 110m Dilbar will be delivered to her owner one month ahead of schedule which is a testament to Lurssen ship building ability.

DILBA is currently off the German coast where she will start her sea trials.

Latest New Zealand Sailing Yacht Bristolian II

The latest construction from Yachting Development in New Zealand has just been launched. Bristolian II, a Philippe Briand design, was built for a very experienced owner and, as can be seen from the images, this is shown in her lines and style.

Philippe Briand explained:

The first meeting with her owner took place on board his previous Bristolian off Dubrovnik in Croatia.

To sum things up, top on his list of specifications was: a very different yacht from the others!. But he already wanted a yacht which performed every bit as well as the Bristolian No. 1 and which was every bit as sensitive. So I pushed for a carbon composite boat with a lifting keel, with modern hull lines. Our reference was the Hamilton II design, wow, increasing the waterline due to a more vertical bow.

The deck saloon concept, common to all our designs was also accepted right away, but with a difference. The owner wished to have the advantages of a low saloon below the deck which was wider and to port whilst having a higher panoramic dining area to starboard.

This led to the design of the original asymmetrical deck saloon which is in fact rather ingenious.

The most difficult stage was designing the deck lines. Owner specifications were for “out of the box” lines, based on a voluminous and panoramic coach roof. Both pods were particularly important to him, as they have to protect two watch areas, but they have to suggest the profile of the Maserati on the 1950’s circuit. He also attached a great deal of importance to a minimum superstructure height throughout the whole length of the cockpit in order to facilitate the view of passengers when lying down on the seats. Creating a deck with a large central volume, with two boxes abaft with nothing to link them was no mean feat.

After a great many sketches and lots of thought, a particular form suddenly became clear : the bionic form of the coachroof and the Maserati form of the pods are two independent forms which stretch out their arms to encircle a large cockpit in the middle.

Designing the Bristolian II was one of the most challenging projects, not only for me but also for the builder Yachting Development, and for the project manager, Peter Tabone.

All together have achieved a yacht with a unique DNA.

Luxury Yacht SIREN is Launched

Luxury Motor yacht SIREN is a 73m 2008 steel displacement superyacht built in Germany by Nobiskrug, with interior design by Newcruise.  SIREN is a yacht at the forefront of yacht building technology and quality.

M/Y SIREN provides luxurious and spacious accommodation for up to 12 guests in 6 cabins.  Her master suite is situated forward on the yacht’s main deck with dressing room and his + hers bathrooms.  There is also a private office which can become part of stateroom with a double pullman bunk to be utilised if required. The suite also boasts a retractable private owner’s terrace.  SIREN offers four further staterooms on her lower deck. Three of them have queen sized beds and one on the bridge deck comes with twin and a double.

The yacht’s internal passenger lift serves 4 decks for ease of movement. Along with her impressive audio visual entertainment systems SIREN boasts a movie cinema on her bridge deck as well as a sundeck outside cinema.

The luxury motor yacht’s two MTU 16V4000M60 2,360 BHP engines give her a cruising speed of 14 knots and a top speed of 17 knots. 

SIREN has Guest Accommodation for up to 12 guests:
Master cabin forward on main deck with dressing room and his + hers bathrooms, including office which can become part of stateroom with a double pullman. There are four staterooms on lower deck, three with queen beds and one twin and a double on the bridge deck. Passenger lift serves 4 decks.

Tenders & Water Toys for extra fun includes;

12m Chase
7.5m Novurania Custom line
5m Nautica
2 Waverunners 3 man
2 jet ski’s (stand up)
Watersports equipment.  Audio Visual Equipment and Deck Facilities
Films on demand (High definition)
Cinema on Bridge Deck
Sundeck Outside Cinema
Audio on demand
Surround Sound in Cinemas, Master Cabin, Saloon, aft deck, Sky lounge, Beach club
SAT TV + Local CD / DVD
Crestron Touch screens
Kaleidescop
Distribution of CCTV and Chart Plotter signals.  Communications
WiFi, V sat and internet link.

Luxury Yacht SILVER

M/Y SILVER is a 73 meter aluminium semi-displacement luxury yacht launched in 2008 by Hanseatic Marine of Australia. She was designed by Espen Oeino who also designed motor yacht SKAT. Hanseatic Marine is from Western Australia and the company took two years to build Silver.  For a description of Henseatic Marine boat builders see here.

Luxury yacht SILVER accommodates up to 12 yacht charter guests and has a cruise speed of 18 knots and a top speed of 25 knots. At 73.3 meters in length the yacht’s semi-displacement hull creates a highly efficient and stabile superyacht cruising platform.

Espen Oeino designed Silver to meet some very specific environmental and performance and goals required by the yacht’s owner.  She offers slender lines and an extremely sleek profile. This style contrasts with the current larger, higher and wider fashion in modern motor yacht design. The effect is an elegantly understated and yet modern shape.

SILVER’s interior styling is contemporary modern with extensive use of advanced lightweight materials.  The minimal and modern interior design creates spaces that are warm, comfortable, and casually stylish. She features hand-made carpets, American walnut veneers, stitched leather upholstery and contemporary Italian-style minimalist furniture. This is ideal for entertaining and enjoying the company of family and friends.

The vessel’s shallow draft provides for a highly responsive helm and allows the boat to explore areas off limits to nearly all other vessels in her class.

The 74m Silver will be available for charter for between $200,000 and $500,000 per week plus expenses. The yacht provides separate crew quarters for 16 crew members.

Latest Yachts

Latest Yachts

Lurssen Yacht Al Mirqab

The 133m Al Mirqab motor yacht, one of the World’s largest yachts, was launched in the Early April in Wewelsfleth Germany by Lurssen.

Almost two months after her launch, Al Mirqab left Peters Schiffbau to conduct her first trials.  Built for Middle Eastern Royalty, she is the successor to their 95m Oceanco yacht, which was sold last year.

Photo courtesy of Carl Croll