How Will Luxury Yachts Evolve in the Future?

For the average luxury yachts fan, just marvelling at the range of amazing mega-yachts that are already in existence can be pleasure enough. But no matter how exciting seeing row after row of gleaming multi-million-pound yachts are at a boat show, imagining what the future holds for these billionaire boats can really inspire your mind and whet your appetite for what new concepts are being devised.

It’s not just what a creative and imaginative yacht designer can do with the available materials at hand, but also the challenges levelled at them by prospective new mega-yacht buyers.

When you sit down to design a new yacht to meet the desires of a wealthy super yachts fan, the ever-evolving standards a designer needs to reach would challenge even the most skilled and experienced yacht designer and architect.

Combining performance with sustainability

When commissioning a new mega-yacht a prospective buyer will deliver the shipbuilders with a whole shopping list of requirements and demands, such as building a vessel that can go further for longer, deliver higher performance for speed and fuel efficiency, and be constructed using lightweight but strong materials that are sustainable and as environmentally friendly as possible.

On top of these requirements will often come a demand for larger decks and leisure space, a higher level of luxury and comfort for the passengers, but all carefully designed to meet with the owners ‘green’ agenda.

This is a paradox that keeps the world’s top yacht designers heads scratching!

The rise of the trimaran hull yacht designs

 Long gone are the days where yacht designers and architects specialised in just one aspect of a new build yacht. These days yacht designers and architects need to closely collaborate with other specialists from a wide variety of marine industries for their input to help perfect their ideas.

The future of the luxury yacht may very well be in the hands of specialists in all hull configurations pooling their skills and knowledge on a build project. This already has happened in some cases where naval architects specialising in both mono-hull and multi-hull construction have collaborated on trimaran hull projects, which may be a solution for the future of superyachts design concepts.

 The world’s first trimaran superyacht

The trimaran hull design concept first emerged within the superyacht sector in 2005 when Australian company One2Three Naval Architects formed as a team of naval architects to work together on a project to build the world’s first trimaran superyacht.

Their work proved successful with the creation of the 61m Motoryacht  - the world’s first trimaran motor-yacht!  Styled by Sam Sorgiovanni, this super-luxury vessel has accommodation for 18 passengers and with a range of 5000 nm @ 12 knots, with a top speed of 19 knots.

The team then went on to work with Echo Yachts to build the award-winning 84m White Rabbit Golf in 2018, noted as being the largest trimaran superyacht in the world. The vessel is also currently the largest superyacht to be built in Australia.

Trimaran performance advantages

Trimaran hulls have somewhat of a natural advantage over mono-hull designs. Instead of one large mono-hull, you have three long slender hulls, with the two outside hulls being quite minuscule, therefore reducing the resistance drag by as much as 30 to 40% when compared to a mono-hull.

This hull design will, therefore, deliver a higher level of speed and fuel efficiency that new yacht owners are demanding from their commission.

The truly remarkable collaboration of design, draughtsmanship and shipbuilding skills displayed by the Australian team shows a new level of inspiration for the future generations of superyachts yet to be built around the world.

The unique engineering feat that these new trimaran yachts represent in terms of luxury combined with high performance and fuel efficiency may well serve to disrupt the luxury yacht market for years to come in a very positive way.

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