Design and Construction

One new design recently launched from McConaghy Boats while Austrian deign firm Motion Code: Blue has released renders of a yacht that would make a stir in every port she pops up in.

Take a look at two partnerships that have produced interesting new concepts: Mercedes-Benz Style and Silver Arrows Marine show off the Granturismo and DeBasto Designs and Hodgdon Shipyard give us their Onyx 41.

A nautical restoration job for the ages reached a milestone Sunday with the launch of the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.

From conception to completion, it can be years before the world sees the finished project. Here's an early look at a refit proposal from Adam Voorhees and Northrop and Johnson on the 213-foot Van Triumph and a 173-foot hybrid project from Green Yachts.

Yachts are passion projects, so why not capture your yacht as a work of art? New York based artist and designer Scott McBee has a lifelong love of ocean liners and yachts, so began capturing their iconic beauty in his artwork.

After the success of its inaugural competition in 2012, Awlgrip has announced the call for entries to their Future Interior Designer competition. Aiming to discover new superyacht interior designers, the competition asks entrants to create innovative designs using new materials and producing ergonomic and easy to build interiors.

Coming to Miami for the boat shows February 14 to 18? You may want to check out one of the new cool places in town. French designer Philippe Starck, designer of the yachts A and Venus, has returned to Miami to add his special touch to a new hospitality project.

For a master’s thesis, Giovanni Crosera, a recent IUAV graduate, tackled a fast-transfer passenger boat to take tourists from Venice’s airport to the city center. Sleek and stylish, this 75-foot boat is more than mere transportation.

The Reymond Langton–designed Excellence V, from Abeking & Rasmussen, is the latest in a series of yachts Herb Chambers has built. Chambers is all about excellence in life, business and yachting.

The 1937 mahogany commuter yacht Posh left more than one visitor awestruck when she pulled alongside the docks at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. She is part of what may be the most famous triumvirate in the history of boating—three exceptional boats designed by John Hacker and built in the late 1930s by Huskins Boat Works of Bay City, Mich.: WeeJoe II, Tempo and Thunderbird.

Couach’s flagship was five years in the making. During that time the company went through several ownership and leadership changes and the tragic death of its young CEO. New investors Nepteam took over in November 2011. Through it all, Couach continued to work on this impressive and voluminous Kevlar-and-carbon composite yacht, the largest such yacht built in France.

Vanilla Ice, the rapper best known for his mega hit Ice Ice Baby has changed his tune to Lights Lights Baby. Ice (aka Rob Van Winkle) appeared at the Yachts International’s Pavilion at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, promoting a product remote from his rapper image. He sang, played the piano and posed for fan pictures while promoting his new sophisticated lighting collection for Capitol Lighting.

Visitors to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, especially yearly visitors, can become almost jaded by the splendor of the yachts on display, so when something manages to grab attention away from the latest superyacht launch, it’s worth noting. That’s what happened this year with the 1937 mahogany commuter yacht Posh.

Looking for a groundbreaking custom yacht at an unbeatable price? You may want to take a look at the offer coming out of McMullen & Wing’s in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ocean Alexander, with the launch of its OA 120, opens a new chapter in its 34-year history. The alluring new flagship was developed over a period of five years—from the first conversation with designer Evan K. Marshall—and debuts at the 2012 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.

Kaiserwerft and Voith are unveiling an exciting new propulsion system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. An evolution of Voith’s extensively tested and proven inline thrusters and propulsion systems used on numerous ships, this new compact magnetic propulsion system, which does away with the gearbox and conventional shafts, could be a game changer for large yachts.

Nordlund Boat Company currently has three motoryacht projects underway at its shipyard in Tacoma, Wash. Earmarked for delivery to American clients, all three have naval architecture by Ed Monk and engineering by Tim Nolan.

The first yacht to launch in Wally’s new Ace motoryacht series is Kanga, an 86-foot (26.23-meter) displacement yacht featuring bright, contemporary interiors, exceptional volume and transatlantic range. Floating Life Charter & Brokerage announces that Kanga, which debuted at the Cannes and Monaco yacht shows, is available for luxury charter vacations.

Recently, we had the privilege of seatrialing writer Ernest Hemingway’s 38-foot Wheeler Playmate fishing boat Pilar with Jim Moores, founder and president of wooden boat restoration firm Moores Marine. Well, it felt like it, anyway. In reality, we were aboard Elhanor, a 34-foot Playmate built by Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, NY, the same year Pilar was built—1933.

In an innovative departure from the typical brokerage pitch, Steve Reoch of All Ocean Yachts is offering the 175-foot (53.3-meter) research/expedition vessel Proteus for sale with a conversion proposal conceived by noted designer Sergio Cutolo of Hydro Tec. The project, dubbed Proteus II, proposes to turn the research vessel into a long-range luxury explorer.

To build this yacht, IAG expanded and widened the mold created for its debut yacht, Primadonna, a 127-foot (38.7-meter) project built on spec and now sold. The hull was designed by naval architect Stefano Rossi of Rossi Engineering Design & Services, working with IAG. Sergio Cutolo of Hydro Tec focused on the weight study, tunnels and propulsion.

Following the delivery of the 285-foot-5-inch (87-meter) Ace and the monumental, 472-foot-plus (144-meter-plus) Topaz, the third and final Lürssen to be handed over to her owner in 2012 is expected to be the 278-foot-9-inch (85-meter) Quatroelle (Project Bellissimo).

In 2004, the owner of a 150-foot (46-meter) vessel came to us with a challenge: produce a design for a boat half that size that would be equal if not superior in luxury, performance and functionality to his larger yacht.

Over the past two years, Hakvoort Shipyard has made substantial improvements to its yachtbuilding facility in the Netherlands, increasing construction capacity to handle vessels up to 206 feet 8 inches (63 meters). Now, the family-run yard’s investment has paid off with the order of its largest project ever.