Superyachts


performance, and they each have an enormous amount of sailpower. However, Hetairos is extensively optimised for racing, yet at the same timemore classic in her proportions with a ketch rig and a tapered stern. Perseverance by contrast is primarily a cruiser but has timeless rather than classic lines and her broader stern, sloop rig and waterline length aremore akin to a typicalmodern yacht. Also, as Dykstra is keen to point out, the differences between the two yachts show how these full customprojects are led by the wishes and choices of the clients. The next time the two companies collaborate on a yacht, it could be a completely different type of vessel.


”Full customyachts often growduring the design process, but this one went the otherway”


were tasked with scaling up the style and concept of that boat into a high- performance superyacht twice the size. ‘The design brief was classic elegance but performance orientated with good seakeeping capability for long hauls, Atlantic crossings, that sort of thing,’ says ErikWassen, the lead naval architect for Perseverance andmany of Dykstra’s previous pilot cutter-style yachts. Another key aspect of the brief was to create an efficient


charter yacht with broad appeal. Full customyachts often grow during


Concept & hull design True to her name, Perseverance was a long time coming. Dykstra and their interior design counterparts, deVosdeVries design, had already spent almost three years developing, refining and revising the concept before Baltic Yachts became involved. The two Dutch design studios had worked together on the client’s previous yacht – an 18-metre (60ft) pilot cutter-style cruiser built in aluminiumby Claasen Shipyard – and


Perseverance is a powerful offshore passage-maker. On the delivery trip to theMed from Finland, the crew logged 20kts plus


the design process, but this one went the other way. ’Initially we had a larger boat in aluminiumbut that changed because aluminiumhas its drawbacks,’ Wassen says. ‘Corrosion issues, it’s less stiff, it’s heavier. So we squeezed that 40- metre boat into a smaller composite package, 10cmhere, 10cmthere. You lose weight, you lose volume but you gain interior space by having a sandwich structure rather than frames and a skin. Basically it’s the same layout, though. Also when you lose displacement you lose propulsive power requirement, fuel consumption. It’s a knock-on effect. That was the compromise and it ended up as 117ft.’ The underwater shapes of Dykstra’s


designs bear no resemblance to an actual Bristol Channel pilot cutter, of course, nor anything else of that vintage but they do share one functional benefit with the boats that inspired them. ‘The old pilot cutter guys figured out that a longer waterline pays off in seakeeping capabilities,’Wassen says. ‘Having a sharp bow with a long waterline, it’s a no-brainer. Also, as the forefoot is straight the interior extends further forward so you can have proper stowage in the forepeak.With a spoon bow you might have fivemetres sticking out beyond the waterline but there’s not much volume that you can use.’ In Perseverance that same thinking is


applied at the other end of the hull. ‘Most pilot cutters we design havemore overhang at the stern,’Wassen says. ‘This one is all aboutmaximising waterline length. So the challenge for us was to get the hull out of the water in a proper way and find a good compromise between waterline length, shape and appearance.’


Rig, sailplan & deck plan Dykstra’sWassen designed the sailplan, working with Doyle Sails and Hall Spars. Light wind performance was a top priority so the rig is huge but it has three sets of spreaders rather than four. ‘If you could reduce weight considerably by


78 SEAHORSE


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