Design
Aiming higher (and wider)
The Vrolijk design dynasty is in safe and stylish hands as Alex Vrolijk launches the Hamburg office’s contemporary cruiser-racer solution After a sassy 24ft cruiser-cum-cuddy the German start-up brand Bente Yachts, jointly launched with designer Alexander Vrolijk, is quickly shifting gears. Their new 39-footer comes with plenty of stability and power – plus a healthy dash of Pogo-ishness… Rolf Vrolijk is of course one of the most respected names in
yacht design. With a pedigree ranging from Admiral’s and America’s Cup yachts, TP52s and Maxi72s to superyachts like the latest Baltic Pink Gin, he knows a thing or two about effective lines, shapes and profiles; the hull lines of both of Alinghi’s two America’s Cup winners first saw the light of day on the Judel-Vrolijk drawing board. In past months it was something quite different that got him
psyched up, though. Together with his son Alexander he worked on a performance cruiser that looks and feels more French than German, more rockstar than philharmonic orchestra, more downwind fun than polished all-round performer. With reverse bow, wide aft section, hard chines, twin rudders and a rig rather far aft, the boat is clearly influenced by open class designs. Even the cuddy extension a now a common feature of serious offshore racers such as the Imoca 60s and latest Class40s. This ‘blister’ option, first pioneered by Pogo, taken up by Django,
RM and others, seems like a surprise move for an offspring from Judel-Vrolijk whose serial production designs for Hanse and Dehler look more conventional. So how come? Why are they leaving
52 SEAHORSE
common ground in their latest work? We talked to Alex Vrolijk about the idea behind the new 39ben which will debut at Boot Düsseldorf. Seahorse: It’s quite rare for yacht designers to start their own brands these days as you did with Bente. Why did you get involved in building boats – and why are you leaping from a modest 24-footer to a beamy offshore speedster in almost no time? Alex Vrolijk: At Judel-Vrolijk we rarely start from a blank piece of paper. Usually we must deal with a number of constraints – be it rating rules, classification requests or the DNA of an existing brand portfolio. There were only four or five design projects ever where owners gave us complete freedom to do what we thought was best within a given budget or boat size. With Bente we can do just that: we can come up with a concept
we feel is missing in the current market. In a way the brand is like a free-radical –we work outside existing team structures. We define the design brief completely independently. And this is already reflected in the boats. SH: So what is different… AV: The 24, for instance, is the most modern small cruiser available. It’s basic, but in a cool way. And with the dodger it gives the crew more volume inside and more protection at sea as well. In just two years we sold 65 units, some to owners who’d never had a boat before. So we seem to have addressed a market niche that hasn’t been served yet. We want to achieve the same with the 39ben as
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