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Design


Smart, versatile (and dependable...)


When you are building luxury semi-custom performance yachts 7,000 miles away from your main market you’d better get everything right first time. So far so good!


For Southern Wind, the delivery of each new yacht from their yard in Cape Town, South Africa usually means a passage of 7,000 miles for those heading to the Mediterranean. Little surprise then that a solid build and a reliable yacht has been one of their core values from the beginning. Since their foundation in 1991 Southern Wind have been acutely aware of their geographical distance from the yachting mainstream. They have not only built their business around it but have turned the distance to their advantage. ‘We have to be capable of building pretty much everything in-house,’ says commercial director Andrea Micheli. ‘Reliability is key but timing is also a big priority for us throughout the production process.’ All of which has seen the company become experts in semi-custom production. It’s an expression that means different things to different ends of the boat building scene. For series production builders, semi-custom can often simply refer to a long options list while for high-end shipyards it means a common hull, different decks and a free hand on the interior layout. For Southern Wind, semi-custom is a way of thinking as well as a smart and versatile way of building that provides a raft of benefits from cost savings to solid reliability, great support and backup and in many cases, a wider range of choice than most would expect.


‘Our perfect customer is one who is scratching their head wondering


74 SEAHORSE


whether to go down the custom path or not,’ continues Micheli. ‘This is a great starting point for us because, having been down this route several times before we know that there are so many advantages in a semi- custom build, which could effectively turn into a “smart” custom. ‘It’s not that we don’t believe in custom build, we do, there are plenty of reasons as to why a client might want to pursue this. But we know that over the course of the entire project there will be a number of areas where we can build far more efficiently and accurately. Take tooling as an example.


‘Sharing the tooling costs is not only more efficient financially, we can invest more money in higher quality tools as well. In addition, we can collect accurate data more quickly, which in turn helps when it comes to working through feasibility and weight studies. This has a knock-on effect because it broadens the range of options that can be investigated rather than narrowing them down.’ Having built 13 SW100s and five SW102s (plus ten 90-96 footers) it is easy to see why Micheli speaks with such confidence, especially with a fourth new SW105 in build. Few other yards in the world, if any, have such concentrated experience in this size and style of superyacht. Southern Wind’s knowledge and experience goes far deeper than simply anticipating an internal layout or deck specification. Farr Yacht Design has worked with them for


Telescoping Keel Fixed Keel Lifting Keel


Top: SW105 number two Kiboko Tres with twin rudders and removable bowsprit, racing at the 2019 SWS Trophy – the third yacht built by


SWS for her Spanish owner. Above: the SW105 is designed to take three keel options This flexibility is a key


aspect of the shipyardʼs philosophy to meet different ownersʼ range of


expectations


many years and vice president and senior naval architect Jim Schmicker knows this approach well. ‘One of the pleasures of working with Southern Wind is their accurate assessment of the build weights,’ he says. ‘And that's not something you always get from other yards.’ ‘Depending on the on the final hull shape, the interior layout and what the machinery and deck hardware is going to be, they know what their yachts will weigh and that is how they come out. Throughout the yard, every couple of metres, there's a big sign that says, “Weigh what you put in the boat.” And they do.’


Having an accurate handle on displacement and on centre of gravity are two of the fundamental factors when it comes to working up any design. It also allows the yard to make more accurate estimates on cost and therefore help the entire process, from selling to delivery. ‘When you are considering a particular style of boat at a particular spot on the performance spectrum while adopting a particular level of technology, there is a weight associated with it,’ Schmicker


CARLO BORLENGHI


SOUTHERN WIND SHIPYARD


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