all winds, coupled with a high-quality living atmosphere.’
The new shipyard, Michael Schmidt Yachtbau, was established in 2016. Schmidt didn’t ned to venture far from the headquarters of his previous empire, finding an ideal waterfront site at Ladebow on the outskirts of Greifswald and erecting a purpose-built production facility large enough to produce yachts of up to 108ft (33m) in length. All hulls and rigs are produced on site in carbon fibre and the hi-tech, automated paint hall also serves as a giant autoclave capable of annealing prepreg yachts at temperatures as high as 90°C.
Something that distinguishes her from all other yachts, makes her a solitary stand-out in harbour and one that people still like to look at after many years.’
For his own 80ft yacht Cool
Breeze and the Y8 model that subsequently went into production as the brand new shipyard’s first semi-custom offering, Schmidt engaged Lorenzo Argento, at that time of Brenta Design, to handle the naval architecture and commissioned Sir David Chipperfield to take care of the interior design. It was a challenging brief by all accounts, which Schmidt describes as ‘like bringing together several complications in Swiss clockwork: the playful mastery of long distances, the easy handling of a large yacht, excellent performance in
Top: prepreg carbon hull and spars, race-spec
deck gear and the best sails available... itʼs easy to forget that this yacht is primarily conceived as a cruiser. Middle: luxe minimalism by Norm Architects Lower: all controls for everything at the helm
A yacht’s hull is too often just a small fraction of its overall displacement weight, even before all the gear, stores, fuel and cruising equipment is loaded aboard. With light displacement a fundamental parameter in the Y Yachts formula, nearly all of the yachts’ interior structure and most of the furniture is made from lightweight composite materials but it’s largely concealed under a layer of hardwood veneer to give the accommodation a traditional look and feel.
Three semi-custom models form the bulk of the shipyard’s current output: the 71ft (22m) Y7, the 79ft (24m) Y8 and the most recent addition to the range, the 90ft (27.4m) Y9. A 74ft (22.6m) explorer yacht, the YX, is also available in two different configurations and the yard also produces full custom yachts to order. Lorenzo Argento designed the first model in the range, the Y8 (developed from Schmidt’s own yacht, Cool Breeze) and the YX, but the highly regarded American designer Bill Tripp was brought in to design the Y7 and Y9 and the Danish firm Norm Architects designed their interiors. To date the yard has built
(or on order) 12 yachts. More are already in the pipeline, including plans for a 100ft (30.5m) Y10. One notable custom build launched last year is the 74ft (22m) oceanic research yacht Eugen Seibold, which was designed by Lorenzo Argento and subsequently developed into the YX model, adding a go-anywhere explorer yacht to Y Yachts’ range. Eugen Seibold was commissioned by the Max Planck Institute and Werner Siemens Foundation with a brief to create the world’s most eco-friendly research vessel. Fitted with an advanced diesel-electric hybrid drive and sophisticated energy recovery systems including a propeller-driven generator that supplies the yacht’s electrical power under sail and charges its batteries, Eugen Seibold resolves the contradiction inherent in most environmental research vessels, which inevitably pollute the environment that they are working to preserve. This project has given Y Yachts valuable expertise in renewable technologies and has enabled the shipyard to offer the option of eco-friendly systems and drives on all models in its range. What all of these yachts have in common, despite the extensive scope for customisation that the shipyard offers its clients, is a strict adherence to Schmidt’s key parameters. ‘We have turned away commissions for catamarans and powerboats,’ Y Yachts’ head of sales Peter Markowitz explains. ‘We would far rather focus on building a few very good sailing boats with a maximum output of around five yachts per year. We don’t want to outsource anything and we don’t want to have to change our philosophy.’
One key aspect of that philosophy, which is strongly tied in with Schmidt’s credo of simplicity, pure sailing and pleasure – and one that even the most traditionally minded sailors will agree with wholeheartedly – is the importance of reliability. Hydraulic and electric systems make these huge, powerful boats easy and fun to sail, but all technical installations on board are designed to make access for maintenance as easy as possible and all equipment is selected and installed so that if necessary, it is relatively
straightforward to replace or repair. Many shipyards will give their customers verbal assurances that this is the case, but Y Yachts goes one further with a bold pledge published on its website: ‘We optimise every area of the yacht and you can be sure that you will not experience any surprises at sea. Promised.’
www.yyachts.de
q SEAHORSE 77
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