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There are two ways to
make a yacht go fast: add power or cut weight. The first way seems easy—just
install bigger engines. But bigger engines are heavier and require more
fuel, which in turn adds even more weight. This brute-force approach quickly
gets out of hand, driving up both the purchase price and operating costs.
The smarter way is to trim weight without losing strength.
Notwithstanding advances
in construction technology that many motoryacht builders have embraced,
when it comes to optimizing for maximum strength and minimum weight, it’s
the sailing-yacht builders who have truly refined the art, especially
those who have honed their skills in the crucible of the America’s
Cup and Whitbread Around the World competitions. Of the few yards with
those credentials, New England Boatworks (NEB) is all the more distinctive
for not just having built a high-tech hull, but finishing it as a luxury
motoryacht.
Located on the shores
of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, NEB appears at first glance to
be just a sprawling marina with impressive repair facilities. But the
yard’s owners, founding partners Tom Rich, Steve Casella, and David
MacBain, are first and foremost boatbuilders, having worked together for
20 years building contenders for the races listed above and other premier
sailing yacht competitions. When the three first joined forces in 1982,
aircraft-grade aluminum with honeycomb core was all the rage, and they
kept NEB at the forefront of technology as composite construction supplanted
it and evolved into a dizzying complex of resins, reinforcements, and
core materials. The yard continues to excel, executing an eclectic array
of projects, including construction and repair of high-tech fiberglass
sailing yachts, restoration of vintage wooden yachts, and construction
of high-speed aluminum RIB patrol boats, as well as fabricating lightweight
composite structures for shore-side architectural projects. The most recent
feather in the corporate cap is construction of the Hunt 90, a 28-knot
luxury motoryacht and a tour de force in advanced composite technology.
From the beginning,
the owner’s requirements drove the Hunt 90. Outlining seemingly contradictory
goals, he wanted a large, luxurious motoryacht capable of a 28-knot top
speed that would also be suitable for extended-range cruising. According
to NEB, the project started out as a 60-footer, but as the design took
shape, the owner realized he needed much more spacious accommodations
to meet his needs. Through the early design process, the yacht’s
length was increased several times until, at 90 feet, she was deemed big
enough: four staterooms and a spacious galley in the lower deck, wide-open
saloon and dining area on the main deck, and a big pilothouse and seating
area on the flying bridge.
Despite the greatly
increased size, the owner maintained his requirement for a 28-knot top
speed with a 25-knot cruise, to go island-hopping in areas like the Bahamas
and the Caribbean. But because cruising the Med was also in his plans,
he wanted the yacht to have sufficient range to transit the Atlantic,
albeit at a much lower cruising speed.
Next page >
Part 2: NEB achieved impressive weight reduction. > Page 1, 2,
3
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