Heesen’s YN 17042, christened Alive, is expected to be handed over on October 31. She’s the shipyard’s first megayacht equipped with an efficiency-enhancing Hull Vane foil.
Launched in August, Heesen’s Alive is only just now allowed to be shown and publicized under her real name. However, Heesen was permitted to divulge some details about her under her hull name, referenced above, over the past year or so. LOA for the steel yacht is 139 feet (42.4 meters), and she’s highlighted by two significant engineering features. The first is a fast-displacement hull form, which permits good fuel burn at both ends of the speed spectrum. Her power package: twin 1,450-hp MTU 12V 2000 M72s. Naval architecture for the hull, and the yacht overall, is from Heesen’s in-house team and Van Oossanen Naval Architects. The second engineering feature is the Hull Vane foil. Van Oossanen developed and patented the specific design of this foil. Foils, also called wings, reduce fuel burn, reduce drag, create thrust, and reduce pitching. Alive is the first yacht to feature the Hull Vane foil. (Van Oossanen has seen it retrofitted onto commercial vessels.)
Now that Alive is in the water, Heesen can reveal more information. Thanks to the Hull Vane, Alive should need 35 percent less power than comparably sized yachts to top out near 16 knots in flat-calm conditions. Of course, yachts don’t always encounter those conditions. To that end, the Hull Vane reportedly reduces pitching by 40 percent in three- to 10-foot (2- to 3-meter) seas. In those same seas, Alive should gain 20 percent thrust as well. It’s because as a wing, the Hull Vane generates lift, which encourages momentum. Furthermore, Alive should burn 30 percent less fuel at 12 knots, her best-range speed, than a traditional displacement yacht of her LOA. (At that speed, she’ll achieve 4,000 miles.) Sea trials over the next few weeks are anticipated to confirm all these figures.
Once handed over, Alive will entertain a party of 12, amid spacious areas designed by Omega Architects. Two master suites are aboard, one on the main deck (with a balcony) and the other on the upper deck (with a private gym). The second stateroom is also circular, with the bed at its center to take advantage of the views out the full-height glass windows. The 29’5” (9-meter) beam should further make the sun deck and other common areas quite comfortable.
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