If you listened to today’s podcast with Bruce Johnson of Sparkman & Stephens, you learned about a few projects the storied naval architecture firm is working on. Add one more to the list: this 75-meter (246-foot) Bermuda-rigged schooner.
Even though Sparkman & Stephens (S&S) is renowned for its sailing-yacht designs, those designs have encompassed far more sloops, ketches, and yawls than schooners. In fact, the firm says it’s been responsible for less than a dozen. Despite that, some of the schooners became – and remain – pretty famous. There’s the 55-foot Santana, design #59, which dates back to 1935 and counts Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall among her previous owners. There’s also the 85-foot So Fong, built in 1937 and meticulously restored over the years, going on to win the Trophée Rolex in the 2006 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Then there’s the 62-foot, all-wood Brilliant, also built in the 1930s and used today by Mystic Seaport Museum’s sailing education program.
Whether or not the new superyacht will meet similar fame, she’ll have modern thinking and technology on her side. A spade rudder and daggerboard should reduce wetted surface area, for example. Automated furling booms, lightweight spars, and other related items will make handling the complex set of sails that are by definition part of her design much easier. Also making things easier for the 12-person crew: the glass-bridge system at the main helm and an engineer’s control room. The latter overlooks the two-level engine room and contains monitors for and command of the diesel-electric propulsion system. The captain’s stateroom has a stairway leading straight to here as well as the wheelhouse.
The rest of the crew also has use of dumbwaiters that connect the refrigerator and freezer rooms on one of the lowest decks to the crew galley, adjacent to their mess, and the service pantry, adjacent to the main dining room. When it comes time to service the master stateroom, located aft and down one level from the main deck, or the five guest staterooms (on the same deck), the crew can use a hidden door in the lazarette.
For the owner’s convenience, a staircase connects the master stateroom to a private office and lounge on the main deck. In addition, should the owner invite a handful of couples to cruise aboard, two guest staterooms feature twin berths that can slide together.
The entire owner’s party gets use of a full-beam main saloon, a guest office just aft of it, and of course plenty of alfresco dining and relaxing space. Tenders and toys (yet to be determined) are being stowed on the flying bridge and in the lazarette.
Sparkman & Stephens hasn’t revealed whether the client who requested the design has chosen a shipyard yet, so it appears the project is still in its early stages. It also appears that the client is considering a few different hull colors, judging from the handful that S&S forwarded. Besides the blue hull shown here, other options are red and a beige/sandy tone.
Leave a Reply