Heesen Yachts was the first megayacht yard to employ the fast-displacement hull form, and it’s about to employ yet another interesting engineering concept. Called the Hull Vane, it will be featured on YN 17042, a 139-footer (42.4-meter) megayacht that further features the fast-displacement hull form.
The steel-hulled YN 17042 bears styling and interior design by Omega Architects, and naval architecture from its in-house team as well as Van Oossanen Naval Architects. Van Oossanen is also the firm that developed and patented the Hull Vane foil. A foil is a wing-like structure positioned beneath the hull that does a few things. It’s typically touted for reducing drag and creating thrust, but it also increases stability in some sea conditions, reducing pitching. Van Oossanen reports that a few cargo ships have been retrofitted with the Hull Vane foil, each seeing four- to eight-percent reductions in fuel burn. Better fuel efficiency is possible on higher-speed craft, like motoryachts. In fact, Van Oossanen states that some have seen better than 20-percent boosts.
As for Heesen’s YN 17042, the shipyard believes drag can be reduced about 18 percent throughout her speed range. Top speed at half load (354 tons) should be about 16 knots, given twin 1,450-hp MTU 12V 2000 M72s. Dialed back to about 322 hp, the megayacht should make a 12-knot cruise and see a 4,000-nautical-mile range. Heesen also sees YN 17042, with an 8’5” (2.6-meter) draft, benefitting from the above-outlined advantages of a foil.
Bearing a 29’5” (9-meter) beam, the megayacht will accommodate 12 in the owner’s party and 10 crewmembers, plus a captain. Interesting enough, the owners will have two master suites. One is where you’d expect it to be, forward on the main deck. It’s further fitted with a balcony. The second suite is aft on the upper deck, featuring a gym. The profile shows large windows, which should make relaxation spaces inviting.
Heesen will make more information about YN 17042 available at the Monaco Yacht Show. She’s set for delivery in 2014, to be classed to ABS and compliant with the LY2 standards of MCA.
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