In 2001, the 101-foot (30.75-meter) Waterford departed Sovereign Yachts in Canada in an American owner’s hands. Fourteen years later, she’s still in that same owner’s hands, and in the midst of a major transformation. An 11-month refit is seeing Waterford extended to 108 feet (33 meters), repowered, and reconfigured inside. While her profile and arrangement will surely look different, even things you can’t see will be far different, too.
In fact, “the yacht was gutted down to raw fiberglass,” says Ward Setzer of Setzer Yacht Architects, who not only is responsible for the redesign, but also was Waterford’s original naval architect. An independent captain’s cabin and reconfigured crew’s quarters and entirely new interior, including new entertainment spaces aft, have been designed by his studio—in addition to a restyled transom and extended flying bridge. Add to this a propulsion change from twin MTU 2000s to smaller-footprint Caterpillar C-18 ACERTs (Tier 3 compliant, too), plus SeaKeeper stabilizers, a new electrical system and hydraulics, and an updated black-water treatment plant, and you can well understand the lengthy refit timeframe. It was important to “combine and accomplish multiple update priorities within one job/project cycle,” the owner explains.
In fact, the owner felt he could only proceed with the refit if Setzer and his team were available. That way, it would guarantee the refit was completed “in a way that honored the vessel’s original design intent and history,” he adds.
Setzer welcomed the chance to update his own design. He and his team cruised with the owner and his guests to learn first-hand how trips come together. Waterford frequently hosts corporate cruises, and silver service plays a big role. Setzer says he also drew up about seven different transoms for the owner to choose from, with the winning look pictured above.
To make the ultimate look become a reality, the owner selected American Custom Yachts from among four candidates. “Not only were they up to the job, but they could bring it in on time and on budget,” the owner says. He adds that so far “the refit experience has exceeded my past shipyard experiences, and the communication and daily interaction with our refit project team has been exemplary.”
“It was a matching of personalities,” Setzer says of the Florida-based yard and the owner. An additional benefit: Setzer had recently collaborated with American Custom Yachts on another refit. It was another one of his designs, too, the 75-foot (23-meter) Resilient. Through that process, Setzer “got to know the rhythm” of each department and American Custom Yachts as a whole.
With Waterford, quite a number of departments are involved and have already completed their tasks. The Caterpillar C18s have been installed, for example, which should permit a 17-knot top end. (No need for Waterford to achieve the 22 to 24 knots she could do previously.) The swim platform, a submersible tender-launching platform from Nautical Structures, is in place, too. The expanded entertaining areas and crew-service areas will receive their finishing touches prior to relaunch in early December.
While the removal of all former systems and installation of new ones takes time, the biggest factor in the refit has been the extension itself. “It’s taking a fiberglass yacht and cutting straight across monolithic fabrics,” Setzer explains, a complexity that doesn’t exist with metal yachts. There’s been no complexity involving costs, however. “ACY’s ‘open book’ policy has ensured their costing is accurate, within budget and complete,” the owner explains. “After eight months, we have had no cost or engineering disagreements.”
With all of this time and effort into re-creating Waterford, we wondered: Why go this route rather than build new? The owner did consider that idea. “Having built and overseen the construction at the Sovereign shipyard and operating her for 13 years, I did a multi-year study of what was in the market to replace her,” he relates. “After many boat shows, speaking with other shipyards, I could not find either an American or Canadian yard that could build a new yacht to my specs, with extraordinary woodwork at a reasonable cost. So, I decided to explore a refit project with the goal of doing a yacht reset for the next 10 years using the best available technology while preserving her lines and her heritage.”
Etta
I got photos of this beautiful yacht at sunrise this morning! Would luv to see what it looks like inside!!
Deb
Honored to see this gorgeous vessel at Safe Harbor at South Harbour Marina tonight! Hope that you enjoy your stay I beautiful Southport, NC! Safe travels and smooth seas!