UPDATE, JUNE 21, 2016: Legend departed for her maiden voyage last evening:
Read on for our original article.
Grey skies are no match for the recently re-launched Legend. Neither are challenging conditions. The megayacht is meant to take on Mother Nature in exploring Antarctica and other remote areas of the world.
Legend is the result of a nearly yearlong refit at Icon Yachts. The 256’6” (77-meter) yacht was already a stalwart vessel. She was built in 1974 in The Netherlands as an icebreaker for the Soviet Union. Back then, she measured 241’2” (73.5 meters). She stayed in the country’s service for more than two decades. In the late 1990s, a yacht buyer acquired her for conversion into an expedition yacht. The work took a number of years, in Mexico. The result was Giant in 2003. (Additional work continued in subsequent years.) She kept her LOA and icebreaking configuration, gaining a red hull and luxury-focused interior. Also notable, fishing boats were aboard, to be used as tenders.
In 2014, Icon Yachts revealed that it would refit the yacht once again as Legend. The yard collaborated with the naval architects from Diana Yacht Design. Part of the refit involved extending her aft areas by nearly 12 feet (3.6 meters). The extra deck space was both for looks and practical purposes. It made Legend look more balanced, plus created space for a helipad. It also created an ample-size pool on the main deck and a swim platform below. That platform should come in handy for boarding the variety of watertoys that Legend will carry. Among them: a personal submarine. The latter gets stowed in a forward garage. Equally important, Legend needed to be classed to current regulatory requirements. She will now meet SOLAS and Lloyd’s rules.
You’ll get a chance to tour Legend at the Monaco Yacht Show in September. Expect to see each of the 13 guest suites themed around a different city dotting the globe. A cinema and even a fireplace are also inside. The interior, which also includes medical facilities (due to the adventure-cruising focus), is by by Thom Beerens. Following the show, Legend will set off for Antarctica. It won’t be the only cold-weather locale on her itinerary, though. Legend will later travel to Greenland and the North Pole. “I wanted to create a vessel that could go anywhere in the world, but also provide the luxuries that have become standard in the superyacht industry,” says Jan Verkerk, her owner. (Verkerk is a familiar name in yachting, further owning the megayacht Sherakhan, which he also had refitted at Icon Yachts.)
Legend is chartering this summer, following delivery, via the central agency of Camper & Nicholsons, with a weekly rate starting at €455,000 (about $514,546 at press time).
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