With a name like Project Smooth, this yacht should perform about as smoothly as her styling flows. It’s no mere moniker, however. Nick Mezas Yacht Design and Van Oossanen Naval Architects joined forces to ensure the 226-footer could achieve a few key things. First, she needed to see high speed (for her length) and equally high fuel efficiency. Second, she needed to quell pitch and roll. And overall, Project Smooth needed to remain comfortable whether guests were out on deck or inside.
The performance parameters come from employing Van Oossanen’s Fast Displacement Hull Form as well as its Hull Vane. The proven hull design allows better fuel burn throughout the speed range than traditional semi-displacement hulls. The Hull Vane takes care of damping the ever-uncomfortable pitching and rolling that happens in some seaways. Tests show that Project Smooth should see a top speed around 20 knots. Scaled back to 14 knots, she should have an impressive 5,000-nautical-mile range. Equally impressive, she should burn just shy of 104 gph at that same speed. Put another way, that’s 74 gallons per nautical mile. All of this is possible with a conventional drive train and twin MTU engines. And, all of this, according to Nick Mezas, means Project Smooth can cross from Gibraltar to Antigua in good weather in less than a week.
The powerful performance is matched by powerful looks, and the in-demand amenities of today’s megayachts. Both white and grey metallic paint accentuate the hull. On every deck, bulwarks are, to use Mezas’s word, “thick.” This is for both aesthetics and an enhanced feeling of safety.
In terms of amenities, take your pick. Project Smooth has an aft-deck pool, plus a hot tub and circular sunpad fully forward on the sundeck. Come nighttime, the sundeck becomes the party deck, thanks to a dance floor. The tender garage—notably, forward on the main deck, rather than aft below—handily holds a 27-foot tender, PWCs, canoes, and a host of more toys. Meanwhile, inside, the master suite has its own cinema. A gym for all sits on the bridge deck. Of course, you’ll find a beach club aboard, too, fitted with a fold-down partition to port.
Mezas wisely kept the 14-person crew in mind, too. Project Smooth situates the galley on the main deck, not banished below and to a tiny space. It has a handy dumbwaiter to bring meals up to the sundeck or bridge-deck dining spots, both alfresco. Furthermore, servicing guest staterooms (two twins, two doubles) becomes simple due to a sliding door between their areas.
Enjoy another look:
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