What do you get when an owner is as adventurous in his cruising plans as he is in planning the layout? And, what do you get when he’s equally enterprising about the systems powering his yacht? You get a revolution—more to the point, Revolution, a 154-footer (47-meter) based on a concept by Vripack, but thoroughly the owner’s custom creation. Furthermore, you get a megayacht that will feature at least one system that isn’t even aboard any vessel of any kind yet.
Revolution draws largely on Flow, publicized in 2015. The Vripack team started with the concept of an especially active, and wonderfully unconventional, family. The unconventional aspect was put on full display via circular patterns along the hull and superstructure. They were perforations in the steel, to create unusual additional windows on the world. In addition, Flow had gullwing-like extensions aft on the bridge deck. Fitted with glass walls fore and aft, they were akin to observation areas hovering above the water.
Revolution retains much of the profile, including the perforations and gullwing extensions. But, similar to the family Vripack envisioned for Flow, he, his wife, and his kids are unconventional. That explains why the upper deck has a huge gym, 301 square feet (28 square meters), and a sports bar. Even more unusual, Revolution’s owner plans to take the wheel on occasion. He can do it first thing in the morning, if he wishes, since the master is steps away. A treadmill accompanies the wheelhouse equipment for his use, too. The master bath, meanwhile, sits in one of the gullwing extensions.
The list goes on. Revolution has seven staterooms and six crew cabins. That’s a lot for her LOA and volume, just under 500 gross tons. A nearly 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) pool beckons when the anchorage isn’t ideal for swimming.
Revolution plans to take on the corners of the globe, too, in varying speeds and conditions. That dictated a diesel-electric system, and a custom one at that. The Veth electric pod drives, for example, are not yet on the market. (Veth has supplied electric pods to Wider, among others, but larger in size.) Vripack says the space savings due to the electric components makes the engine room 50 percent smaller than usual. Topping things off is an anchoring system that may be akin to Dynamic Positioning. All Vripack will say for now is that no anchor or chain deploys.
As if Revolution weren’t bold enough, the owner selected Jongert as the builder. The Dutch yard dates back to 1953, having delivered more than 300 sailing and power yachts, but has struggled in recent years. Its last delivery occurred in 2014, a 59-foot (18-meter) motoryacht. The yard performed a few refits between 2014 and 2015, too. Also in 2015, Acico Yachts acquired the yard but kept the Jongert name.
Revolution’s delivery date isn’t being revealed yet. Regardless, this pledges to be a project to watch closely.
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