During a press conference where Heesen Yachts’ management team payed homage to the famous line, “We’re going to need a bigger boat” from the movie Jaws, the Dutch yard announced Project Maximus. Measuring 272 feet (83 meters), she is its biggest yacht to date.
About 50 percent of Heesen’s megayachts still start on spec. These include an also-newly-announced 216-footer (66-meter) by Winch Design. Project Maximus, however, is under contract. Clifford Denn Design lends the yacht her long, lean looks outside and creature comforts inside. (On a side note, Denn himself is no stranger to Heesen, having designed Ann G.)
Heesen describes Project Maximus as being maximum in nature as well as in name. It’s not hyperbole, either. In fact, Denn drew upon his years of experience designing for cruise lines like Cunard, P&O, and Viking in reconfiguring work areas and guest areas. This lets Project Maximus augment owner and guest areas without compromising the crew’s needs. It’s particularly noticeable out on deck. The owner and guests have nearly sole use of the space from the swim platform on up to the upper deck, indeed to the very tip of the bow. It’s possible because the wheelhouse is beneath that forward space (above), coined the Passenger Deck.
With a nearly vertical bow, Project Maximus has flexible interior arrangements, too. Doors between two guest staterooms convert them into one large suite, complementing two VIPs. Of course, the master suite occupies a significant amount of space as well. Rather than spend all their time in their staterooms, those aboard will surely gravitate toward the main aft deck. A waterfall feature (above) makes cocktails or meals all the more enjoyable. So, too, does the large swimming pool just a few steps away aft.
Rather than simply be a large yacht for the sake of building big, Project Maximus rethinks how spaces should be. As Denn puts it, “It’s large-boat thinking that puts the owner’s needs first.”
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