Project Samba Yacht Owners Reveal More Details

“It was an amazing 12-month journey,” Will Noftsinger of Denison Yachting says. He’s describing the endeavor his clients embarked on in choosing Van der Valk Shipyard and Guido de Groot Design to make their cruising vision a reality. The Project Samba yacht design and contract process took them to multiple locales. These two Dutch companies ultimately won their hearts and minds, for a few reasons.

Announced last month as one of two similar size but dramatically different Van der Valk superyachts, Project Samba firstly is a fully custom 115-footer (35-meter). That is a rarity. It was really the only choice, however, Noftsinger says. The owners wanted a modest-size superyacht with head-turning styling reminiscent of Italian or Turkish yachts plus the construction reputation of Northern European yards. Upon visiting Van der Valk Shipyard, they quickly appreciated “the family-owned feeling and excitement, as well as the eagerness to customize and deliver exactly what my clients wanted,” Noftsinger continues. It helped, too, that the flag of the owners’ home country was flying on site as they arrived.

Next, sitting with Guido de Groot proved special. The designer sketched a variety of hardtop styles, for example, along with window locations and overall looks. He further altered the LOA and superstructure position with the owners.

The Project Samba yacht interiors and exteriors are all by de Groot’s studio. As previously mentioned, the megayacht devotes good space to alfresco enjoyment. For instance, she has an elongated swim platform and elongated main aft deck. The owners intend to enjoy several meals on the aft deck with guests, in fact. They’ll do a lot of cooking themselves, too.

Among the new design details from the owners, Project Samba will include a main-deck master suite. Four guest staterooms will sit below decks, as you might expect. The trideck aluminum megayacht additionally will have healthy-size crew’s quarters, including an engineer’s cabin aft. Plus, a captain’s cabin will be adjacent to the pilothouse. These two cabins’ locations are unusual, but welcome, for a yacht of 115 feet. So, too, is a volume of 298 gross tons.

Also incorporating a sauna and a beach club, the yacht employs a proven fast-displacement hull form. “Using the engineering packages and part of the cutting files generates significant cost synergies, yet allows for an entirely different look and feel,” explains Yoeri Bijker, the yard’s head of sales. “It’s a higly efficient way of building that provides clients with exceptional freedom to customize their yacht above the waterline.” Anticipate the yacht seeing a 17-knot top end when she launches in the first half of 2025.

Anticipate more surprises to come as well. Noftsinger asserts, “She’s going to be absolutely stunning and feature loads of amenities that will set the bar for yachts to come at her size range.”

Denison Yachting denisonyachtsales.com

Guido de Groot Design guidodegroot.com

Van der Valk Shipyard vandervalkshipyard.com