Cheoy Lee 127 Discovery Yacht Has Roots in Robust Offshore Vessels

Explorations are all about making new discoveries. With that in mind, the Cheoy Lee 127 Discovery yacht was born. The project is a meeting of the minds between a shipyard and a design studio each with deep experience in strong, sturdy commercial vessels plus yacht construction, culminating in a real explorer yacht.

The builder is Cheoy Lee Yachts, the superyacht division of Cheoy Lee Shipyards. Cheoy Lee Shipyards has been building ferries, pilot boats, crew vessels, and more for upwards of a century. It’s also been in the hands of the same family for five generations. A yachting division got its start in the 1960s, with projects primarily heading for U.S. shores. Today, yachts see construction under two brands: Cheoy Lee Yachts, responsible for deliveries like the yacht Qing; (below) and the brand CL Yachts.

The designer for the Cheoy Lee 127 Discovery yacht, meanwhile, is U.S.-based Boksa Marine Design. Nick Boksa, the studio’s founder and head, and his team met with B.Y. Lo, Cheoy Lee Shipyards’ director, at the Fort Lauderdale boat show last year. They showed Lo an explorer-yacht concept around 120 feet (37 meters), a niche which coincidentally Cheoy Lee Yachts wanted to address. Specifically, Cheoy Lee Yachts wanted to offer buyers a robust, long-range cruiser for accessing regions most yachts can’t. Together, they chose to create a series, which led to the Discovery range. The Cheoy Lee 127 Discovery yacht is the first project in the range, too.

This new project additionally strives to include the amenities that buyers would expect to find aboard larger explorers. For instance, the galley has a walk-in freezer, plus a crew lounge. A dumbwaiter ensures efficient service to all four decks. Furthermore, the captain’s cabin is on the bridge deck, and an engineer’s cabin sits aft of the engine room. Including the captain, the Cheoy Lee 127 Discovery yacht has quarters for 11.

Qing megayacht at Rivergate Shipyard & Marina in Brisbane Australia

That makes for an excellent crew-to-guest ratio, considering 10 in the owners’ party have accommodations, too. Naturally, four guest staterooms are below decks, while the master suite is full beam forward on the main deck. A beach club and a handful of alfresco and interior relaxation and dining areas await as well. Notably, the aft-main deck houses the tender. This maintains a purposely low center of gravity for the full-displacement megayacht, for better comfort on long passages.

Sylvia Bolton of Sylvia Bolton Design has penned a suggested interior with an air of graciousness. Buyers will, of course, be able to tailor it to their tastes.

“Our mission was to create an expedition yacht under 150 feet that still has the luxury, seaworthiness, and serviceability to let owners fulfill their dreams of global discovery and comfort,” says Lo. “We are looking forward to working with Nick on future models in the Cheoy Lee Discovery Series.”

Cheoy Lee Yachts and Boksa will be at the upcoming Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show to discuss the design further with interested clients.

Boksa Marine Design bmdinc.com

Cheoy Lee Yachts cheoyleeyachts.com

Sylvia Bolton Design sylviabolton.com