Yacht Project Triple X: "X" Is for Far-Flung Exploring

Keel layings are exciting for owners, especially when the milestone is for their first fully custom yacht. The yacht Project Triple X, for Americans stepping up from production boats, celebrated this extra-special moment in July. It’s further the first step toward the owners eventually voyaging aboard—living aboard, really—an explorer yacht.

Under construction at Alia Yachts, the 141-footer (43-meter) is for discovering ice-laden waters as much as tropical shores. The steel-hulled megayacht embodies the owners’ true spirit of adventure, even if the profile doesn’t call this idea to mind. Noticeably missing is the usual aggressiveness that expedition yachts have. Instead, the yacht Project Triple X has “smooth, flowing lines and a bit of sass” explains Marnix Hoekstra, co-creative director of Vripack. The owners wanted “a sexy, sporty explorer,” he continues. So, “Project Triple X has graceful movement and soft, rolling curves, but every curve ends with a bite.”

Vripack is designing the yacht Project Triple X

Vripack is handling all aspects of naval architecture and design at the recommendation of Rupert Connor, founder and president of Luxury Yacht Group. “Vripack’s heritage is very strong, particularly for long-range discovery yachts,” Connor notes. “They also have a great reputation for having a positive and collaborative approach to design.”

Several things were on the owners’ must-have list. For instance, they wanted a dedicated office in the master suite. The suite sits aft on the bridge deck, full beam and with private alfresco space, too. The owners also wanted a big walk-in closet and equally ample bath. These, in combination with proper access to machinery in the engine room for the crew of 10, grew the project on paper from 40 to 43 meters (131 to 141 feet).

Yet another must-have was stowage for a 26-foot (8-meter) X-Craft beachlander tender. According to Connor, many sub-500-gross-ton yachts tow chase boats because “the guest tenders are inadequate for the job.” It won’t be a problem aboard the yacht Project Triple X, though, thanks to a Vripack-designed solution. The tender will sit in a special cradle aft on the main deck. When it’s in the water, the deck area can suit guests’ enjoyment, with folded-down bulwarks also complementing the nearby dining area and gym.

The keel laying followed about a year of finalizing the design details. Remarkably, “The design has deviated very little from the original sketches,” Hoekstra says. He adds that it proves “the owners knew what they wanted and that they were guided very well by Rupert during the early brief stage.” Connor adds, “Some designers get lost in the theatrical, but Marnix has a great way of taking conceptual designs and articulating how they are going to be executed.”

Alia Yachts aliayachts.com

Luxury Yacht Group luxyachts.com

Vripack vripack.com