Yacht Valor Owner—and 3 Dogs—Can’t Wait to Go Exploring

Her paint job and especially her bow design may remind you of a battleship. She’s certainly tough, too, soon to take on some of the world’s coldest climes. Make no mistake, though, that the yacht Valor is indeed a yacht, for an American cruising enthusiast who’s been planning to visit super-remote regions with family and friends, including three furry family members, his golden retrievers.

Also known as Feadship Project 715 during construction, the yacht Valor is a 261-footer (nearly 80-meter) with six decks. The owner, a repeat customer of the shipyard, has long wanted to experience the notorious Northwest Passage. Similarly, the owner has wanted to cruise ice-laden destinations that are off the beaten path. These explain why the superyacht has an ice belt wrapping her hull both above and below the waterline. According to Feadship, this allows the yacht to meet Bureau Veritas’ Young Ice 2 classification. Briefly, this means she should be able to operate safely in ice up to 30 centimeters thick (just shy of 1-foot thick).

The Northwest Passage and other destinations on the owner’s wishlist don’t have marinas or shoreside support facilities. They’re further environmentally sensitive. Therefore, the systems powering the yacht Valor need to keep her independent for long periods and reduce her carbon footprint. Firstly, she relies on diesel-electric propulsion, with a high-capacity battery bank. In fact, Feadship says the resulting electric supply, which is also for hotel loads, is five times that of the hybrid system for the yacht Savannah from 2015. Secondly, solar panels on Valor’s mast feed the batteries. Ultimately, the owner and guests should be able to cruise and remain at anchor for up to 48 hours just on batteries. Add in the possibility of refueling in more populated areas with biofuel—which Feadship will also use for sea trials—and carbon emissions can drop nearly 90 percent.

While Feadshp isn’t disclosing her anticipated speeds, the yacht Valor is capable of transatlantic and transpacific crossings. When she’s in cold climes, heat exchangers will capture and use so-called waste heat. Of course, warm-weather destinations are on the itinerary, too, so the yacht has abundant amenities accordingly. For instance, a contra-flow infinity pool dominates the aft deck. Feadship says it’s among the biggest it’s ever built for a project of her size. Specifically, it’s 27 feet by 8 feet (8.35 meters by 2.55 meters). Hot tubs are aboard as well, with one for everyone forward on the sundeck and surrounded by sunpads. The other hot tub is exclusively for the owner on his deck. His three golden retrievers, meanwhile, have an area for themselves. It’s a grassy relief spot and shower in a widened side deck section on the owner’s deck.

With six guest staterooms on the main deck plus a beach club and massage/beauty room on the lower deck, the yacht Valor welcomes friends and family into quite a beautiful atmosphere. With Bannenberg & Rowell, the owner blended antique, midcentury, and custom furnishings. Selections from Silverlining, Linley, and more are among them. Fans of Linley should note that it custom made billet titanium director’s chairs grouped around some alfresco dining tables. Overall, wood, glass, metal, and stone comprise clean, seemingly simple but actually complex interior spaces. The main stairway is a good example. In total, 48,001 pieces, including solid bronze and stone, complete this Bannenberg & Rowell design.

Whether stepping out for an aerial tour of a destination—the master suite has views over the helideck—or enjoying music in the saloon from a McIntosh stereo system and record player, accompanied by LPs, the owner is eager to begin adventures soon.

But, what about the battleship-like bow and the giant painted numbers reminiscent of military ships? These tie in to the owner’s desire for something bold and conveying confidence in challenging waters. They also tie in to one of the most important must-haves for the owner. “He requested something that ‘would be recognizable from outer space’ as a unique design,” says Chris Bottom of De Voogt Naval Architects. It had to be the opposite of the stacked-deck look that so many people have come to call the wedding-cake look. It also had to be dramatically different than the high number of shapely superyachts dotting the oceans.

Sea trials should begin soon. Following some summer cruising, the owners will open the yacht’s decks to visitors during the Monaco Yacht Show in September.

Bannenberg & Rowell bannenbergandrowell.com

Feadship feadship.nl