Yacht Project Sophia Ready for June Delivery

A little over 18 months since welders united her bare hull and superstructure, the yacht Project Sophia celebrated her launch. Craftspeople and the management team at Heesen Yachts were on hand on March 14 for the occasion.

A spec build currently available for sale, the megayacht is the fourth launch from Heesen’s 5000 Aluminum semi-displacement series. It’s the same series that produced the yachts Book Ends and ALP, for instance. With an LOA of 164 feet, she features styling from the shipyard’s longtime design partner, Omega Architects. It results in sleek and sporty lines that draw your eyes especially aft, toward the yacht’s center of daily activity, the transom. Between the aft-deck pool, the fold-down swim platform, the beach club, and the plethora of watertoys and land toys like bicycles she can stow back here, the area should be a memory maker for the owners and guests.

Those memories can be in the Bahamas and other shallow-water regions of the world, too. With a seven-foot draft and an expected 23-knot top speed, the yacht Project Sophia will island hop adeptly and swiftly. Prop tunnels are just one of the reasons why the superyacht can access these waters. Simultaneously, Heesen says the overall hull design, has undergone performance progress. “Our engineers have improved hull efficiency by 12 percent,” asserts Peter van der Zanden, Heesen’s director of the yard’s Design & Development and Engineering departments. “This is more than a technical metric,” he continues. “It translates directly into lower fuel consumption and a quieter, more enjoyable experience at sea.” According to the yard’s calculations, the yacht Project Sophia should see a 3,100-nautical-mile range at 11 knots even with her speed edge.

For a different kind of edge, Heesen turned to interior design Cristiano Gatto. To essentially eliminate the sense of separation from the surroundings, the studio chose natural colors like sage green, with mustard accents. Rich bronze tones punctuate areas, too, from the saloon to the staterooms accommodating 12 people. As is customary for Heesen, the yacht Project Sophia has all cabinetry from the yard’s own workshop.