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Jarkko Jämsén

RAVEN // Baltic Yachts 111

RAVEN - a 34m fast day sailing superyacht with the aptitude for high-speed ocean crossings.RAVEN reached speeds far over twenty knots during the sea trials. The full-speed potential has to be tested…

SYZYGY 818 // Feadship

Feadship launched the 77m SYZYGY 818 (ex Project 818) with a live broadcast on YouTubeSYZYGY 818 has been designed by Jarkko Jämsén of Aivan Design (exterior) and Sinot Yacht Architecture &…

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Between tradition and modernity : A portrait of yacht designer Jarkko Jämsén

Sören Gehlhaus

· 30.05.2024

Looking forwards and backwards: Jämsén in the bird's nest cockpit of "Raven". Foilers from the 1950s provided the technical inspiration, while rattan meets carbon fibre in the interior

Remembering the most beautiful moments in life is not difficult for most people. People who are fond of yachting are quick to reminisce on or in the water. Jarkko Jämsén has to think of a formula. "I remember my first scale model very clearly," says the Finn in his studio in Monaco, stretching his arms apart to visualise the size. He asked his father how heavy his wooden model should be so that it would hit the design waterline. After calculating the assumed displacement on the same scale as the model length to the original length, he realised: "It can't possibly be that heavy!" It took him quite a while to work out that he had to divide the original displacement by the scale factor to the power of three. "That was one of the best moments of my life," enthuses the 47-year-old. Jämsén wears a Rasputin-style long beard, a black cap, horn-rimmed glasses and a fisherman's shirt. On the table are copies of "Sail and Power" by Uffa Fox, Jacques Devaulx's "Nautical Works" and a book on organic forms in Finnish glass and ceramic art.

Before the meeting, Jämsén described his office location as: "At the Formula 1 starting grid, starting position 18", as if this were a normally understandable address. Not realising that the starting grid positions remain on the tarmac of the Principality, an additional request was made for the house number. On the fifth floor, visitors can expect a white-panelled conference room with a marble table in the centre and one of those terraces that are rented out for horrendous sums on the big race day. The Port Hercule is almost within a line's throw.

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The path to boat building

The Monaco native opens the interview with: "I'm a wooden boat builder, naval architect and industrial designer." How did this come about? He left school and home behind at the age of 15 to play ice hockey semi-professionally. "I trained on the ice from morning to afternoon, then I learnt how to build wooden boats." The all-rounder comes from the lake-rich inland region. "A very beautiful area. My grandfather had a cabin on the lake and as we weren't particularly wealthy, we built our own boats. They were up to eight metres long, made of wood and were always being repaired. They were semi-customised," laughs Jämsén.

The Finnish designer built his first boat at the age of 16, a modified Sea Bright skiff. In the end, however, it was "designed and built by me", with a small electric outboard motor, free-standing mast and swivelling keel. "I only used hand-operated tools," he says, imitating the sound of a plane going up and down. Jämsén grew up in an environment far removed from sailing clubs and shipyards. But there was a library in the neighbouring village where he read all about old American boats. "Up until sixth grade, there were 21 pupils and two teachers in the entire school. Total chaos. I learnt nothing at all in the first few years, but boatbuilding grabbed me straight away." Jämsén last played in a small town as a goalkeeper for a second division team. "From an early age, I was part of this masculine, perhaps even a little toxic world." At 20, he turned his back on it and studied shipbuilding. His first choice would have been industrial design, but the school's career guidance centre advised him against it. Jämsén is severely colour-blind.

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"I had to do a lot of maths to pass the entrance exam in Turku." As he had already built his own boat, he understood the basic dynamics and mechanics. "I was still a poor sod. I also worked nights at Wärtsilä putting together the big 46 engines. I was lucky and had a very good professor from whom I learnt a lot and gained self-confidence." During this time, he learnt English, which had previously played no role at school. During his studies, he also worked in a design office, sometimes on cruise ships or special tasks. His boss became a supporter and entrusted him with custom projects, which he drew and rendered using 3Ds Max.

Where Jarkko Jämsén got his inspiration from

Another moment of happiness followed at the age of 25. He stocked up on pirated copies of software such as AutoCAD or Rhino on black markets in Estonia and was "in seventh heaven". He was inspired by international yacht magazines that he bought at the railway station. After successfully completing his shipbuilding studies, Jämsén thought of the tutor who talked him out of studying industrial design. Now he tried it, was accepted in Lahti, but still lived in Helsinki and worked in Turku. "I did everything at the same time and I think that's how I still work." Due to his previous knowledge, he was offered a shortened study period, but the young engineer opted for the full four years and went to Genoa for two semesters abroad, where he first came into contact with yacht design at an academic level. After returning to the north, he took jobs in industrial design offices before deciding on his 30th birthday that he would only work on his own account.

"I never thought I would be able to keep my head above water with yachts alone," says Jämsén. And adds dryly: "My first project was the Finnish president's yacht." He won a tender for the construction and design of the 20 metre long state yacht, which was the second project with four IPS units and brought him a lot of attention. Nowadays, shipyards take on the construction work for his large yacht projects, but Navia, the office he co-founded, can also do this and still does it for pleasure craft. "In the beginning, we were three people, now with Aivan we are around 100 and look after twelve different boat brands." These include non-Finnish shipyards such as Zodiac, Technohull and Candela, for which Navia even developed the foil control system.

Axopar is a brand that grew quickly, not least thanks to Navia. "There was no company yet, just a few people with good ideas," recalls Jämsén, who had already worked with Axopar founders Sakari Mattila and Jan-Erik Viitala on Paragon and XO. The name is derived from parts of Aquador, Mattila's first boat brand, as well as XO and Paragon. Jämsén holds numerous patents for design details, including the flat stepped hull. He developed the concept of a RIB without hoses for Paragon in the mid-2000s. He always favoured outboards to keep weight and fuel consumption low and seaworthiness high. In addition, Jämsén's angular design helped to visually reinforce the hulls.

"Our level of expertise has become very high. 40 per cent of the business is related to water, of which superyachts make up a very small part." The sister company Aivan - an anagram of "Navia" - covers industrial, communication and shop design. Both companies are based in Helsinki's harbour in an old Henry Ford production hall. In terms of customers, the transitions are sometimes fluid, such as with Brabus, for whom Navia designed and constructed the boats and Aivan developed a complex configurator for the Bottrop-based refiner's car division.

On board the Brabus Shadow 900 with Jarkko Jämsén

After the studio visit, we go for a drive in a Brabus Shadow 900. On board, Jämsén is clearly in his element, helping to cast off and later taking the wheel. Privately, he drives the same model, which is moored outside the Monaco Yacht Show at the foot of his office in Port Hercule. "It couldn't be more efficient," says Jämsén about the combination of the stepped hull and the two eight-cylinder Mercury engines. As he looks at the floating exhibits in the harbour basin, he says "no comment" on the aesthetics, but on the propulsion efficiency: "I can tell quite quickly from the hull whether a yacht consumes little fuel. And I can calculate that in detail." With all this hydrodynamic optimisation thinking, it is not surprising that he was still sailing until recently. He maintained the first-rule 8 "Folly" with a friend until the work on the boat became too much and trumped the fun on the water.

Jämsén organises his superyacht commissions from Monaco, where he also lives: "It's a bit like a hobby for me." Instead of taking part in pitches or chasing clients with concepts, he favours hand-picked projects: "That may sound arrogant, but I don't see superyachts as a tough business. It should be fun, with customers who are looking for something exciting and are pleasant people. When someone hires me, I put all my energy into the project and give five years of my life. And it's not about me, it's about the owners. I know what it demands of them. In most cases, it's the biggest investment." With his division, he operates independently of the Helsinki site, buying in individual services from Aivan and Navia and doing the majority himself: "I can oversee all areas of the build, be it hull design or construction. I like to push the boundaries."

Put into practice

This is exactly what he did with his large yacht debut, the 77-metre-long "Pi" (ex-"Syzygy 818"). BOOTE EXCLUSIV became aware of the designer with the unusual name in 2018 during a shipyard visit to Feadship. The enclosure prevented views of Project 818, but a lateral view hung next to the temporary gangway. That was all that was needed to convey the impact of the design. The notes at the time read: "Narrow, negative stem, glass superstructure, no sundeck. From an industrial designer." When the editorial team received photos of the sea trials on the North Sea after the launch, everything came together to form an extremely coherent picture: a concave, almost funnel-shaped bow, contrasted by a convex stern that ends in a tumblehome. The teak deck is laid athwartships and the stern is closed.

Feadship brought the newbuild with interior from Sinot 2019 to the trade fair in Monaco, whereupon the client probably received an offer for "Syzygy 818" that he could not refuse. The new owner renamed the ship and the old owner placed an order for the 13 metre longer successor with the same shipyard address. A model of Feadship 824 stands on the conference table in Jämsén's office. It is a workpiece from the 3D printer that does without an underwater hull and is merely intended to illustrate the proportions. It shows the same sharp, rounded lines, again with a longitudinal pool aft and a square basin on the foredeck that reveals a lifting roof. This time there is a dramatically open stern with wide steps and an integrated stern hatch that appears to form an even longer walkway.

Comeback of the concave

After "Pi", Jämsén was celebrated for bringing seemingly outdated shapes such as the concave back into yachting; an extremely efficient design feature in the bow, but also a wasteful design element that, in contrast to convex sides, constricts the hull and robs it of interior volume. Jämsén subsequently also played with similar freeboard shapes for Nautor Swan, for whom he made his sailing debut with the styling of the Juan K design ClubSwan 50. Its "vase stern" was found in the Italo-Finnish brand's first motorised model, the Swan Shadow, in a much more pronounced form. The 23 metre long SwanArrow, which is currently under construction, also relies on the concave-arched sides.

Jarkko Jämsén's multidisciplinary approach recently culminated in "Raven". He designed the 34-metre-long super-foiler from Baltic Yachts based on Nat Herreshoff's almost 150-year-old Kat Tarantella and Gordon Baker's mono-foiler from the 1950s. The all-in-one motto applied: sailing above the surface of the water, old ideas, new technology and avant-garde design both inside and out. The jack-of-all-trades also devised the lightweight interior made of carbon and rattan elements for the supersailer built in Finland. The deck features functional design in the form of an orange anti-slip coating around the deck, blocks, winches, eyelets and hatch closures. The graphics are intended to resemble those that adorn the hulls of helicopters.

Jämsén thinks openly, often further ahead than many others, and he does so in the knowledge that he can back up his visions with formulae. The Finn is not the only one in his profession to combine creativity and construction. But he does it with a pleasant mixture of enthusiasm for technology and aesthetic curiosity, while at the same time respecting existing arts. The colour-blind former ice hockey player now gives pro bono lectures in industrial design at the university in Lahti: "So many people have helped me that I want to give something back. If I can reach one person who is in the same position as I was, I'm happy."

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Martin Francis, Francis Design To work with Philippe Starck!

Sam Sorgiovanni, Sorgiovanni Designs The wildest request (no pun intended) was for a live terrarium on Nirvana, with living camellias, turtles and water dragons, achieved in collaboration with a zoologist specialising in reptiles. It specified environmental needs, humidity and temperature requirements along with a forepeak cricket farm for live feed! However, seasickness was something we didn’t anticipate.

Fiona Diamond, Seymour Diamond I was asked to recreate the decorative ceiling with tortoiseshell from the lobby of the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco for an owner’s lounge. We achieved this by 3D-scanning clay and wood details, which were then produced in SikaBlock by CNC machine, all finally being sanded and painted to replicate the look. Faux tortoiseshell only!

Daniel Nerhagen, Tillberg Design The boat was more or less ready for delivery when the owner came on board and did the walk-around. In the lobby atrium he saw a perfect parking spot for his vintage Ferrari. So not much to do: remove the interior, windows and lining and make a cut out in the bulkhead to be able to lift in the car, then close the opening and put everything back again. Turned out great in the end.

Frank Neubelt, GYC Studio The most complex design brief given to me was a removable, land-storable helipad set over the pool deck on a 70 metre, for carrying a helicopter on exploration journeys only.

What will be the next great disruption in yacht design or construction?

Jarkko Jämsén, Jamsen Yacht design and construction has only really seen two significant disruptions in the last 150 years: the transition from sail to steam and the introduction of GRP. So I’d say that the impact of fusion energy on propulsion is probably the only truly disruptive phenomenon on the horizon.

Adam Lay, Adam Lay Studio Sustainability (responsibility, longevity, re-use, traceability and transparency), along with more healthful finishes and processes, which go hand-in-hand with sustainable goals.

Mark Smith, Michael Leach Design Environmental issues and pressure from global perceptions.

Guillaume Rolland, Liaigre Disruption will come in the way owners use their yachts: less social protocol and more personal journeys in life.

Malcolm Mckeon, Malcolm Mckeon Yacht Design The next great change in yacht design will be classification societies permitting the use of glass as a structural material to allow designers a greater use of glass without the penalties of weight and cost.

Ronno Schouten, De Voogt Naval Architects The next great disruption will be the transition to completely sustainable yachting.

Bill Tripp, Tripp Design Cut emissions in half and have a better yacht.

What’s the one thing you’d love to design that’s not a yacht?

Francesco Paszkowski, Francesco Paszkowski Design I would like to design a clifftop villa. It would blend into nature – hidden or integrated into the landscape – and the impact on the environment would be zero.

Wayne Parker, Wayne Parker Design The way we work and live in the world is changing, driven largely by climate change and technology. With these influences in mind, I would love to design a habitat either underwater, which is sensitive to the environment and can withstand the forces of nature, or in space that utilises technology and materials that will withstand the test of time.

Laura Pomponi, Luxury Projects An underwater archaeological museum in which to bring to life and show arts and craftsmanship, or historical vessels that are still hidden in dusty archives or under the oceans.

What design element is it your dream to include in a superyacht project?

Luca Dini, Luca Dini Design & Architecture I have always been in love with natural materials and for this reason I have always tried to integrate in my projects as many materials as possible deriving directly from nature: precious silks, woods, leathers and marbles, with which many Tuscan artists have left indelible traces in history through their beautiful works. While designing yachts, one of the biggest constraints we have to deal with is weight. It has often happened that the employment of objects that I would like to include has been nixed by engineers. For this reason, my next goal is to design marble furnishings using the latest lightening technologies. For example, I imagine the exterior areas of a yacht furnished with tables, armchairs and sofas made with the most beautiful marbles available, which are virtually indestructible and could also feature backlighting.

Peder Eidsgaard, Harrison Eidsgaard I would include a roofless bedroom, independently elevated, at the tip of a very long aft deck: ultimate privacy in fresh air under the stars, to the sound of the waves.

Philippe Starck, Starck Sea, humanity and respect.

John Vickers, Vickers Studio The last 20 years’ involvement with many projects over 100 metres has seen almost everything go into some amazing creations; but personally I have always hoped to include a private owner’s access beach club/toy garage, with cars, bikes, a horse stable for that early morning beach ride – oh, and a small classic sailing yacht!

Ewa Eidsgaard, Harrison Eidsgaard Cocoon-like window seats. I love the idea of sitting in such a prime viewing location looking at waves somewhere in Alaska!

Where do you find your design inspiration?

Dickie Bannenberg, Bannenberg & Rowell Design It’s freely borrowed from everything around me, not always in a logical way.

Espen Øino, Espen Øino International There is inspiration everywhere. One just has to be observant and open-minded.

Laura Sessa, Laura Sessa Studio D’Architettura I find my inspiration everywhere: from a book, a magazine, from nature, visiting a museum or just walking in the street. I collect all my thoughts and ideas in a book that I use when I need them.

Philippe Briand, Philippe Briand Limited We are continually looking for new inspiration and ways to improve our designs. Given the fact that evolution has the benefit of millions of years of trial and error to perfect its designs in nature, a designer can benefit in drawing from its influence. This approach to innovation, emulating nature, has inspired many of our greatest creations and the streamlining of our yachts. As a designer you have a mental “blank sheet” that tends to fill up while visiting museums or simply looking around. But, when I create a yacht I use my inspiration to make the architectural structures interesting, this is where problem solving takes over to create an aesthetically pleasing habitat that can be built and not a render fata morgana (a mirage). There are three fundamentals for my designs: long sweeping lines, stark white, and flawless use of glass.

Immo Ludeling, Beiderbeck Designs Design is attitude. It is in every aspect of our lives but for me I find most beauty in art, nature and classic yachts.

Alberto Mancini, Am Yacht Design I get inspired by travelling around the world – every island, country village and museum I visit is a source for my brain. The islands of Kauai and St Barths are the best places on the planet to get inspired. Then Italian futurist art from 1909 to 1944 inspires me a lot. I can’t stop looking at Umberto Boccioni’s sculpture – it transmits to me a unique sense of speed, form and dynamism. Last but not least, the automotive: my passion since I was a child. Again, I can’t help but touch and examine every single surface of exotic supercars. It doesn’t matter which brand – most supercars can be considered as real pieces of art.

Tim Ulrich, Beiderbeck Designs Sails will enjoy a renaissance and change, away from a sporty means of propulsion, to become a supplementary option for relaxed and quiet cruising on large and very large yachts. Noting the current trend towards ever-larger catamarans, a new type of superyacht might well develop like this.

Michael Leach, Michael Leach Design New yachts will struggle to match the second-hand ones (circa 500GT) when it comes to usable guest space due to increases in the size of green technology and crew cabins.

Greg Marshall, Gregory C Marshall Naval Architects The next big revolution in yacht design will be 3D printing on a large scale. This has already begun on a limited scale with limited materials. Large metal 3D printers are coming online right now that will be capable of printing an entire boat out of metal. This opens the doors for extraordinary design freedom and quality improvements. For example we are currently designing a 9m tender designed to be entirely 3D printed out of Titanium. Titanium is interesting for many of its properties, it is very light, burns at a higher temperature than steel. Traditionally it is too expensive but with 3D printing we can reduce the material by up to 80 per cent, making the best material affordable. As titanium does not corrode we do not require it to be painted. As it is 3D printed we can optimise all of the structure to suit specific loading and can then make the boat very light while making it stronger. We can also 3D print in hundreds of watertight chambers that we could never afford to manufacture – this will make vessels ultimately safer.

From the design side we can create normally mundane things – like engine room grills – any shape we want. We can make pipes within pipes within pipes, which then make the systems inside the vessel much less complicated. We can also 3D print the electrical wiring into the vessel itself, greatly reducing man hours.

On the environmental front, there is no wastage with 3D printing so the scrap amounts are greatly reduced. Because there is no heat applied to the metal we do not need to do fairing which is a big environmental disaster and takes a huge number of man hours.

Jim Schmicker, Farr Yacht Design The use of foils to enhance stability, comfort, speed and control will continue to be developed and deployed over a wide range of superyacht types. The benefit of significantly reduced heel angle alone improves the habitability and the whole sailing experience of owners and crew.

Guido De Groot, Guido De Groot Design Creating the space on board needed for more economical and environmentally friendly propulsion and energy supply systems.

Bill Dixon, Dixon Yacht Design Is the future sail-powered superyachts, that satisfy the vessel’s power requirements by the free generation of hydrogen from seawater?

Hans-maarten Bais, Diana Yacht Design I feel that a great disruption will be new regulations for emissions, so we have to invent new ways of propelling and powering yachts.

James Roy, Lateral Naval Architects Clients who are brave enough to take risks and invest in disruptive technologies and innovations, married with a lateral-thinking approach to design and engineering.

Tim Heywood, Tim Heywood Designs I am fortunate in that I find inspiration all around me, all the time. You just have to be receptive to it, make “crossing subject boundaries” the way you look at all objects, be they the thorax of a butterfly or the exposed structure of a 50-floor contemporary office block.

Terence Disdale, Terence Disdale Design Sitting by a lake, watching the sun come up.

Axel De Beaufort, Hermès I find design inspiration in my day-to-day life. Curiosity is the best way to find new ideas, in sometimes the most unexpected situations. I would love my life to be perpetual astonishment. Speaking with craftsmen is also a huge field for building up new ideas and challenges by understanding techniques and seeing how to push boundaries.

Jozeph Forakis, Jozeph Forakis … Design I get inspiration from all aspects of nature: plants, animals and systems, down to the microscopic scale. I’m currently studying the extraordinarily beautiful and weird ultra-deep sea “aliens” being discovered only now. They are better than any science fiction – mother nature has an incredible imagination!

What is the next generation of superyacht owners looking for?

Bernardo Zuccon, Zuccon International Project Adventure and a desire to discover hidden new lands; an authentic fusion with the surrounding ocean; entertainment, thanks to toys and tenders; health and wellness on board.

Marnix Hoekstra, Vripack We believe that the owners of the future are looking to be inspired as much as before, but on a whole new level. Our yachts will remain the vessels for unprecedented personal experiences and the design process will be no exception. Think virtual reality presentations by our avatars, for instance – something our studio is pretty close to doing in the near future. But the yachts will remain beautifully safe and light-filled floating experience centres.

Giorgio M Cassetta Wholesome experiences of harmony and beauty, devoid of useless formalities, that are respectful of the beautiful surroundings and exciting for the people they love.

Antonio Romano, Hot Lab The next generation of owners are looking for a place to disappear from the world, and to socialise with their world at the same time.

Ramon Alonso, Radyca Seaworthiness plus volume plus comfort plus economy plus contemporary design equals a sexy, fast-looking full-displacement superyacht that allows owners to explore coastal destinations in a relaxed yet sophisticated way.

Alexandre Thiriat There is no Planet B. Like more and more people around the world, ecology will be what the new yacht-owning generation will look for.

Pascale Reymond, Reymond Langton More adventures and exploring experiences, still in the comfort of their floating home. Some might also decide to spend longer periods of time on board.

Justin Olesinski, Olesinski When chartering, a quick, easy online booking service will be needed for time-poor clients, with clear pricing options. For future owners, it will be technologically leading media and connectivity. Yachts will be designed for a minimal crew, therefore self-cleaning or dirt-resistant materials, and automatic launching of tenders will be required.

Igor Lobanov, Lobanov Design Owners will always be looking for quality and perfection in execution, but also more and more for sustainability, for design requiring less repair and maintenance, and potentially less crew. As a parallel movement, I see that superyachts tend to have the same features in quantity and quality as megayachts.

Stefano Vafiadis, Studio Vafiadis Future owners have a new vision of luxury, more focused on lifestyle and travelling than being docked in a marina. The boat is seen as a medium to have incredible experiences that no one else can have.

What is a superyacht designer’s most underestimated skill?

Bart Bouwhuis, Vripack The simple ability to listen, to truly listen, to ask again. The sole objective being to allow the designer to surpass the owner’s expectations in the design work.

Andrew Langton, Reymond Langton Listening to what their clients actually want… or making mojitos.

Adriana Monk, Monk Design The art of listening and having genuine intuition.

Jim Dixon, Winch Design The most underestimated skill of any designer has to be flexibility!

Andrew Winch, Winch Design Trust and imagination – but humour and smiling come very close!

How are onboard lifestyles changing and how will superyacht design be impacted?

Mike Fisher, Studio Indigo Young owners will drive change as they live simpler lives, with technology intertwined into everything and an increasing concern over environmental issues – to which the superyacht industry will need to adapt.

James White, March & White We’re seeing an increased desire for hospitality-influenced interiors that amplify guest experience, interiors that create truly lasting memories, not only for the owners, but also for their friends and charter guests.

Mark Berryman, Mark Berryman Design Clients are requesting spa and recreational spaces as they are spending more time on board, and to accommodate this, yachts will need to keep increasing in size.

Enrico Bonetti, Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture Lifestyle on board is becoming less formal, more functional and flexible. Yachts are less evocative of land-based spaces and a more modern and graceful, boat-specific language is evolving.

Dominic Kozerski, Bonetti/Kozerski Advances in audiovisual technology allow for flexibility in the placing of equipment, making media rooms superfluous. This, with the prevalence of tablets, offers freedom in the planning and use of space.

Enrico Lumini, Hot Lab The relationship between inner and outer spaces is getting stronger and the boundaries between these two sectors of any vessel is becoming thiner every day. This requires us to make these boundaries totally disappear and treat the yacht as a whole, as has already happened in civil architecture.

Piero Lissoni, Lissoni & Partners Respect, risks, simplicity, elegance.

Francesca Muzio, FM Architettura D’Interni Yacht owners require multi-dimensional experiences and a deeper meaning behind design. We must have a more intellectual approach mixed with deeper technological exploration, without forgetting the surrounding Natural element. Interior architecture should give you possibilities rather than constraints.

Jonny Horsfield, H2 Yacht Design Clients are now much more interested in exterior lifestyle and fitness so exterior design is now much more fluid between interior and exterior, with bigger, more detailed on-deck facilities, with larger opening doors and glass areas. On one recent project the gym has pride of place on the sundeck!

Andrea Vallicelli, A Vallicelli & C Yacht Design Some technological innovations have certainly contributed in changing onboard lifestyles: for example digital communication systems or transparent materials that allow a new relationship with natural light. However, I believe that the most important aim of yacht design is still to create objects that offer the pleasure of experiencing the beauty of the natural context in an exclusive way.

Simon Rowell, Bannenberg & Rowell Design I can’t generalise about on-board lifestyles; each client is different, and each should challenge designers and builders to realise their dreams. Weird, then, that so many yachts are so similar. We’re trying to recalibrate that. It’s in our DNA as a studio.

Franco Romani, Perini Navi Owners are looking for faster yachts with more aggressive forms. So hull lines have evolved, becoming sleeker towards the bow with generous volumes aft for comfort, with superior performance at sea.