154-Foot Yacht With A ‘Featherlight’ Weight Gets Ready To Hit The Seas

Royal Huisman, a manufacturer of sailing yachts, is getting ready to launch its newest vessel—a yacht that weighs as little as a feather—into the water.
 
The 154-foot-long boat, ‘Nilaya’, is 11% lighter than the average aluminum-made cruising yacht, made possible thanks to what the company calls a ‘Featherlight’ production method. This process stems from spacecraft technology, which can reduce weight without affecting performance.

 
Before the project began, the team meticulously analyzed each of Nilaya’s parts to ensure that the correct lightweight materials were being used. Ultimately, Royal Huisman chose carbon composite. As a result, areas such as the coachroof, cockpit, boom, and standing rigging are all made of carbon. This allowed for its weight to be kept low and centered.
 
The yard has also chucked out regular titanium hardware used for captive winches and hatches and replaced them with hybrid carbon and aluminum ones. Still, by trying to achieve such goals, it will be interesting to see if the departure from traditional materials will affect its overall performance.

Its interior boasts modern and elegant spaces that house up to 10 guests and eight crew. Both the interior and exterior were designed by Nauta Design, and the craft’s architecture came from Reichel-Pugh Yacht Design.
 
All in all, these modifications could have Nilaya setting a new record for the lightest yacht for its length, says Jan Timmerman, CEO of Royal Huisman.
 

Nilaya is just about ready to set sail as is. It has just left Royal Huisman’s shipyard and is on its way to Amsterdam, where it will be fitted with a towering rig. After that, it will be ready to hit the waters.
 
 
 
[via Robb Report and Royal Huisman, images via Royal Huisman]