Designed for owners wishing to explore the world and enjoy their privacy along the way while entertaining guests in the most luxurious comfort, the EXPV, an 87-metre explorer yacht issued from a joint collaboration between Harrison Eidsgaard and Feadship, takes a completely new and unconventional approach.
A change of course from the classic explorer yacht stylistic features that sees the owner and guest’s accommodation completely separated, hence the characteristic “split” superstructure with the owner’s private space in the forward section and the guest area aft.
“The whole concept is based on the premise that the owners have their own residence and there is a separate guest house for friends and visitors,” said Peder Eidsgaard, co-founder of Harrison Eidsgaard – “The idea is that the owners can spend weeks on board in full privacy, but also interact with their guests in the ocean lounge in the middle of the boat”.
Another stunning innovation is the so-called Glass Bridge, a long crystal telescope that allows anyone standing next to the flagpole at the yacht’s stern to look all the way to the bow, replacing the classic ‘compactness’ of this type of vessel with a visual lightness provided by the large windows and the light flooding the rooms.
“We’ve collaborated with Harrison Eidsgaard on various projects and they always throw a few challenges into the mix,” says Jan-Bart Verkuyl, Feadship director and CEO Royal Van Lent shipyard. “The Glass Bridge was one such challenge and we worked closely with the De Voogt engineers to see how we could make that work. Suspended in mid-air, it’s a completely new idea and quite a feat of engineering.”
At the bow, above the observation room, the EXPV also features a helipad with direct access to the owner’s quarters so that he can move around freely, while at the stern there is space for two 13.5-metre tenders.
“The clients like to use their helicopter almost as a tender for commuting to and from the yacht on day trips,” says Verkuyl. “It hugely extends the area they can visit and is used frequently, but because it’s on the forward deckhouse there is minimal disturbance for the guest activities in the stern.”
In a completely new solution on an explorer yacht, the EXPV has six guest suites arranged around the stern on two deck levels and all featuring sea-facing beds with private terraces, a style very reminiscent of cruise ships, and the cabins can also be combined into very spacious VIP suites depending on the number of guests on board.
The Master Suite, on the other hand, is located behind the helm station, full beam on the deck below and above a private observation lounge with large windows and a private terrace towards the bow. The ultimate for an explorer yacht.
The two areas are connected by a large Ocean Lounge that is in fact the only place where the owner and his guests can meet, according to a concept studied down to the tiniest detail to confer maximum privacy.
“This is a yacht designed for experienced owners who like to spend long periods on board with guests who might join them for a week, a month or even more, so privacy was an essential consideration,” says Eidsgaard. “The idea is that the owners can spend weeks on board in full privacy, but also interact with their guests in the Ocean Lounge in the middle of the boat.”
“When we started this project, we took all the features you find on superyachts and threw them up in the air,” Eidsgaard explains. “The pieces landed where you might not expect to find them, but where they might make more sense. The two deckhouses are unique and no other superyacht has them, but the profile with its reverse bow, bold use of glass and dynamic curves is very purposeful.”
In addition to the Glass Bridge, this revolutionary design posed other engineering challenges for Feadship’s technical team. The Ocean Lounge amidships meant that even the position of the engine room had to be completely rethought and therefore designed on a single level for diesel-electric propulsion, but also ready to be integrated with renewable fuels and above all silent.
EXPV represents perhaps the ultimate evolution in the world of explorer yachts, an exaltation of beauty and luminosity incorporated in a yacht designed to allow continuous living at sea for weeks or months at a time, but in the utmost privacy and comfort for the owner and the guests that from time to time join him on board.
An innovative concept that can be described in just two words, just as Harrison Eidsgaard likes to remind us: ‘Radical but logical’.
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