H. Shaw McCutcheon
08/01/2005
People desiring a luxury yacht typically engage a broker or
spend years working with a naval architect and a shipyard. Tony Accurso is not
typical. A builder of everything from driveways to skyscrapers, Accurso figured
he would just build himself a yacht. After all, he’d built subways; what was the
big deal about a boat? "I’m an entrepreneur," he commented later. "So I think I
can build anything."
The lavish decor features creative elements, such as the use of
glass in the main salon’s bar (top) and as "curtains" in the pass-through to the dining
area (bottom). (Click images to enlarge) ; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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He had searched the yacht market and couldn’t find
anything that met his exacting requirements. "I didn’t find a boat with four
king-size beds; I didn’t find a boat with a six-person hot tub on the aft deck,
I didn’t find a boat with two washers and two dryers," he noted. And he didn’t
want to compromise.
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Thus began one of the most improbable yacht construction projects in recent history, a 10-year saga of perseverance through bitter-cold Canadian winters, dozens of revisions and a tremendous learning curve that culminated with the launch of a 119-foot tri-deck motor yacht called Touch.
In 1994, Accurso purchased an aging but well-built 91-foot-long, 25-foot-beam motor yacht at a Florida auction and took it home to Montreal. He got a couple of his cranes, hauled it out of the water onto a vacant lot and built a shed around it. At first he planned simply to remodel the superstructure, but his ideas escalated and he eventually gutted the boat down to the basic hull and began to rebuild it from scratch.
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To manage the build, he hired Michel Dufresne, a French-Canadian yacht designer with long experience in sailing vessels, but no practical work on large motor yachts. For the next six years it was an on-again, off-again project for gregarious, affable Accurso. It wasn’t until the end of 1999, after enough ideas had percolated through his fertile imagination onto architectural drawings, that the project began in earnest.
One of Dufresne’s biggest challenges was finding a crew to build the yacht. There aren’t many yacht-building specialists in eastern Canada, so with Accurso’s help he pulled together teams of welders, electricians, plumbers and other craftsmen who had constructed buildings – but never a boat. Dufresne became their tutor, detailing to them the differences between a simple home and a complex yacht. "For example, vibration is » important," he explained. "You have to plan for electricity to withstand vibration. Also, the power system has to be capable of handling power from ports anywhere in the world."
Dufresne’s most stressful task was managing multiple crews simultaneously. At one point, 75 workmen were on the boat. And in Quebec, wintertime temperatures sometimes reached minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, so cold that certain projects had to be put on hold inside the modestly heated shed.The project was scheduled to take three years; it ended up requiring four. Accurso had stipulated the yacht would have the latest and best systems. The build took so long, however, that sometimes suppliers came out with upgrades, and Accurso found himself ripping out the old versions and installing the new. Fortunately, the pilothouse had been designed and installed by RCS Engineering, a specialist in integrated, modular pilothouses in which all components are front-mounted for easy servicing and upgrades. So when a new-model radar debuted, it was simple for RCS and Larry Smith Electronics, which also advised Accurso, to replace the old one. "When the boat came out last year, I wanted it to be a new boat," said Accurso. "I didn’t want it to be a boat with four-year-old systems on it."
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The master bath. (Click image to enlarge) Experts were called in to assist when needed. Atlas helped out with shorepower needs; Ward’s Marine consulted on the electrical system; Northern Lights reps came to check on the generator installation; Detroit Diesel of Canada, which had never installed a yacht engine, was permanently on call; Van Cappellen Consultancy produced a noise-reduction plan. And every three months Ian Kerr from marine surveyor Patton Marine inspected and approved the process.
As the build evolved, it became obvious the hull would have to be lengthened. The crew quarters, forward, was too small; the three guest staterooms all had to fit king-size beds; and sidedecks, needed to minimize crew/guest interaction, had to be incorporated without sacrificing interior space. As the changes took shape the boat gradually grew (along with the shed, which had to be rebuilt each time) to 118 feet, six inches, her present length.
In 2002 Accurso hired naval architect Jean Pierre Balduc to ensure the yacht’s dimensions were mathematically correct. The original vessel had been built to ABS specifications, and the scantlings were very heavy. Accurso didn’t go after a new ABS classification, but ABS specs were always considered during the build. The semi-displacement bottom had been intended for 20- to 25-knot speeds. Accurso was unconcerned with speed. What he wanted was luxury, comfort and overbuilt and redundant systems, and he was satisfied with a displacement-variety 12- to 13-knot speed (which she does achieve).
The yacht’s lengthening, however, resulted in too much buoyancy aft, so Balduc found a way to widen the bow underwater to add buoyancy forward without reducing efficiency. Some of the welding forward also had to be strengthened. And the propeller shafts were remachined to further reduce vibration. But Balduc mostly found himself restraining Accurso, who kept coming up with new ideas and change orders. At some point, he argued, the yacht had to be finished.
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The lower-deck guest
foyer. (Click image to enlarge)The final vessel is influenced largely by stylish European designs. Dufresne’s exterior profiling and interior arrangement follows a classic approach, with sleek Italian influences inside and out. The sweep of the forward house extends up and aft, past steeply angled pilothouse windows to the flybridge, which is largely covered by a hardtop extending fore and aft from the radar arch. Originally planned for the flybridge, the six-person Jacuzzi was relocated to the main deck astern, just aft of a round dining room table. The unusual location makes the covered aft deck a focal gathering place.
Another interesting feature is the dayhead just inside the sliding doors from the aft deck to the salon. This location makes it convenient for guests to go from the Jacuzzi to the head to a meal without leaving the area.For the interior décor, Accurso hired designer Danielle Vignault, who had worked with him on several nonmarine projects. She created a unique look comprising curved, glossy lacquered surfaces accented by gold and blue fabrics; etched, backlit glass sculptures; and nearly a dozen different woods.
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In a break with tradition, the Jacuzzi
is located on the main aft deck. (Click image to enlarge)The main deck’s salon and dining area features a curved, freestanding glass bar to starboard and a handcrafted onyx games table. A mirrored door forward to starboard accesses the galley, which sports a half-moon-shaped skylight that breaks up the vast, white forward house.
A stairwell from the main salon leads up to the master suite adorned with its own array of gold lacquered cabinetry. A private covered aft deck separates the master from the RIB tender storage farther aft. Starboard-side stairs lead up to the flybridge, which features a bar, four captain’s chairs and chaise lounges that hide treadmills underneath.
As Touch neared completion, one final task remained: getting her into the water. She was built on a tributary of the St. Lawrence River where the water level lowers in the spring. So Accurso only had a small window of time before the level dropped too low for launch. It took several days to bring in two of Canada’s largest cranes, which had to be assembled on specially prepared ground next to the boat. Lifting the 274,000-pound vessel triggered all the cranes’ warning lights and when she was in the water, the hull was less than six inches from the bottom. Dufresne shed a few tears of satisfaction. Accurso breathed sighs of relief.
During the sea trials Balduc placed a glass of water on the aft deck table to check for vibration. Oversized American Bowthruster stabilizers held the yacht firmly through hard turns at full speed and the water in the glass stayed absolutely still.
Accurso subsequently celebrated with several dozens of friends in the Virgin Islands – in a grand way befitting the project’s gargantuan ambition.
Touch is available for charter through The Sacks Group in the Caribbean and Bahamas for $60,000 a week.
| Yacht Name: | Touch |
| Yacht Year: | 2004 |
| Yacht Type: | Motor Yacht |
| Builder: | Louisbourg Construction/Tony Accurso |
| Interior Design: | Danielle Vigneault |
| Draft: | 6' 9" (2.06m) |
| LOA (Actual length): | 120' (36.58m) |
| Max Speed: | 15 kts |
| Cruise Speed: | 13 kts |
| Range: | 14,00 nm @ 12 kts |
| Beam: | 25' (7.62m) |
| Architecture: | Jean Pierre Bolduc |
| Hull Material: | Aluminum |
| Superstructure Material: | Aluminum |
| Fuel Capacity: | 8,000g (30,283.29L) |
| Water Capacity: | 2,000g (7,570.82L) |
| Classification: | ABS |
| Engines: | 2x MTU 2000, 805-hp |
| Generators: | 2x Northern Lights, 80kW Shore |
| Air conditioning: | Aqua-Air |
| Shore power: | Atlas |
| Watermarker: | 2x Watermakers, 1,500 gpd |
| Bow thruster: | American Bow Thruster, 45kW |
| Paint: | Awlgrip |
| Deck Windlass: | Maxwell |
| Tenders: | 38’ custom and 15’ Novurania |
| Black Water Treatment: | Headhunter |
| Toilet: | Headhunter |
| Radar: | Furuno 2125, 2135 |
| Autopilot: | Anschutz NautoPilot 2010 |
| GPS: | Leica MX420 |
| SatCom: | KVH Tracphone F77 |
| Depth Sounder: | Furuno CH250 |
| Wind Instruments: | B&G Hydra 2000 |
| Sat TV: | Orbit |
