Justin Ratcliffe
11/01/2007
The term kismet means "destiny" in Turkish and Arabic, as well
as Urdu and Hindi. But the owner of a new yacht by that name was leaving nothing
to fate when he drew on the combined reputations of Espen Øino and Reymond
Langton to design the 68-meter (223-foot) motor yacht launched from the
Lürssen Rendsburg yard earlier this year. Add
yacht manager Robert Moran and experienced build captain Kyle Fultz, and the
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"Espen Øino’s initial exterior styling was for a more
aggressive, Skat-like vessel," says Fultz, "but the owner wanted
softer lines that recalled his previous 39.6-meter Feadship." (Click image to enlarge)
In fact, the superstructure was still being finalized when work
on the hull began. Some of Øino’s original angular lines were retained, but they
have been blended with softer, automotive curves to create a profile that, despite the hefty 12.8-meter beam, still looks sleek and smart.
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One innovation devised to maintain these bold yet graceful exterior lines is the life raft launching system on the upper deck. Instead of having the traditional exposed rafts—never a particularly pretty sight—they were incorporated into the bulwarks with hydraulically charged hatch covers. Deployed by a manual or hydrostatic release, the complex engineering was developed and tested in-house by Lürssen to conform to MCA and Lloyd’s certification.
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The main salon with its circular bar divided
by a limousine window makes for a glittering entertainment space. (Click image to enlarge)Fultz began our tour of Kismet in the wheelhouse with its Stidd leather pilots chairs and scallop-shape sofas for guest use. He and the owner had liked the integrated bridge system aboard Lürssen’s Capri in 2003 and entrusted sub-contractor Imtech/Bardwell to look after the installation of the navigation-communication systems. They also stipulated a FarSounder that, depending on water depth, has a forward range of 300 meters. Providing a 3-D image of the seabed and any forward obstacles, the system was originally developed by the U.S. Navy to prevent its ships from colliding with hapless right whales. Less dramatic, but potentially more dangerous, the sonar was installed on Kismet for safely navigating the shoal waters of the Bahamas.
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Tech talk then led us to the engine room. This area does not usually enjoy first mention in a ShowBoats International article, but Kismet is a notable exception. The split-level design with an open space in the middle was a specific request by the owner. The generators and main engines are housed on the lower level, with water treatment units, boilers, air compressors, chiller plant, air-conditioning system, etcetera, on the upper level. The open gallery in the middle creates a cathedral-like space. Doubtless the shipyard was daunted by the major rearrangement of the layout the request entailed, but the result is a showpiece engine room that the owner is boyishly proud to show off to his guests.
Kismet was designed to be a comfortable, reliable and efficient long-range cruiser, which meant drawing on tested technologies. With a background in naval shipbuilding, the Lürssen facility in Rendsberg (formerly the Krögerwerft yard) has built a reputation for no-nonsense engineering excellence. This is evident in engine room details such as the pneumatic valves for the bilge, fuel, water and ballast manifolds so that transfers can be operated with the click of a mouse, while all the air lines are made of stainless steel to avoid rust contamination produced by water moisture in the system.
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"Whatever problem you may come up with," jokes Fultz, "you can trust Lürssen to engineer a way around it."
The owner also based the interior layout and mahogany joinery on his previous yacht, but because of the additional volume it was decided to have a walkaround bridge deck that for stability reasons is partially enclosed. The interior design is a subtle mélange of art deco and the owner’s Persian heritage, while the ambiance becomes less formal as you ascend from the main deck to the sun deck.
The geometric focal point of the yacht is the main-deck lobby with its black granite floors, mirrored ceiling and cylindrical glass elevator that serves all deck levels. The spiral stairwell is lined with an immense bas-relief wall panel depicting an obelisk and traditional Persian motifs. Handcarved from wood, the panel was then cast in resin and sprayed bronze. Two handcrafted alabaster urns double as lights and give off soft illumination for a subdued, hotel-like atmosphere.
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Forward of the lobby is the full-beam master stateroom—a 138-square-meter luxury apartment with library, owner’s office and private balconies to port and starboard. The full-height, lozenge-shaped windows provide ample light and superb sea views, while the walk-in wardrobe also features a large window for color matching garments in natural light and a separate closet for the owner’s use when the yacht is being chartered. But the highlight of the suite is the breathtaking forward head. Lined with what seems like acres of honey onyx, the room provides his-and-hers facilities with a central oval spa bath backed by a glass screen depicting peacock feathers that was handcrafted by London-based Glasszoo, who also supplied a similar panel with leaf designs in the main salon and a glass skylight sculpture in the upper-deck lounge.
Abaft the lobby is a cinema lounge with drop-down projector screen and electrically operated sofas that can be re-positioned on tracks. The main salon is lined with linen panels delicately embroidered with seed pearls and glass beads. It sports a Steinway grand piano and granite-topped semicircular bar with limousine window onto the bar extension on the aft deck. Exterior examples of Lürssen’s unrelenting attention to detail are the overhead air-conditioning ducts that bathe the guests seated on the barstools with cool air and the teak grating at the entrance to the two doors on either side of the bar that cleverly disguise the floodlight sill required by MCA and Lloyd’s. There is also a deck hatch to the garage below with its own boom crane in the deckhead for stowing a motorbike—a solution that also appeared on Apoise (ex-Marlin) launched by Lürssen last year.
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Guest accommodations consist of a VIP cabin on the upper deck and four double cabins on the lower deck. The latter are identical in layout (the beds can be separated to form twin singles) but contain varying soft furnishings based on gold, bronze and copper tones and individual marble countertops in the heads. Common to all the bathrooms are the Baccarat crystal and Sardinelli fixtures and fittings and magnificent glass washbasins with gold leaf scrolling that flames bright yellow when illuminated from below. They each also feature two TV screens, one set into the marble wall above the vanity and the other above the Jacuzzi tub. Even the dayheads are exquisitely appointed with similar crystal basins and rich burl mahogany cabinetry.
In the formal dining room on the bridge deck, the immense wengé and mahogany table can comfortably seat 18 guests and doubles as a conference table with power and VGA sockets incorporated into the woodwork (the owner uses the yacht for corporate entertainment in addition to private cruising and limited chartering). On the forward bulkhead are two églomisé (gilded) paintings on etched glass depicting details of the Statue of Liberty and the Chrysler building in New York, powerful symbols of the owner’s American citizenship and business interests in the automobile industry. A playful detail is the mini-Chrysler building represented in the custom-made drape tassels by the United Kingdom’s Spina Design.
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Abaft the dining room is a dedicated disco with an oiled teak dance floor, overhead LED, strobe lighting and an onyx bar countertop. The soft furnishings are, as elsewhere in the yacht, by the American designer J. Robert Scott. They were chosen as such because Pascale Reymond believes Americans truly understand the concept of lounging and make the most comfortable sofas. The upper-deck décor is decidedly more informal and has a well-equipped gym, a steam room and a beach house-style lounge with wraparound sofas, a bar unit and circular coffee tables with découpage tops made from Brazilian tobacco leaves.
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Naturally, there is no lack of exterior social areas, culminating in the Jacuzzi deck, which sports a barbecue unit on a lift system that can be lowered when not in use so as not to rise above the bulwarks, and the so-called "star bed," an open-air bed complete with reading lights where the owner likes to sleep on balmy nights. For added privacy, there is a blue do-not-disturb light at the bottom of the stair access (a feature repeated outside the guest cabins).
A final detail that the owner was especially insistent about is the color of the hull. With his interests in the auto parts industry, he identified BMW Michigan Blue as his shade of choice. The original Awlgrip paint match wasn’t quite right, so he used his own machinery to analyze the color and come up with a sample that Awlgrip could then use to produce a non-metallic version of the automobile color. It actually looks more gray than blue, but at least the owner is safe in the knowledge that there is no other yacht quite like it.
| Yacht Name: | Kismet |
| Yacht Year: | 2007 |
| Builder: | Lürssen Yachts |
| Interior Design: | Reymond Langton Design |
| Draft: | 11' 10" (3.61m) |
| LOA (Actual length): | 223' 6" (68.12m) |
| Displacement: | 1.61 tons |
| Max Speed: | 15.5 kts |
| Cruise Speed: | 12 kts |
| Range: | 5,000 nm |
| Beam: | 41' 10" (12.75m) |
| Architecture: | Lürssen Yachts |
| Hull Material: | Steel |
| Superstructure Material: | Aluminum |
| Exterior Design: | Espen Øino |
| Fuel Capacity: | 4,446g (16,829.94L) |
| Water Capacity: | 890g (3,369.02L) |
| Classification: | Lloyd's |
| Engines: | 2x 2,011-hp Caterpillar 3512B diesels |
| Generators: | 3x 322-hp Caterpillar C18, 1x 198-hp Caterpillar C9 |
| Air conditioning: | Noske-Kaeser, chilled water |
| Watermarker: | 2x HEM Duplex, 7,925 U.S. gal (30,000 L) per day each |
| Bow thruster: | Jastram, 268 hp |
| Stabilizers: | 4x Quantum ZeroSpeed |
| Paint: | Florakis |
| Tenders: | 1x 25' (7.6 m) Chris-Craft Launch w/425-hp diesel, 1x 25' (7.6 m) Nautica RIB w/2x 150-hp outboards |
