| Hinckley 121 |  |
Atlanta was gutted down to her hull and
virtually all her systems were replaced with new and improved versions. Kylie
and two of her friends, Andrea Michaelson and Teresa Hill—who happen to be
interior designers—set about revising Atlanta’s interior layout and décor. The biggest change was in the salon just below and forward of
the bar and interior helm station, where Cappelli reversed the positions of the
side-by-side dining and lounge areas to make the space less formal. A
centerline cabinet separating the two areas was removed, allowing more
space and communion between the two now comfortably casual spaces. The basic layout was maintained in the guest accommodations
aft, save for a new entertainment area installed in the forward starboard
portion of the master stateroom, but every room received a facelift that
included luxurious yet casual fabrics. Rich, warm, custom chenille, leather
weaves and high-grade linens were used throughout. Onyx countertops and teak and
holly highlight the bathrooms. The biggest changes, however, occurred in the yacht’s aging
systems. Entirely replaced were her electrical, navigation, communications,
entertainment and air-conditioning systems. Advanced Marine Systems of St.
Maarten designed her new electrical system and installed new satellite,
navigation and communications components. Fire safety was also improved by
upgrading the carbon dioxide fire-suppression system, while all the PVC piping
in the engine room was replaced with stainless steel. In the yacht’s original configuration, some systems were
virtually inaccessible, making servicing them nearly impossible. Remedying these
problems became a major focus for the refit team. However, just fitting the new systems into the available spaces was a
challenge. "The one mistake I made, being a layperson, was that I assumed that
technology automatically gets smaller [over time]," Kylie recalls. "So we’re ripping out everything in the
engine room—fantastic. Everything should be smaller than it used to be—not the
case." The solution: Cardboard mockups of generators, air conditioners and other
large systems were maneuvered around the spaces to see if they would fit. If
they didn’t, the team brainstormed ways to make them fit. The old engines, 550-hp Lugger 6140 diesels, were upgraded to
new 600-hp versions of the same, which added a knot to the yacht’s powered
speed, putting it at just over 11 knots. The old 40-kW Northern Lights
generators, which broke down at times, were replaced with the company’s newer,
smaller 55-kW versions.
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