| Shadow Marine 220 |  |
One manifest truth in life is that boys love their toys. Who
among us doesn’t like to take holidays loaded down with our favorite gear? It’s
also axiomatic that yachts represent a complex web of compromises. Most yacht
design favors accommodations and amenities. Space for toys is ancillary,
even on the largest vessels. Fort Lauderdale’s Shadow Marine believes we blokes
should never have to cruise without the stuff we cherish, be it boats,
automobiles, dive gear or aircraft. They’ve created a new class of superyacht
they like to call a "sport-utility vessel." Created from decommissioned oil rig
service vessels, they are designed to carry all the toys that won’t fit on deck
or in the utility garage of a luxury yacht. They also can carry additional crew,
personal staff or guests in comfort. Allure Shadow is the company’s
fourth and latest launch. She is well equipped to service any of the needs an
owner has for those missions and, like her sisterships, can be customized to any
owner’s personal needs and tastes.
To some, the notion of a 220-foot (67-meter) "tender" might
seem a shade excessive. But when you consider the benefits such a vessel offers
owners who prefer to cruise with all the comforts of home, it makes perfect
sense. Such a vessel can cruise in tandem with its mothership in the style of a
carrier strike force and move ahead and set up off the beach and deploy toys. It
can anchor off a busy port and serve as a shuttle base for guests and supplies
while the mothership docks in the harbor. The vessel also was conceived as a
stand-alone voyager for those who prefer their primary yachts tough as nails and
ready for anything the sea might serve up. | Click on the Specs tab at top to see complete list of resources. |
Tom and Kimberly Gonzales founded Shadow Marine three years ago
because they wanted to offer yachtsmen a way never to have to leave home without
the things they cherish. The company obtained access to a sizeable fleet of
decommissioned oil industry support vessels laid up in Louisiana. It selected a
number of the vessels that showed seaworthiness and structural integrity.
Working with a shipyard in Jacksonville, Florida, the company cuts off the
superstructures, removes all the electrical and mechanical systems and rebuilds
the boats from the hull up, adding appropriate guest accommodations. Each Shadow
yacht so far has been started on spec and fitted out to an owner’s
specifications.
 "Anything you could imagine, we can have our architects
design," says Gary Slatkow, vice president of sales and marketing for Shadow
Marine. "We haven’t been stumped yet." (Click image to enlarge)
While each Shadow yacht has been customized for its owner, two
features have been incorporated into each: a full-scale helicopter landing area
and a hangar. At 50 feet by 34 feet, the helipad on Allure Shadow
covers 1,700 square feet. In contrast to most yacht helipads, which typically
carry only lighter aircraft such as Robinsons and Jet Rangers and have little
rotor clearance from superstructure and electronics antennae, Allure has
a large safe area free of masts and other obstacles. And like all Shadows, she
was built to carry even the largest private helicopters such as the Bell 430,
Eurocopter EC 155 B1, Dauphin or Sikorsky S-76 Spirit. A 35-ton crane with a
58-foot reach, positioned on the hangar deck below, can lift the helicopter off
the pad and move it down and into the climate-controlled hangar out of the
corrosive, salty environment of the typical yacht helipad.
Top: Like the other guest areas on
Allure,
the skylounge is simple, yet elegant; Bottom: The bar off the skylounge. (Click images to enlarge)
The 1,680-square-foot air-conditioned hangar and expansive open
aft deck are fitted with tie-downs for vehicles and equipment of any
description. Previous Shadow boats have carried tenders, PWC and
mini-submarines, freeing up deck and garage space on their owners’ primary
yachts for other purposes. At her christening party last fall in Fort
Lauderdale, Allure’s hangar was fitted out with laser lights and a disco
ball to accommodate a party for 2,000 (some of whom, of course, had to wait to
cycle through). At 48 feet long and 35 feet wide, the space could accommodate a
decent basketball game.
The utility of a vessel such as Allure Shadow extends
far beyond the ability to carry gear. Allure has nearly 100,000 gallons
of fuel capacity, providing a range of more than 10,000 nautical miles at 10
knots. She can store large quantities of diesel fuel, as well as aviation fuel
and gasoline for tenders and vehicles. Allure’s engines are
industrial-strength, bulletproof, 16-cylinder Caterpillar 399 diesels that
generate 1,225 horsepower each and produce a top speed of 12 knots. They’ve been
stripped down and rebuilt to zero-hour condition. Her plumbing, HVAC and water
treatment systems are commercial in scale.
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