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America’s Cup yacht designers sometimes talk of the difficulties
they face having to contend with three different elements—water, wind and the
zone between the two: waves. Of the three, the dynamic and sometimes destructive
power of waves presents the greatest challenges.
Motor yachts don’t concern themselves much with wind, but they
do need to stay afloat, and they do need to contend with waves. Down through the
ages, many different strategies have been applied to tame the effects of waves.
Most involve riding up and over the tops and trying to mitigate the attendant
slamming and crashing.
 A drawing for a 148-meter superyacht that
uses wave-piercing technology, generated by the Craig Loomes Design
Group. (Click image to enlarge)
Some years ago, New Zealand designers Craig Loomes and André
Moltschaniwskyj, of Craig Loomes Design Group Ltd. (CLD), took an interesting turn away from convention when they adapted a concept used in
some commercial vessels for their own designs. This was the wave-piercing
catamaran, where two outer pontoons support a main central hull that sits
above the water. Instead of trying to ride up and over waves, the outer
pontoons pierce the waves, creating a smoother ride. Although the concept has won CLD a number of design awards and
is well proven with a devoted following, it is not established as a mainstream
form. Now the CLD team takes a step closer to the edge.
The 148-meter concept shows style
and drama. (Click images to enlarge)
The latest explorations continue the theme of piercing waves,
but this time it is the main hull that semi-submerges. After nearly a decade of
research and development, CLD has two very different vessels of similar size in
the water and, even somewhat to the surprise of the principals, has attracted
interest in a massive 148-meter superyacht version. "This superyacht version really began as a design exercise to
create the ultimate fantasy machine," Loomes says. "We loved the form and the
benefits of the concept, which were proving themselves in testing, so we
thought: What about offering this idea to somebody with a lot of money who
wanted to do something completely different?"  Without wanting to appear arrogant, Loomes is generally
unimpressed with the run-of-the-mill superyachts, which tend to be
conservative. "There is an obsession with size for the sake of size," he says.
"When you look at many of these boats, they are not outstanding in any way. They
are just big. If I was spending that much money on something, I would want
something quite exceptional. People seem to confuse ‘big’ with ‘good.’" (Click image to enlarge)The CLD superyacht version arose from work the company was
doing on a project to build a boat specifically to break the round-the-world
record of 75 days set by the British boat Cable & Wireless in 1998. This was for the New Zealand MBA
graduate and oil-exploration engineer Pete Bethune, who came up with the idea of
taking on the record and combining it with an environmental message by using
biodiesel fuels in the process. CLD created a futuristic 24-meter (79-foot)
machine called Earthrace, which is
currently sea-trialing in Auckland and around New Zealand.
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