New & Notable: Bold Departure
Louisa Beckett
01/01/2005

Even connoisseurs of the Trinity 150 Tri-Deck series, most recently incarnated as Seahawk and Mia Elise, wouldn’t recognize the most recent launch in the series as a sistership. Its hull is a shippy navy blue instead of Trinity’s standard white; it is topped by an enclosed observation deck instead of an open flybridge. “She looks nothing like a Trinity,” said Billy Smith, vice president.

Extending the hull by five feet gave the yacht a huge watersports platform, above. The flybridge was enclosed to create an observation deck, below. (Click image to enlarge)

Her international owner brought the project directly to the New Orleans shipyard. He had owned a string of Hatteras yachts and liked American boatbuilding quality. He commissioned Trinity to create a new 155 based on its fully ABS-classed, MCA-compliant 150-foot aluminum hull. But when it came to the superstructure and interior, he rejected Trinity’s classic American look.

“We said, ‘Tell us what you like,’” Smith said. “It was just an evolution of showing him different profiles, and finally he said that’s the one he wanted.”

Interior designer Dee Robinson, who has worked on many Trinity projects, was engaged to design the accommodation – and rip up everything she had done before.As Trinity’s design team, headed by naval architect Geoff van Aller, began drawing plans for Trinity Hull 029, the owner’s privacy became the driving force that shaped the yacht inside and out. Charter would not be an option.

To that end, the owner decided to move the master suite from its standard main-deck location to the bridge deck, where it fills the entire area aft of the pilothouse. Significantly larger than the four-stateroom guest accommodation on the lower deck, encompassing even more space than the main-deck salon and dining room combined, it includes an owner’s salon, a master stateroom with separate his-and-hers baths and spectacular views aft, and a private aft deck with Jacuzzi. The owner can invite guests into his salon, or close off the suite entirely.
 
With the master suite now in the place of the skylounge, the owner and design team opted to enclose the top deck with a hardtop and removable windows, creating an informal lounge where guests could socialize and take in the scenery and around the yacht. United States Marine manufactured the one-piece, lightweight composite hardtop. “It looked like the world’s biggest surfboard when they were building it,” Smith said. Heavy-duty air conditioning keeps the observation deck cool.
 
The yacht’s climate-control capability in general was a major concern for the owner. At his request, Trinity installed a 60-ton Aqua Air air-conditioning system, rack-mounted to reduce noise and vibration. “Normally, it would have been thirty to thirty-five tons,” Smith said.Several other systems help to extend the 155-footer’s range in extreme climates. “If the outside air is a hundred and ten or a hundred and fifteen [degrees Fahrenheit], you’re close to the maximum operating temperature of the Caterpillars. The intake vanes can be adjusted to send air to the hotspots in the engine room,” Smith said. The boat is also equipped with two 99-kW Kilo-Pak generators, two watermakers that can produce 17,034 liters per day apiece, a heavy-duty fuel centrifuge and zero-speed stabilization. “This boat should be able to go anywhere its owner is able to send it,” Smith said. The twin 2,250-hp Caterpillar 3512B diesels give her a cruising speed of 19 knots and a top speed of 22 knots. Range is 4,000 nautical miles at 11 knots.

At the wheel for her voyages will be Capt. Sandy Yawn, who has worked for the owner for five years. Her crew’s quarters were greatly expanded when the master suite was moved. The main deck now has a deluxe, beech-trimmed captain’s cabin and a second crew cabin. Counting three double crew cabins on the lower deck, forward, and an engineer’s cabin and office aft, the new 155 can accommodate 10 crew – two more than the old Trinity 150 – giving her a one-to-one crew-to-guest ratio. “This boat became so service-oriented,” Robinson said. A crew entry was added to the guest stateroom foyer, and the galley gained a pantry and a separate refrigerator/freezer room.

Forward, a hidden compartment with a clamshell door opening onto the foredeck stores two personal watercraft and a crane. “It took a quite a bit of engineering to get this to work,” Smith said. “The owner didn’t want to see his Jet Skis.”The owner was involved in every step of the design. “He flew me to where he lives, to see how his personal tastes differ from what we’ve done in the past,” Robinson said. “He truly had an appreciation for many styles.” As a result, she created a different look for every deck, from elegant European traditionalism in the salon and dining area, to the modern but truly luxurious master suite – with accents of green onyx, African pink and Canadian blue marble – to the minimalist observation deck that invites barefoot lounging.

The Trinity 155 project came together quickly, and the shipyard delivered her in record time. “This boat was built in sixteen months,” Smith said. He feels she is a true testament to the versatility and ability of the shipyard. “We’re really trying to compete against the Europeans,” he said.

Click on the Design tab at top to see interior resources.

Trinity Yachts at 504-283-4050. www.trinityyachts.com