| Royal Huisman 105 |  |
When Royal Huisman presented Gliss to the international
press in Palma de Mallorca last July, the 32-meter (105-foot) sloop was moored
in excellent company. To her left was the 25.6-meter clipper Foftein,
fresh from her seven-month refit, while to her right was the 36-meter motor
yacht Arcadia launched earlier in the year. This small flotilla of
yachts amply demonstrated the range of the Dutch yard’s custom production. Even
so, Gliss is something of a departure even for Royal Huisman.
 Photograph by Franco Page. (Click image to enlarge)
"We were rather anxious that Royal Huisman had been pigeonholed
after Athena," says shipyard manager Michael Koppstein. "Athena
showed that we could live up to the engineering demands of building a 90-meter
schooner; Gliss is proof that we can also backtrack in terms of
size but apply the same expertise to a 32-meter sloop."
| Click on the Spec tab at top to see complete list of resources. |
Not only is Gliss superbly engineered, she is also a
breath of fresh air in terms of styling. Designed by Philippe Briand, with
interior décor by Peter Beeldsnijder, the yacht immediately stands out from the
crowd with her aquamarine paint job. The color choice was established early on
in the design process, and Briand recalls how it came about: "We were aboard the
owner’s Falcon jet, and our sushi lunch was served in turquoise packing. The
owner immediately liked the color and kept a small sample that served as a guide
when the yacht was painted."
Top: Table detailing in the deckhouse. Middle: The deckhouse windows can be
electrically raised and lowered. Bottom: Wooden pegs in the teak tables prevent objects
from shifting. Photography by Justin Ratcliffe. (Click images to enlarge)
In the Royal Huisman press release on the yacht, a Persian
dictum is quoted that claims the hand that wears turquoise will never be poor—if
this is true, the yacht’s Swiss owner and his guests are all the richer for the
experience.The owner’s first priority was that he wanted his yacht to
represent the nautical equivalent of the automotive world’s GT, offering
long-distance, high-performance touring and racing in comfort. "This is a
performance yacht," confirms Briand, "but we weren’t concerned with pure speed.
More importantly, we were looking to design a sensitive boat, one that
accelerates quickly in light air, tacks easily and provides a good feel for the
helmsman." Under working sails alone, Gliss is impressively quick
in light air, and boat speed will match wind speed up to 10 knots. Typical for
Royal Huisman, the yacht has mechanical steering using a direct-axle drive
system to the quadrant, which provides a delightfully springy, responsive helm
that virtually drives itself to windward. Saving weight was an all-important part of achieving this goal,
hence the yacht’s perforated Alustar construction and carbon-fiber mast,
boom and spade rudder. Initial plans to build the superstructure out of carbon
fiber were rejected because of the issues associated with attaching it to the
aluminum hull. Gliss still displaces a moderate 122 tons, so the challenge facing her designer was to optimize the ratio between sail area
and wetted area to achieve the desired performance.
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Email This
Printer Friendly Version
Reprints & Permissions
Most Popular Searches