Marilyn M. Mower
08/01/2005
After nearly a decade, Dutch sailboat builder Jongert has
made major updates to its Modern Line of yachts. Like the old models, the new
incarnations have met with immediate success. Just as 27-meter Scarena
won a ShowBoats Award in 1996, this year, Jongert’s 2900M Ameena took
home a ShowBoats Award for Best Sailing Yacht Under 40 Meters.
In the past, Jan Jongert quietly has gone about tweaking these
semi-custom yachts, ranging from 24 to 29 meters, for his clients. This time,
with naval architect Tony Castro, he’s offering owners two distinct variations
on a theme. The first two examples, 29-meter Ameena and Scorpione dei
Mari, debuted just six months apart. Customers can choose between the two
styles, which can be described as "turbocharged" or "sport chic," with either
aluminum or carbon fiber spars.
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Ameena, the first to launch, is of the sport chic variety, a lovely cutter with a cabriolet influence. Her sweeping low deckhouse looks even lower with a handsome varnished brow above the window line that curves down as it extends aft to meet the cockpit coaming. The glossy glint of varnish pairs nicely with stately gold pin striping and navy blue topsides.
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But it is what you don’t see at first glance that truly makes Ameena stunning: At the push of a button, smoothly fitted sections of her composite deckhouse roof separate and slide forward, opening up the entire roof to sun or stars while darkly tinted side windows maintain privacy and block the wind. An electrically operated tambour door rolls up from the bottom of the companionway to close off the interior from the deckhouse when desired.
Hull No. 2, christened Scorpione dei Mari by her owners this past April, is a turbocharged sloop version with a slightly taller carbon fiber mast. She is rigged to fly a huge "Code 0" gennaker forward of her roller furling jib. Her more angular deckhouse is fixed but has aft windows that roll down automobile-style to open the deckhouse to the sun lounges and helm station beyond.
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While the cockpits of both 2900M versions are nearly identical, the forward decks are a different story. Ameena carries her tender in a well just beyond the track for a self-tending staysail. It is an option that grants a bit more space to the master cabin and vastly increases the usefulness of the lazarette for toy stowage or as a beach cabana when the stern is opened. All winches except spinnaker or gennaker sheet winches are captive reel-type. The 2900M was conceived as a family-style cruiser that could easily be sailed by minimal crew. Ameena’s simplified sail plan means family and guests actually can participate in the sailing.
Beyond Ameena’s shapely deckhouse, the yacht’s longer waterline and narrower entry than previous M-series Jongerts also point to performance. Her canoe body has a low prismatic coefficient, according to Castro, to benefit light air performance while a slight vee in the forward sections helps abate slamming.
The line’s updating continues belowdecks where Ameena sports a contemporary interior brightened by appealing satin-finished pearwood joinery. Jongert never forgets it is building sailing boats and insists on making furniture with rounded corners and bullnosed fiddles and including handholds on the companionways. The lines are clean and simple with Scandinavian overtones. The main salon offers a large U-shaped dining table with overstuffed cushions on port and an L-shaped sofa to starboard. Storage cabinets on starboard terminate in a rounded countertop. Served by two low stools, it makes a handy snackbar. A sliding partition in the adjacent forward bulkhead opens to the handsome galley forward, which is finished to a high standard.
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A lounge area for the crew is opposite the galley with doors opening forward to two bunk cabins.
Aft of the salon, five steps descend to the owner and guest accommodations. On the first two 2900Ms, the guest cabins are arranged identically as a double and a twin cabin. Ameena’s master cabin is arranged with a king-size bed on centerline and a desk and lounge chair to starboard. A simple bathroom with walk-in shower and double sinks runs fore and aft along the stateroom’s port side. Ample hanging lockers are arrayed along the forward bulkhead.
Ameena displaces 92 tons and is equipped with a single 250-hp Caterpillar diesel that can push her 12.2 knots. Jongert, which used to build its yachts in steel, has thoroughly embraced the idea of performance cruising in its Modern Line. Lightening holes are cut in frames and interior aluminum where practical and within classification rules to reduce structural weight. Some of the weight savings is then plowed back into materials for noise and vibration reduction, making the builder’s already quiet hulls border on silent.
Contact Jongert at 31 (0)227 54 25 44. www.jongert.nl
| Yacht Name: | Ameena |
| Yacht Type: | Sail Yacht |
| Draft: | 10' 9" (3.28m) |
| LOA (Actual length): | 95' 5" (29.08m) |
| LWL (Length of water line): | 81' 10" (24.94m) |
| Displacement: | 92 tons |
| Power: | 250-hp Caterpillar |
| Beam: | 22' (6.71m) |
| Sail Area: | 6,006 sq ft (557.98 sq m) |