Humphreys 37m High Performance Motor Yacht

— 10 Mar 2004

This is a serious seagoing motor yacht for a European client who requires weatherliness, speed, endurance and comfort as his priorities. The Humphreys studio carried out an extensive tank testing program to underpin the technical merits of the project, working with the Wolfson Unit of Southampton University who have considerable commercial powerboat testing experience. Much of this work was carried out in waves to allow the vessel’s responses and accelerations to be assessed and refined.

The ‘speed’ part of the equation – with its target in the upper fifty knot range – is not driven by ostentatious desire but by practical rationale. The area of a circle is proportional to the square of its radius, which in this context means that a boat traveling at sixty knots can, in a given time, access twice the cruising area of a boat traveling at forty knots. So when time is tight, but cruising aspirations are not, speed can be extremely useful. But the common trappings of that sort of speed – a ‘go-faster’ styling for example – are very much absent from this vessel. Indeed, the general style of the yacht is specifically intended to understate this ability, with a more workmanlike, even commercial look about the boat.

Construction of this composite yacht is currently under way in New Zealand, with project management by Barwell Project Co-ordination. The structural engineering work is being carried out by High Modulus to Germanischer Lloyd structural approval, and an interesting point here is that the load benchmark which Rob Humphreys set High Modulus, based on the accelerations the vessel had experienced in the towing tank, is significantly higher than GL require for commercial craft. So the result will be a tough vessel capable of being driven hard in bad sea-states.

Our 3D design facility has enabled us to refine the space-planning aspects of the project. With three huge MTU 4000 series power units and a hull form that is intentionally lean to return optimised seakeeping qualities, this computational capability has been invaluableThe overriding requirement for the interior is simplicity, with a fresh, bright and open theme throughout. We have designed the entire yacht in 3D using advanced modelling software, and this has allowed our interior development work to be visualiized efficiently throughout its development stages, allowing our Client to have continuous input.

Principal Dimensions and Specification

LOA 37.1m (121.72ft)

LWL 30.15m (98.92ft)

BEAM 6.44m (21.13ft)

DRAFT 1.25m (4.1ft)

DISPLACEMENT 107 tonnes

SPEED 55 knots

RANGE 3500 miles at full fuel load

PROPULSION 3 x MTU 4000 series M90

WATERJETS 2 x Kamewa 56SII + 1 x 56BII

GENERATORS 2 x Northern Lights M984K 26kw

FUEL 42,000 litres

WATER 4,000 litres

CONSTRUCTION Composite

CLASSIFICATION Germanischer LLoyd +

(Maltese Cross) 100A%

Unlimited Ocean Voyages

Hull Construction Certificate

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE & EXTERNAL STYLING Humphreys Yacht Design

INTERIOR DESIGN Humphreys Yacht Design

BUILDER McMullen & Wing, NZ

STRUCTURAL DESIGN High Modulus

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Barwell Project Co-Ordination