Joy" only unfolds her effect up close. From a distance, the eye catches her as an elegant silhouette with an impressively elongated forecastle. It seems to be a long way from the ship's bell to the superstructure. And that's right, the owner has had the Feadship shipyard in Kaag conjure up his own realm under the open sky. This occasionally includes a basketball installation, wherever the basketballs land when they miss their target and fly past the anchor ball. The stretched foredeck dominates the silhouette. The owner had it customised so that he could use an arena-like outdoor area entirely for himself and his family.
The open spaces in general. They dominate the "Joy" construction, so that the value of its gross tonnage, which describes its volume, is comparatively low. It exceeds the 1000 tonne limit by just a hundred. A displacer ten metres shorter, such as the Benetti "Diamonds Are Forever", already offers this volume. However, the "Joy" owner attaches little or no importance to large interior spaces. The sporty lifestyle version is the main focus.
The first yacht project
He probably approached his pleasure yacht "Joy" in an unconventional way because it was his first yacht project ever. He had never owned a yacht before, let alone one of this calibre. Joy" was a first not only for the owner. Dickie Bannenberg, son of the legendary design star Jon Bannenberg, and his partner Simon Rowell had accepted the first ever exterior commission for "Joy". The B-&-R team had previously focussed on interiors. With "Joy", Bannenberg jr. feels that something new is entering the world of superyachts, just as his father caused a sensation with icons such as "Carinthia V" (Lürssen, 1971) for the department stores' king Helmut Horten and went on to claim the throne of superyacht designers with further projects for Malcolm Forbes, Robert Maxwell and others.
Jon Bannenberg's remark that he was not a stylist is unforgettable. Hairdressers are stylists, but he is a designer. With the step out of the interior and into the design of the exterior lines and shapes, son Dickie takes a big step closer to his father's shoes. "We were allowed to change the original 'Joy' concept, also to make it bigger," says James Carley, head of styling at Bannenberg & Rowell designers. The "Joy" silhouette evolved after Feadship's in-house design office De Voogt proposed a basic "Joy" concept. This gradually grew to 70 metres.
Extension of the bow section
"We started with this concept developed by Feadship and extended it," explains James Carley. "When we got to 63 metres," recalls Simon Rowell, "the owner asked us to lengthen the bow section for two simple reasons. Firstly, he thought that a longer foredeck would look good on the yacht. Secondly, the longer foredeck right in front of his suite would make a wonderful large terrace and enlarge the family deck enormously." Because the owner was not interested in a floating villa or a design similar to the much-maligned gin palaces right from the start of the planning process, the new foredeck does not extend the superstructure, but only the outer surface of the upper deck.
"We changed surfaces, connected horizontally and vertically distant spaces. That created movement around the structure." Curved surfaces merge into neighbouring structures, edges meet slopes. Deck edges with their overhangs look like wind-blown sun sails and yet still look like chiselled sculptures.
On board, it becomes clear that all these tricks serve to open up the yacht emotionally to the outside world. It is not the desire for security but freedom that is at the forefront of the young owners' minds. Seen from close up, it is clear that Bannenberg & Rowell intervened far more radically in the usual yacht structures in addition to the design tricks.
Stroll along the "Joy"
The black stripe in the style of a darkly concealed row of windows under the forecastle turns out to be a cut in the hull with a lowering of the bulwark. In other words, B & R opened up the widebody at the expense of the superstructure area in favour of wide running decks. There is room for two people side by side around the superstructure. These parts of the outer decks invite you to take a stroll, well protected by the projecting overhangs of the higher deck. The owner's and family deck with playground at the front functions like a promenade deck. The bridge deck above opens aft to form a gym with a glass-protected fresh air effect. "We wanted to connect the on-board areas and spaces inside with the outside of the surroundings," says Carley, explaining the purpose of this concept. Daylight penetrates the superstructure as much as possible. The yacht should merge with its surroundings, the sea and the views of the shore, overcoming the distance between inside and outside. However, if this idea is taken to its logical conclusion, the most beautiful design would be one that makes the yacht disappear imperceptibly ... The designers filled the recesses in the hull with glass. The maximum possible glazing has a load-bearing function.
Glass is also used in other functional areas: The aft ends of the superstructures on the main deck, owner's deck and bridge deck lead into sliding glass doors. Glass wind protection on the open decks creates the impression of a conservatory, which is of course air-conditioned when closed. The running decks also enhance the effect of not feeling cramped by the architecture.
A two-part hatch aft on the main deck, still commonly referred to as the cockpit, also serves to make the "Joy" rooms easily accessible from the outside. It opens amidships "like the bomb bay of a B-52", says the B-&-R team, only upwards instead of downwards. It then descends via a companionway into the beach club. A second entrance to the beach club rises aft from the bathing platform, a large stern panelling with the lettering "Joy", which looks like an open canopy.
The interior of the "Joy"
The owner commissioned London-based studio Indigo to plan the interior. Indigo Creative Director and studio founder Mike Fisher reveals the trick that the interior design uses to create the impression of space: "From every seat inside, owners and guests can look out through windows, always onto a walking deck." Materials and their design support this perception. However, the furniture on all decks has a more traditional than fashionable feel.
The aim was not necessarily to create a maritime atmosphere. Nevertheless, the carpets tempt you to walk barefoot. In the large saloon on the main deck, the Feadship shipyard Van Lent laid a floor covering made of silk and nettle by Jan Kath. A small bar with an Irish whiskey stock supports the sailor atmosphere and reinforces the hospitable character.
The saloon on the owner's deck, on the other hand, emphasises its family qualities. The owner sees this lounge with aft open deck as a private penthouse with a large terrace. In addition to the owner's suite with access to the sports deck ahead, the shipyard also accommodated two cabins up here as children's rooms.
The guest cabins on the main deck were not each given a theme, contrary to contemporary custom. They are nevertheless different. Fisher and his Indigo crew distributed a total of 250 different finishes on materials, from Oriental cushions in the Yastik style to hand-woven ikat patterns from Indonesia and Suzani embroidery from Central Asia. According to Interior Director Mike Fisher, they all tell their own story with their colours and shapes.
Superyacht planning of the "Joy" as a prime example
"'Joy' is proof of what you can achieve when you start planning a superyacht with a blank piece of paper," summarises Feadship boss Jan-Bart Verkuyl. It all started with freedom. Bannenberg senior utilised it back then, mixing up the design concepts of the past in the seventies and eighties of the last century and throwing classic elements overboard.
It may well be that "Joy" will soon take on a similarly epochal significance for the next younger generation as a "Carinthia". At the very least, "Joy" will intensify the competition for unusual, unusual and yet practicable solutions on this side of futuristic techno-phantastics.
Technical data
- Length over everything:70,00 m
- Width:11,50 m
- Depth:3,00 m
- Material: Steel, aluminium
- Motors: 2 x MTU 16V 4000 M53L
- Engine power: 2 x 1380 kW
- Speed (max.):16 kn
- Fuel: 100 000 l
- Range: 4500 nm @ 12 kn
- Generators: 3 x Scania 323 kW, 1 x Stamford E 300 ekW
- Water: 15 000 l
- Stabiliser:2 x Quantum
- Tender:8.50 m Novurania, 6.20 m, Pascoe MOB, 2 x 3.00 m Williams
- Gym: Tecnogym
- Cinema server: Kaleidescape
- Toys: Diving and fishing equipment, water bikes, kayaks etc.
- Guests: 12 in eight cabins
- Crew:17
- Construction: Feadship De Voogt
- Styling:Bannenberg & Rowell
- Interior design:Studio Indigo
- Shipyard: Feadship, 2016
- Charter Broker: Burgess
This article appeared in BOOTE EXCLUSIV issue 03/2017 and was revised by the editorial team in May 2023.
