"Just J's": 61 Hakvoort metres transformed into a family yacht with a beach club feel
The entrepreneurial risk is praised. Without Hakvoort's courage to expand the shipyard facilities in the small town of Monnickendam with a new 65 metre long hall in 2012, two owners would be left out in the cold today. Firstly, a family would not be able to enjoy the 61 metres of the "Just J's"; secondly, there would not be another 64 metre long order in the hall today.
However, as we have heard from Monnickendam, the decision to expand had already been preceded by requests for formats over 50 metres. Nevertheless, there is always a small degree of uncertainty, which can become a major risk. For example, if an owner gives up halfway through - or even later.
A stroke of luck for the owner
Nine months before the agreed delivery date, the first owner of the 61-metre project cancelled. The Eastern European and the family-owned company Hakvoort had signed the contract in July 2012. The order, organised by Moran, Brokers in Fort Lauderdale, seemed like a stroke of luck of the first order for the shipyard after a few months of waiting with the empty new hall. They began working with Sinot's designers on a 55 metre project, which the owner extended to 61 metres.
After just under two years of construction, in spring 2014, the man from the East was short of money. Something macroeconomic prevented the payment of microeconomic instalments to the shipyard. The small risk had turned into a bigger one for Hakvoort. Panic in Monnickendam.
However, the Moran brokers asked around and found a US buyer who, after a few weeks of consideration, was won over by the opportunity to save a lot of time before delivery. This was another stroke of luck, also for the owner, who had already been looking for a new yacht for himself and his family for a year.
Hakvoort conveys the true owner's feeling to family and friends on the tree
Since 2012, the interior of the "Golden Age" project had been transformed into a dark wooden, gold-decorated palace. The new owner, however, wanted a beach club, a 180-degree turnaround. Hakvoort and the Sinot designers under the direction of Paul Costerus calculated a remodelling period of one year. The second owner signed the contract in February 2015. Party in Monnickendam.
The changes were only possible in the promised time because the Sinot designers did not plan to cut too deeply into the construction. The exterior styling was retained and shows a five-decker with a length of 61 metres and a volume that is otherwise only available from another ten metres upwards - thanks to the five decks and a trick very close to the keel.
Sinot inserted a private floor for the owner between the main deck and the bridge deck without compromising the external proportions. It was important for the interior impression to retain the use of the main deck for the guest cabins, for family and friends. Hakvoort built one VIP and four double cabins into the widebody in front of the main entrance with lobby. This arrangement gives family and friends the true owner's feeling thanks to the marvellous views.
Crew remains undisturbed
The office has also thought of something comfortable for the crew, albeit without a window with a view. As yachts of this size with a crew of at least ten sometimes have to work in shifts, the crew on free watch like to sleep undisturbed by the conversations of their colleagues or the noise of the TV, clattering crockery and leisure activities. Hakvoort therefore installed the crew mess next to the storage rooms and behind the laundry on the tank deck.
The lower deck only accommodates two guest cabins in addition to the crew quarters. Unfortunately, the boss has to make a compromise: The guest cabins on the main deck relegate his galley behind the crew cabins on the lower deck. The engine room, the garage for the tender and toys and a gym far aft also use this floor. There is no space left here for a beach club. Why should there be, when the entire interior design is intended to create the impression of a casual, but also high-quality beach house? The grand opera of the interior, the saloon aft on the main deck, uses subtle means to achieve this: The carpet exudes a certain beach look with its mixture of deep pile and dark blue pattern. Barefoot in the sand. The matt silver upholstery fabrics of the armchairs and sofas harmonise with the glittering water outside in daylight, and the dark blue cushions add further maritime accents. The dining table, which Sinot integrated into the salon, seats fourteen people. The word "casual" probably fits the dress code. A Tuxedo would look considerably overdressed in the midst of this interior.
The door on the starboard side opens to the main entrance with lift and staircase. The cylindrical lift cage floats in a guide, which Hakvoort was only able to place after opening the hall roof with a crane.
Hakvoort designs upper deck dedicated to the owner
Hidden behind this construction, the shipyard built a separate staircase for the crew, which guarantees "Just J's" employees undisturbed walks to their workstations from the tank deck up to the bridge deck. The lift runs from the lower deck up to the same level. The lobby adjoins the stairwell. Its corridor to the front bends at right angles towards the VIP cabin. This interlacing of the visual axis blocks the view into the more intimate areas of the deck, the other four accommodations for family and guests. The upper deck, specially dedicated to the owner, also required a suitable change in layout in addition to the transformation of the rather tsarist golden glamour style into an uncomplicated bourgeois-casual interior design.
The position of the king-size bed at the front of the semi-circular sleeping area with its panoramic view seemed unsuitable to the owner. The space with the bed at the aft bulkhead seemed too large to him. He had the construction pushed into the centre of the area. Sinot transformed the rear of the head end into cupboard space. In this way, well-being is combined with usefulness. The bed also fits perfectly under a circular skylight, which captures the starry sky on the bedspread at night thanks to its generous diameter. Incidentally, she can enjoy a bath in the two bathrooms for him and her. He, on the other hand, can only take a shower.
View of the jacuzzi
Sinot moved the forward windows of the bridge deck above so far aft that it is impossible to see ahead to the owner's deck with its private circular Jacuzzi and a round breakfast table next to it.
Aft of the bedroom, bathrooms and the central lift and staircase, the owner's lounge extends the forward rooms into a suite for owners and guests. This is also where "J" had a bar installed, the second on board, seen from above. The first bar, al fresco, beckons from here two decks away.
However, the owner is already enjoying the fresh air here, behind his lounge on the open deck, at a round table where thirteen guests can congratulate him on his excellent choice of "Just J's".
A companionway allows access to the bridge deck with the captain's workplace forward, his flat with office and a lounge behind the large staircase, which is intended for the family. A Portuguese bridge in front of the wheelhouse allows the captain to move quickly between the bridge docks. Despite the height of the bridge deck, they ensure a clear view. Instead of a bar, the owner provided his family with an oversized monitor for Hollywood productions in this upper lounge and a landscape of sofas and armchairs in the stern area under the open sky.
Hakvoort saved order
The sundeck can only be reached from here via a solitary companionway on the port side. The way up to the fifth deck is crowned by the upper bar. Four stools not only sweeten the unobstructed view ahead; vertical glazing of the rectangular pool offers a view of this underwater world from the bar.
It should be mentioned in passing that a second order, a 64-metre project, was also hit at Hakvoort at the same time as the Eastern Europe project. But Hakvoort was also able to save this order. It completed it. The shipyard is now standing on two legs with references in the 60 metre plus format: another stroke of luck.
Technical data
- Length over everything:60,00 m
- Waterline length: 50,40 m
- Width: 11,00 m
- Depth:3,37 m
- Material: Steel/aluminium
- Motor:2 x CAT 3512C
- Engine power: 2 x 1174 kW
- Speed (max.): 15.5 kn
- Speed (travelling): 13 kn
- Fuel: 120 000 l
- Range: 4000 nm @ 12 kn
- Generator: 2 x CAT C18 275 kW
- Water: 20 000 l
- Construction: Diana Yacht Design
- Styling: Sinot Exclusive
- Interior design: Sinot Exclusive
- Classification: Lloyd's +100 A1 SSC Yacht Mono G6 LMC, UMSLY2, MCA
- Shipyard: Hakvoort/NL, 2016, www.hakvoort.com
This article appeared in the 01/2017 issue of BOOTE EXCLUSIV.
