Among charter yachts, it is good manners to maintain an Instagram account. That of "King Benji" stands out. After the 47-metre explorer graced the cover of BOOTE EXCLUSIV 3/24, Josh, the owner, got in touch himself via Instagram. He would like a magazine so that he could frame the cover and hang it on board. Josh Golder has managed a large number of production boats off Miami, and his first custom new build is a kind of defiance project. He had his sights set on the 45 metre long "Big Fish", but his efforts to buy it were unsuccessful. But he knew who should design the exterior of his yacht: "Big Fish" designer Gregory C. Marshall.
How "King Benji" was created
The rest of the team was put together in a very similar way. Golder liked the "Pink Gin VI" interior so much that he contacted the British studio Design Unlimited. He reserved the building site at Dunya Yachts in Istanbul because he was impressed by the charter success of the 72 metre long "Axioma".
During the MYBA Charter Show in Genoa, the captain asks to come on board, the 43-year-old owner is in the USA after a month on board. Grant Du Preez is 30 years old, comes from South Africa and joined the construction team six months before completion: "This gave me time to get to know the systems and equipment, to adjust each individual crew member and to familiarise them with the operating procedures before the charter." The aft deck measures a good ten metres in length and yet it needs a recess in the upper deck to be able to park the twelve-metre-long Nor-Tech on deck. Golder has an aversion to chase boats; the nine-tonner is moved by a ten-tonne crane that reaches up to the bridge deck and can be turned into a swing if required. The small crane on the starboard side swings out sideways to form a bar or can be erected as a gallows for a punching bag.
The sunbathing area at the far aft shoulders the centre console as a storage trestle or splits into two sofas. "We wanted the sun deck on the main deck aft," says Du Preez. "The owner wanted the guests to be close to each other and for the entire entertainment programme to take place back here instead of at the very front in the bow." Instead of from the top of the sundeck, parents can keep an eye on their children while e-foiling or diving. There is also a basketball hoop above the sliding saloon door, a golf island on the bathing platform and e-bikes for shore excursions. Four Sea-Doo GTX 300s frame the Nor-Tech with its three Mercury 400Rs.
Design Unlimited favours natural materials
Neither a material threshold at your feet nor an imaginary threshold in your head blocks the way into the salon. It is as if the interior is calling out to you: Don't be shy, come in, welcome to life! Design Unlimited was given the brief to use no white and lots of natural materials. For the lounge, this means: bamboo canes on the ceiling, a teak tree stump as a table on a hand-knotted carpet, an oak dining table from Turkish production and a mosaic made from recycled eucalyptus wood at the end of the room. Dunya had the furniture made and the interior fittings carried out by Ulutas, a company less than ten kilometres away. As everywhere on board, the television in the saloon is completely hidden behind the wall panelling rather than behind a mirror, at the owner's request.
On the port side is the galley with adjoining breakfast bar, which feeds one of the four large rectangular windows with light and which the crew enter from the outside deck to avoid having to go through the saloon. Through the hatch to the galley, 27-year-old chef Liam greets you as he prepares "King Benji" chocolates with melted chocolate and a 3D mould. Du Preez laughs: "Normally, this is an area for the crew. If guests want a coffee or something else, they simply speak to our boss." It is quite possible that meals are not only eaten here in the morning.
Explosion of colour on board "King Benji"
Things get really colourful in the four double cabins, two of which have interconnecting single beds. The main deck jungle leads into the undersea world of the lower deck. The walls are covered in wallpaper with fish, coral, octopus or Atlantis motifs by Adam Ellis, Tecnografica and Pierre Frey. Mark Tucker classifies the supposed explosion of colour: "The design language is quite uniform. In the cabins, the leather and cashmere throws echo the colour of the wallpaper." Hand-woven natural hemp fibres on the wardrobe doors and leather handles as well as the rustic, driftwood-like headboards of the beds create tactile stimuli. Design Unlimited estimates the cost of fitting out a single guest cabin at 350,000 euros.
Tucker, who also furnished the "King Benji" owner's homes with his studio, explains the tricky balance: "The client wanted a desirable charter yacht, but you have to be very careful not to overdo it with the details. Otherwise it becomes a yacht that people like to see but don't want to own. You also have to think about resale." In the bathrooms, things are organic and calm with a little marble, glass mosaic tiles and minimally treated wood, but the Turkish yacht builders cannot do without stainless steel finesse. Captain Grant Du Preez affirms: "I actually slept in every room to get a feel for what makes noise and what we should change."
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The namesake
The entire upper deck is available to the owner or charter guests. Accordingly, the bridge moves to the very top and the captain's cabin to the bottom. A layout that shipyards are increasingly implementing in custom projects, but which requires separate crew walkways. In the suite, botanical prints, shades of green and tropical wallpaper around the California king bed mimic the biodiversity of the jungle. Hemp rope frames the mirror and leaves an area open in the shape of a porthole. The 270-degree view is also enjoyed by the eponymous dog Benji, a small, ten-year-old beagle mix. There is no green area adjacent to the lounge aft. Du Preez explains: "He is very well behaved and only does his business on land. We take him for walks and I plan our trips accordingly."
The only pool is located in front of the owner's area and conceals a special solution: an insulated pane separates a pool that is four degrees cold from one that is 40 degrees warm. This is intended to promote blood circulation and speed up regeneration after numerous sports activities. The handling of the slide and climbing wall - otherwise a horror for the crew - is also designed to be charter-compliant. They run on rails on the port side of the bridge deck and are pulled onto the bathing platform by crane after use.
Show cooking for the guests
The bridge deck brings crew and guests close together again. Aft, the chef performs show cooking at the teppanyaki grill, which is surrounded by black marble from Turkey. Behind it, a staircase leads up to the 16 metre high crow's nest with floral fabrics by Osborne & Little. The short superstructure at the front is entirely taken up by the bridge, which is surrounded by a similar, albeit darker, organic flair. The helm station is made of burnt and stained oak, while the deck dome is adorned with blue velvet fabric. Captain Du Preez commands a pair of zero-speed stabilisers from Naiad Dynamics and two Caterpillar diesels, each with an output of 895 kilowatts. "The ship is very economical. I also have three generators with 99 kilowatts each, which is unusual for a yacht under 500 gross tonnes. At the most economical speed of ten knots, we have a total consumption of 84 litres per hour." The fuel bunkers promise a high level of self-sufficiency: they hold up to 69,000 litres of diesel and up to 1,200 litres of petrol for the tender fleet.
As much fun as "King Benji" owner Josh Golder - who appears in the yacht's own YouTube videos - has on board, he seems to enjoy the adventure of yacht building. Before the autumn boat shows, he offered the 47-metre yacht for 45 million euros. Golder is thinking about a format of between 5000 and 10,000 gross tonnes. That would be a 100 to 140 metre kingdom for Benji the dog and charter guests.
Technical data
- Length over everything: 46,70 m
- Waterline length: 41,10 m
- Width: 8,88 m
- Depth: 2,95 m
- Displacement (full): 528 t
- Gross tonnage: 499 Gross Tons
- Material: Steel, aluminium
- Motors: 2 x CAT C32
- Engine power: 2 x 895 kW
- Speed (max.): 14 kn
- Speed (travelling): 12 kn
- Range @ 10 kn: 4000 nm
- Generators: 3 x 99 kW
- Fuel: 66 974 l
- Water: 12 388 l
- Construction: Gregory C. Marshall
- Exterior design: Gregory C. Marshall
- Interior design: Design Unlimited
- Class: ABS
- Shipyard: Dunya Yachts, 2024
- Charter: IYCfrom 250,000 euros
