"Plus Ultra": anyone who has ever consciously recognised the Spanish national coat of arms will remember these two Latin words. The motto "Beyond" wraps around two pillars, the Pillars of Hercules, on a banner. This is what the strait between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa has been called since ancient times. Sailing beyond the Pillars of Hercules was considered extremely dangerous. Danger threatened not only from unknown waters and dangerous coasts; sea monsters were to be expected, the terrible sight of which one often did not even dare to imagine.
The advice to sailors was therefore "Non plus ultra", not to sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The Spanish have had the motto "Plus Ultra" on their coat of arms for five hundred years because they ventured beyond the Pillars of Hercules with the help of the Genoese captain Christopher Columbus. They had travelled "plus ultra".
Second Amels for the owner
And the sporty owner of the 74-metre Amels four-deck yacht "Plvs Vltra" seems to be planning to do the same, at least in a figurative sense. With "Plvs Vltra", he is taking a decisive step beyond his previous limits - and just four years after his first Amels yacht in the Tim Heywood design, he and his young family returned to the shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, to expand.
He had missed a large pool on the main deck on his first 55 Amels metres, discovered the desire to be able to use an extensive spa and to live on board on his own deck with a panoramic view.
He ordered a suitable format, the Limited Editions 242, and when it came to choosing an interior designer, this time he opted for Andrew Winch after Laura Sessa. The London designer remembers the start of the project, how a spa halfway down the hull on the starboard side, white and pink marble, a steam bath, a circular pool, a massage area, a bar and windows to the fold-down balcony were considered. A mosaic by Sottoriva Italia now depicts an oversized dandelion, while a porcelain installation by Brazilian artist Valeria Nascimento dominates the wall above the pool with gold-plated shell elements.
During the planning and construction phase, the spa was 75 square metres in size. It replaces an aft beach club. "Daylight even enters the sauna through its own window," enthuses Amels Design Manager Hans Konings.
"Plvs Vltra" is used all year round
Guests can reach the fold-down balcony on the starboard side, the bathing platform of the "Plvs Vltra", directly from the spa. Its height ensures that it is unaffected by light swell. However, should seawater slosh in, a bilge system behind it with powerful pumps ensures that it is quickly dry again. The balcony can also be reached from the main deck via a side gangway.
The usual beach club area in the aft lazarette is used on "Plvs Vltra" as a garage for tenders and toys. There are two nine-metre boats there, which the crew launches from side flaps with overhead cranes. "Plvs Vltra" is a yacht for the whole family to live on, not a holiday home, emphasises Konings. The owners use the Amels all year round. That is why the shipyard designed her for three generations, with an owner's deck, two VIPs on the main deck and three guest cabins for the children on the lower deck. Comfort takes centre stage.
Underway and at anchor, four stabilisers ensure maximum comfort. "We spent many hours working with Damen Research to minimise noise and vibrations," says Konings, explaining the effort involved. Once she has released the mooring lines, "Plvs Vltra" can travel non-stop for 5000 nautical miles at her cruising speed.
The fact that she is an eye-catcher off all coasts and especially in marinas is also thanks to Tim Heywood. "Her streamlined profile is immediately memorable," says the designer happily. Heywood already designed the exterior of this owner's previous Amels yacht.
High expectations for Amels
"Plvs Vltra" continues the success story of the Amels marketing programme called Limited Editions, which Heywood accompanies as designer of the exteriors. For a limited number of units, the shipyard offers a conceptual and technical standard basis that gives the owner and his interior designer plenty of scope for individualisation in the details of the interior layout and furnishings.
The owner already opted for a Limited Editions design for his first Amels yacht "Step One" from 2012, a 55-metre Amels 180 at the time. With "Plvs Vltra", the first Limited Editions 242, the purpose of the concept of saving time and money with standardised structures and technically proven elements and installations and avoiding the avoidable surprises of a pure one-off project has now also been fulfilled.
"'Plvs Vltra' embodies the familiar external features of the limited edition designs with its elongated lines and functional characteristics," emphasises Heywood. "I call these lines 'aesthetically feminine'. I admit that they are not easy to build." Heywood is referring to the sloping transition from the widebody of the front half of the hull to the open deck of the main deck.
It is obvious that Heywood's design was also a challenge for the shipyard. "Firstly, 'Plvs Vltra' was the first Limited Editions 242, and secondly, we wanted to fulfil the owner's exceptionally high expectations under all conditions," recalls Amels project manager Sjoerd van den Broek. "'Plvs Vltra' leaves a strong impression. She is built to cruise the world's oceans, and you can see that," adds Heywood.
Owner heavily involved in design
The owner's suite was given its place at the front of the owner's deck with a rounded window front. "This allows a wonderful view. The wheelhouse therefore rose one deck higher," Heywood explains the silhouette. "A large part of the exterior surfaces of this deck moved inwards." However, the length of the yacht made it possible to balance the larger volume of the superstructure. "And without compromising the size of the interior spaces." At the owner's request, the large pool on the main deck was given one of the key positions. It is 6.50 metres long and 1.20 metres deep, with a counter-current system that enables training lanes over this length.
Together with the owner, Heywood designed the exterior colour scheme, the contrast between the jet black of the superstructure between the decks. A narrow black stripe accentuates the curved bridge wing. Heywood repeated it in reverse on the side wall of the bridge deck at mast height. Amels painted the hull from front to back in Matterhorn white. The waterline shines in Marlin blue.
The owner couple became even more involved in the concept and design of the interior. "We met frequently in London, Eastern Europe and Monaco," says Jim Dixon from the Andrew Winch office, describing the meetings. "The discussions centred on an eclectic mix of influences from the classic French Riviera, Art Deco and contemporary trends." The owner was inspired by Versace and impressed by the Hotel George V in Paris.
The discussions also centred on the room layout. Even the arrangement of the lower deck with the spa and balcony in the centre of the hull deviates from the norm, which has sworn by the beach club aft for a few years now. Guests spend the night in three cabins in front of the spa. The crew sleeps in front of it. Their forecastle is on the tank deck below.
No scheme F
The owner's wishes also deviated from the normal scheme on the main deck with its large saloon. Dixon did not set up the dining area in front of the usual sofa group; he placed the dining table aft behind a glass panoramic door, directly in front of the cockpit with the pool. The ceiling of the saloon is supported by gold-leaf columns. The upholstered furniture was supplied by Pozzoli from Milan, the crystal chandeliers with silver jewellery and silk shades by Baldi. The carpet was knotted by Tai Ping according to a design by Andrew Winch's studio. The floor mosaic in the lobby of Magma in Sicily, based on a Winch design, is just as memorable as the bronze sculpture by sculptor Alexander Krivosheiv above it.
In addition to the panoramic aft bedroom, the owner's deck offers a private lounge with a grand piano designed by Paris-based US designer Joseph Hilton McConnico. The office in front on the starboard side exudes a very different, dark red, sultry Belle Époque atmosphere. Up here, too, Tai Ping supplied a carpet in the Winch design, and Rubelli the shimmering curtain fabrics. The captain lives behind his wheelhouse above. Behind it, guests can work up a sweat in the gym, while above, on the sundeck, a cool refreshment awaits them in the third pool on board.
In terms of its name, "Plvs Vltra" goes beyond itself, even when it comes to the owner's intentions. He is thinking about further Amels projects. At least that's the word from those close to him.
Technical data of the "Plvs Vltra"
- Length over everything:74,00 m
- Waterline length:67,82 m
- Width:12,46 m
- Draught (100 %):3,85 m
- Displacement:1733 t
- Gross tonnage:1790 GT
- Material:Steel, aluminium
- Motor:2 x Caterpillar 3516 C
- Engine power: 2 x 2000 kW
- Speed (max.):16.5 kn
- Speed (travelling):12.5 kn
- Fuel:175.000 l
- Range:5000 nm @ 12 kn
- Water:39.000 l
- Generator: 2 x Caterpillar C18 TA, 1 x C9 TA
- Tender:2 x 9.00 m; 6.00 m MOB
- Construction:Amels
- Styling:Tim Heywood
- Interior design:Andrew Winch
- Classification:Lloyd's, MCA LY3
- Shipyard:Amels, 2016
This article appeared in BOOTE Exclusiv issue 03/2017 and was revised by the editorial team in November 2023.
