Tim Heywood is delighted. About his throw and about his casting off manoeuvre. The English designer observes this with a mixture of childlike curiosity and the attention of a guest who is on board a superyacht for the first time. Heywood describes the genesis of the 57-metre Amels in a gentle narrative voice: "I'd had the idea in my head for a long time. When I was making the sketch, Vanessa, my partner in all things, came round and said it looked like a swan ruffling its feathers. Maybe I had subconsciously thought of that." The 69-year-old smiles and adds: "As a result, I had all of the decks run out in the shape of half a feather."
Designer portrait
"Volpini 2" is the first 188 from the Amels semi-custom empire, which has been extremely successful with its Limited Editions (LE), placing newbuilds of over 50 metres in length and with more than 500 gross tons on the market - but only if sales are high and the design basis remains virtually unchanged will the subsidiary shipyard of the Dutch Damen Group include a newbuild in the LE range, which currently comprises six Heywood formats.
What sounds exclusive in no way refers to limited numbers, but rather to the personalised design of the interior. The limited edition project started eighteen years ago with the 171. In 2012, a stern extension turned the 171 into the 180, of which a total of 25 float.
"Volpini 2" is unmistakably Heywood
As Port Hercule lies astern, Captain Nathan McFadyen sets course for Cannes. Tim Heywood, who has focussed exclusively on exteriors since 2003, is given almost complete freedom of design by Amels. Brand and Communications Director Victor Caminada intervenes, who gave the technical specifications to Heywood in 2012 - with the request to make "something pretty" out of them. The thirty per cent increase in volume and the more upright silhouette make it clear that the latest LE contender is not just another replacement and therefore a mere stretching of the 180.
"Volpini 2" represents the link between the classically styled 180 and the progressive 199 (now 206), which Heywood considers to be his most successful LE design. In the 188, he dispenses with his famous bridge cam shells, but as with all limited editions, he relies on the characteristic helm position, which is characterised by a gangway-spanning half-moon roof and rectangular vertical windows - the only straight lines that Heywood attributes to the aluminium superstructures. Even the aft support pillars follow a rounded shape. Heywood's feminine lines are a guarantee of success.
Amels only found an owner for this construction number one six months before completion. What sounds nerve-wracking is only natural for Victor Caminada: "Our customers want to actually experience a yacht and not just see it on paper." At this point, Sinnex had already installed the simple, elegant taupe interior. It is the result of the first collaboration with Reymond Langton.
The steel hull of "Volpini 2" cuts waves effortlessly
Pascale Reymond is also on board. This was preceded by a tender that called for a sporty, fresh look to match the exterior. This appealed to the owner, who is in his eighties. However, the decisive factor for signing the contract was the lift with a load capacity of 300 kilograms, which starts on the lower deck in front of the four guest suites and ends on the aft sundeck. Here, the owner decided in favour of a fitness area and against a lounge. The space gained in the beach club is taken up by a water sports centre, which is accessed via a staircase to the left of the entrance to the main saloon.
Captain McFadyen receives us on the bridge, where he takes up his quarters behind and looks down on the two tenders in the forecastle. He reports that the 188, like the 180, can now manage without a bulbous bow. The bulbous bow is better at breaking approaching wave crests, but has been sacrificed in favour of a generally higher hull efficiency. The flow is interrupted by two fin stabilisers from Quantum, which, apart from anchoring in calm bays, permanently, automatically and effectively minimise the rolling movements of "Volpini 2".
On this day, the steel hull stoically crosses the previous day's two-metre-high seas rolling in from the side at ten knots. The two MTU twelve-cylinder engines, each with 1380 kilowatts of power, run at 1000 revolutions and consume 64 litres of diesel per hour. "Volpini 2" manages 3000 nautical miles at a top speed of 16 knots and a fuel consumption of 786 litres per hour. Amels gives the operating range as 4500 nautical miles at 13 knots, but McFadyen is certain: "At eleven knots, 7000 miles are possible. I only want to run one engine using trolling pumps. Some 180s have already tried this in the Arctic."
Intelligent wiring system
There is also great potential for savings in operating costs, which Amels estimates at up to 100,000 euros per year. A day in the best of all consumption worlds looks like this: In the morning, the small generator runs until after breakfast and the morning shower. In the morning, the large generator supplies the washing machines, among other things, and during the day, when the air conditioning is running at full speed or the electric bow thruster is running, the generators combine their power. Any excess energy is channelled into a battery with a capacity of 56 kWh. This heats the jacuzzi in the evening and provides the galley with the energy it needs to prepare dinner. A control system from Alewijnse Marine automatically balances the hotel loads.
A regular current collector is VHB's entertainment system. Mc-Fadyen, who is also a media officer, explains: "As the owner watches one film a day, we regularly update the film database.
We copied thousands of films from Blu-rays onto hard drives during the construction phase." The owner also enjoys the sunrise cinema. "On night trips, he drops by at around five in the morning, discusses the day and eats his toast in one of the two seating areas." Afterwards, he can wake the guests in the bridge deck cabin, listen to the sounds of the Spirio grand piano by Steinway & Sons playing as if by magic in the adjoining saloon or have a big breakfast outside with the whole family at the table for 14 people.
"Volpini 2" plays with colours and materials
Pascale Reymond demonstrates the advantages of her interior in the owner's area on the forward main deck, which can be reached by lift or spiral staircase. Together with her partner Andrew Langton, the Frenchwoman styled the exterior of the first 43-metre-long "Volpini" in 2004 as an employee of Donald Starkey. The owner took over the customised Amels ten years later. Reymond on the challenge of an on-spec interior: "The shapes are kept simple, all the colours are deliberately very close together. This makes the interior very balanced. Ultimately, it's a product that has to appeal to people aged 25 to 90." The interplay of beige-coloured leather panels from Foglizzo, Sinn Living and Studioart, which vary from smooth to textured to sewn-in patterns, is a recurring theme. They come together with lots of bleached white sycamore wood.
Rare types of marble such as Crema Marfil in the owner's bath made the Amels controlling department sweat. Finding blocks without impurities is very difficult, emphasises Reymond in his wonderfully French-accented English. "My hope was that the owner would bring in his own colours." The owners, who do not charter and often welcome their children, grandchildren and friends on board on their voyages, had some panels replaced and added maritime accents: with coral watercolours and cushions as well as glass artworks. The only spatial change was the removal of the wall between the bedroom on the port side and the living area on the starboard side, which was enlarged by twelve square metres by folding down the balcony. As everywhere on board, the backlit, 2.20 metre high ceilings seem to float freely.
Open mouths in the office
In the office in front of the owner's cabin, Reymond goes into raptures: "This is my favourite room, even though it's so small." Probably because of her new design trick. She reaches into an open leather track that stows up behind the dark brown Minotti desk to form a "mouth" from which light streams.
Captain McFadyen takes his seat as a matter of course. The New Zealander has been getting his hire from the "Volpini" owner for ten years, with whom he meets here over a whisky to plan his route. After the 2019 Riviera season, they are heading for the Pacific. They also plan to go to Hawaii, where the owner owns a house. They will then be sailing in US waters, where the Tier III regulations for yachts over 500 gross tonnes, which were launched in 2016, already apply. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) stipulates an 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions compared to Tier I.
"Volpini 2" joins the parade of superyachts seeking shelter from the south-east swell behind Cap d'Antibes. The rattling of the anchor chain reaches the engine room, where the chief officer stands in front of the advanced Tier III exhaust system. Its installation was easy due to the ceiling height. In practice, the regular filling of the 2000 litre AdBlue tank is far more problematic; the synthetic urea-water solution, which turns into ammonia in the Hug Engineering catalytic converter under the influence of heat, does not bubble out of every Mediterranean bunker. This in turn breaks down the nitrogen oxides responsible for particulate matter into harmless nitrogen and water vapour. This process takes place on "Volpini 2" for a maximum of 1500 nautical miles at a time, after which AdBlue has to be refuelled.
Good accessibility to hardware and software
The first engineer can smell that the system is running. It is not unpleasant, but it is noticeable. Behind the MTU gensets, a companionway leads to the fuelling deck and then crouches down. "This has the character of a megayacht," exclaims Tim Heywood. All the lines and pipes are accessible. The first and second engineers have quick access via a staircase amidships, which ends in front of their cabins in the crew corridor. Accommodation for ten other crew members, the laundry and the mess room extend across the forward lower deck.
The crew stairs take us up to the main deck and past the galley into the 57 square metre saloon. Here Victor Caminada reveals that the 188 has achieved limited edition status. It will be extended by 2.40 metres to become the 200, of which two units on spec are currently under construction. The first 200 is due to dock in 2021 with hybrid drive. The interior is still pending. If an order is not received in time, the Owners Team, a group of Amels employees, will agree on a styling that covers as many tastes as possible. Tim Heywood only made cosmetic changes to the exterior. He replaced the window strip in the owner's cabin with seven almost floor-to-ceiling windows and enlarged the sundeck. It is the details that bring success.
Technical data of the "Volpini2"
- Length over everything:57,70 m
- Width:10,20 m
- Depth:3,45 m
- Gross tonnage:958 GT
- Material:Steel, aluminium
- Motor:2 x MTU 12V 4000 M53
- Engine power:2 x 1380 kW
- Speed (max.):15.5 kn
- Speed (travelling):13 kn
- Fuel:146.000 l
- Consumption @ 13 kn:424 l/h
- Range:4500 nm @ 13 kn
- Generators:185 kW + 250 kW
- Bow thruster:1 x 130 kW
- Stabiliser: Quantum Zero Speed
- Tender:1 x 7 m + 1 x 6.20 m
- Air conditioning:Heinen & Hopman
- Styling: Tim Heywood
- Interior design:Reymond Langton
- Construction:Amels
- Classification:Lloyd's Register
- Shipyard:Amels, 2018
This article appeared in the BOOTE Exclusiv issue 03/2019 and was revised by the editorial team in October 2023.
