The rice paddies of Bali
by John Curnow, Global Editor, Powerboat.World 24 Jun 2021 07:00 UTC
The rice terraces at Tegallalang in Bali © Photo supplied
It's a bit like school right now. Have to ask for this. Need permission for that. Put in your place, regularly. Ho hum... So at a time when we cannot really go anywhere overseas, especially if you're Australian, the ability to wander off, mentally, seems to be about all that's left.
Such was all that was left to me after writing the stanza immediately below, and there I was transported, as if I had just finished saying, 'Energise', to Scotty himself. Look at any superyacht design or build of the time, being NOW, and it looks like they left it chained to the quay when moored stern too, and then put the mains into ahead, full!
The appearance is like the whole aft third to half has been extruded out, like roof guttering from a machine. Only that most of them are a lot prettier than the picture conjured up by an extruding machine sending out continuous lengths of aluminium, and that's when I ended up in the cascading rice paddies of Bali. What a good place, what a good visualization, and what a happy day it was when I had this epiphany.
Now it might have just been a little stanza, but the whole premise has certainly been milling around in my head for some time now. I would not call it the genesis, maybe the first time I expressed the notion in written form, but back in our December 2020 editorial, A curious thing, that..., we looked at what makes the modern superyacht. It's ALL about their connection with the very water they steam upon.
Nowadays they are somewhat more like a submarine that has just surfaced, and despite their overall size, present a far less imposing freeboard than their relatives of yesteryear.
Yet perhaps more than perhaps, it all then completely gelled when I recently joined in for Benetti's magnificent Oasis Deck presentation. The original 40m model has now been joined by the new 34m. The response for something more upscale has also been positive, with the concept being applied to the B.Now 50 and even 66m forms. RWD and Benetti can be justly proud of the overall ambience, flows, and usability of this vast, inclusive social area.
Take up has been nothing short of incredible, with 15 of the 40m versions away, three of 34 and six of the 50m. Wow. Congratulations to both RWD and this most iconic of builders. The 66m utilises half of its main deck for the Oasis Life, which is certainly a mesmerizing expression of the whole connect with your guests, your activities, and the water, all the while offering the ability for more personal or individual spaces.
Immediately after the conclusion of said presentation, I wrote another little stanza. If you leave the beach club to go to the oasis, you don't want to find you chased a mirage... The Benetti is anything but a mirage, but yet it shares the shame sort of shimmer, and certainly lives up to its name!!! Q.E.D me thinks. Hit the treadmill, luxuriate in the steam room, then crack the Prosecco, feast on the prosciutto, enjoy the fruit, and party on, Wayne!
The other end
You've heard me say it before. Where's the Clipper bow gone? Hey, I love a plumb bow, even a reverse one for all the might the Dreadnoughts enforced during their short life. Technically, the latter have become very important in the world of things like the Ultim trimarans, for all the volume/buoyancy they can take right for'ard and aid in preventing them going down the mine. Arguably a very handy feature at well over 30 knots when you're trying to break the world record for a lap of this here planet (presently 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds).
So there I was when I saw that Lürssen have unveiled the striking 115m Project Enzo. Hot on its heels was the 122m Project JAG that hit the water the old fashioned way - down the slip. What a sight. She may end up being called Swordfish for all I know. At any rate, these two marvels stood out for the rake of their bows like not many before, even making a Sovereign Class from Royal Caribbean Line look like it had rammed the quay - nose on!
Nuvolari-Lenard have effectively repeated the rake of the stern 'terraces' of Enzo into the bow, and she is as striking as she is understated. Quite an accomplishment at her size. In the flesh she must really be something. The same design house is responsible for JAG, and it is entirely unfair to talk about her before the filler and paint have been applied. Suffice to say, she looks like she has a section of the Sydney Opera House atop her significant form. She'll be something to see after fit out.
Going Large, is going, going... Gone!
The original superyacht, Lady Moura, that we featured in Going LARGE has been sold, and that is hardly surprising given her stature in the market that she has only been presented for this, her very first time since launching back in 1990. Now I thought the whole thing was quick, and then the press release came, providing all the details.
"Listed exclusively on the market with Camper & Nicholsons for 554 days, this sale represents the fastest known brokerage sale of a 100+ metre vessel in the last 10 years, as well as the largest yacht sale recorded by a brokerage house since 2019. Her asking price was USD 125,000,000. Until her listing, she had never welcomed brokers or charter guests on board. Much detail about her Luigi Sturchio-styled interiors had remained a closely guarded secret."
Well done to Camper & Nicholsons, her vendor and purchaser, and I await to see which designer gets the nod for her updates, and which yard is commissioned to transform her. What a canvas to begin with (seven decks), and she is instantly able to add something like 20m LOA without even trying.
La la la la la....
So for anyone who thinks it all does not flow down just like the very terraces we have interwoven throughout this editorial, then take a look at the very new Maritimo S55. We just ran Hull #1, and will have a review for you to read soon enough. She is different to her M55 sister, our review of which has been exceptionally well read, so a quick, but significant thank you to the owners of each and every set of eyeballs that took in said work...
In the meantime, ponder how much all boats add to the whole 'connection with the water' thing, for it is the quintessential element, and the expression of it nowadays is so very different from even 10 years ago, let alone from back in the 70s and 80s.
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John Curnow
Global Editor, powerboat.world