2015 was a vintage year for superyacht launches with some of the most exciting and innovative designs ever. Here is the first instalment, looking at the superyacht year up to June.
January
January saw the launch of the innovative 83.5-metre Feadship Savannah, with its striking exterior design and hybrid engine, with battery power of no less than 1 million watts.
Also to launch was the 51-metre Heesen MySky, whilst 47-metre Heesen Asya was delivered to her owners not long after. French yard Piriou launched the amazing 76.6-metre explorer yacht Yersin, winner of the 2015 SuperYacht World Baccarat Award.
February
February was another big month for Dutch yard Feadship, who launched Holland’s biggest ever superyacht, the 101.5-metre Symphony, who proceeded to draw crowds in their thousands as she navigated the narrow canal systems from the yard to Rotterdam and open water.
Also launched was the latest Christensen Missing Link and another Feadship, Kiss, launched fittingly on Valentines Day. It also came to our attention that plans were being finalised for the biggest ever Australian superyacht, an 84-metre trimaran for an experienced Asian client, built at Echo Yachts.
March
After Cyclone Pam hit the vulnerable islands of Vanuatu, superyachts Dragonfly and Umbra raced to their rescue, providing hundreds of thousands of litres of fresh drinking water from their water makers and through bottled donations, and helping to administer aid to villagers who had not received help since the disaster. Watch Dragonfly’s incredible video of their time in Vanuatu here.
March also saw the launch of the two Amels, the latest 180 and the 60-metre Madame Kate, sister ship to Event, whilst Heesen delivered Sibelle to her proud new owners.
April
April 30th saw the launch of stunning 91-metre Lürssen Lady Lara, known at launch as Project Orchid. Both exterior and interior are by Reymond Langton.
Feadship continued their winter streak with the launch of Moon Sand, an elegant 44.2-metre yacht with a Bannenberg and Rowell interior. Keep an eye out for SuperYacht World’s full yacht report on her in 2016. Another interesting yacht to make her first appearance in April was Rossinavi’s Taransay. Built for a young owner, she very closely resembles a gentleman’s motor yacht from a century ago but with all the comfort of a modern yacht.
May
Undoubtably one of the most eye-catching yachts to launch in 2015 was 66-metre Lürssen Ester III, who manages to surprise both on the outside, with her masculine Espen Øino styling, and on the inside, with her opulent Parisien-inspired Reymond Langton interior. She graced the cover of SYW Issue 45.
May was a busy month, other notable launches include the very striking 55-metre CRN Atlante, and the equally eye-catching gold-coloured 55-metre Heesen Azamanta. Columbus enjoyed a double launch, and the unique launch of Sunrise’s 63-metre Irimari also caught our attention, and the yacht featured as our cover star in Issue 46.
June
Gulf Craft celebrated their largest yacht to date, the Majesty 155. The yacht was formally unveiled at a ceremony in June under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu’allah, member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and ruler of Umm Al Quwain.
Perini Navi announced the sale of the third yacht in their 60-metre series, and hope that it will prove as popular as the 56-metre series. Both are designs by Ron Holland.
Keep an eye out for The Superyacht Year Part 2 tomorrow