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Intensity

For a busy studio like Andrew Winch Designs, speculative projects are rare. “We don’t do many to be honest,” admits Andrew Winch, who explains that the Intensity concept first saw light at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2013 as Infinity and came from his existing relationship with Abeking & Rasmussen’s sales director Till Von Kraus and Y.CO broker Will Christie.

“It came about when discussions with a particular client changed course, but everyone was so excited about this project that we continued to develop it with the support of the shipyard.”

“Andrew is one of life’s great enthusiasts and said that he would love to come up with some new concepts for various clients I was working on at that time,” says Christie. “I asked Andrew and his team to come up with something totally radical, but based on an existing platform, realising that this would be of great benefit to clients in cost and time savings.”

Intensity is based on the same platform that the 81.8m M/Y Kibo (launched March 2014) was built from, but it could not be more different from the classically-lined Terence Disdale design. The 88.8m tri-deck superstructure features a curving double-height glass facade, spacious decks and a completely private owner’s deck. “We wanted to do something innovative and distinctive,” says Winch. “The glass is a significantly unique factor. Amidships we have a double story glass facade and internally the deck is back from the glass, creating a two-story glass wall.”

Naturally, the result of so much glass is going to be an interior flooded with light, something that Winch says will enable the interior styling to incorporate darker, warmer tones. “The intention is for a smooth, contemporary, modern interior,” he says. The profile? More urban apartment than traditional white superyacht. “When you can take a glass really low, you get a completely different view of the sea, particularly from the inside. You see more than just the horizon, which is a much more inclusive feeling of being afloat.”

For Christie, Intensity presents a chance for a client to build an iconic yacht with quick delivery, an opportunity that is rather unique in this industry, hence the renewed marketing push from the team. This is more than the concept that was presented at MYS in 2013. Since the platform has already been engineered, Abeking & Rasmussen will be able to be delivered three years after the yacht is signed. The yacht is priced at 126 million euros, including interior outfitting but excluding interior design and owner extras, a price that Christie argues is extremely competitive. “Time is money,” he says. “A significant proportion of time is spent by yards pre-engineering a yacht before steel or aluminium is even cut. By building on an existing platform we can significantly reduce man hours on the engineering side of things. In addition, the project can be costed extremely accurately.”

As it is based on an existing platform, there are some restrictions in customisation, for example the bulkheads cannot be shifted, but there is still certain flexibility in the layout. Christie admits that such a distinctive design will not be for every client. “There are many clients who would like to build a series yacht or something quite traditional as they would rather remain low profile,” he says. “A yacht like this is for someone who wants to be recognised on the horizon. There have been a handful of iconic yachts over the past century though that have defined the eras in which they were delivered Talitha G or Nahlin 1920/30s, Jon Bannenberg’s Carinthia IV in the '70s, Eco (now Enigma) in the '90s. If Intensity is built, she could join this list of iconic vessels.”

There is often an argument for designing and building yachts, particularly if you have charter or resale in mind, that are neutral and have widespread appeal, but for Winch and Christie there is strength in the unusual too. “One client that we have been discussing this with does do a lot of charter and is looking for a design which breaks the mould,” says Winch. “Charterers often want something individual. For example, some people stay in the same hotel every time but others want prefer to stay in the latest, hottest place. Intensity will hold the same appeal of a boutique hotel.”

Intensity

Details

  • The Old Fire Station, 123 Mortlake High St, London SW14 8SN, UK
  • Andrew Winch Designs