Building a beast
Ngoni by Royal Huisman, which has spent 2017 cruising the Mediterranean, is a project born out of bold ambition.
08 March 2018
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Designed by Dubois Naval Architects and featuring an innovative interior by Rick Baker Ltd, Ngoni is luxurious as well as ‘fast and furious’ – the product of bold and minimalist design realised with impeccable build quality by Royal Huisman.
Ngoni’s sleek and beautifully executed exterior conceals a host of innovative engineering to meet the challenges of marrying a huge, powerful and advanced rig with a slender and easily-driven hull.
From the outset, the owner was clear about his intentions: “Build me a beast. Don’t build me a sheep in wolf’s clothing. This has to be an edgy and innovative weapon; fast and furious.”
More specifically, the owner wanted an exciting contemporary yacht that combined exemplary performance, handling and seakeeping with luxurious amenity, optimising the hull volume. His ‘less is more’ philosophy demanded a highly minimalistic approach, seeking to maximise reliability by minimising complexity; and to enhance elegance and aerodynamic efficiency through a clean, clutter-free aesthetic.
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As an experienced owner who likes to helm, he insisted on steering that was light, yet firm and responsive. The wheel had to give him the true feel of the boat under sail.
Intensive research and analysis went into the development of the advanced and extremely powerful carbon rig and foils. The 853 metre-square square-top mainsail is notable not just for its load-reducing halyard lock but for the innovation allowing the square-top and its supporting diagonal batten to detach automatically and furl neatly into the styled performance boom with minimal intervention from the crew.
The stem of the plumb bow, rounded top and bottom, the location of the headsail furlers, flush beneath the deck, and the absence of a conventional pulpit all contributed not just to spare, purposeful looks but to clean airflow, reducing disturbance at the luff and enhancing the aerodynamics of the headsail.
The yacht has a single, balanced 6.95 metre-sqaure spade rudder – one of the largest carbon rudders ever produced.
Aft of the foredeck, the towering carbon mast is one of the world’s three largest one-piece spars ever built, all three having been manufactured by Rondal.
The expansive teak foredeck shelters giant flush hatches with continuous, uninterrupted planking to conceal a large tender, a crane, spa pool, sail locker and cooled waste locker.
Owners’ and guest accommodation is accessed via a curving staircase from the deck house to the guest lobby area.
The owners’ suite, aft, comprises a full-beam stateroom with bespoke built-in furniture, twin doors to an enormous bathroom, a spacious study with its own bathroom and a large gym with an opening hull port in the topsides.
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