Over the moon
Moonen has launched the customised 36-metre Martinique Moonshine, which is bound for California after a year of cruising.
Photography by Tom van Oossanen
02 May 2024
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Dutch yacht builder Moonen Yachts has welcomed the owners of Moonshine for the christening and launch of their new 36.3-metre Martinique in the Netherlands.
The newly christened Moonshine (YN204) is the sixth Martinique from Moonen’s fast displacement steel hull design.
Moonen is working closely with Neal Esterly from Fraser Yachts, who is representing the client as their broker.
Moonshine will be delivered before the middle of 2024, and will spend this year cruising the Mediterranean and the Caribbean before reaching its new home in San Diego, California.
Neal says that his clients wanted a yacht capable of more extensive cruises. They also required customisations, including changing the yacht’s length, to suit their tastes and how they intended to use it.
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“The size was important because they wanted to keep the yacht at a specific location, which had a limited length of 119 feet (36.3 metres),” Neal explains.
Moonen Yachts project manager John Bechtold adds, “It was a real honour and a pleasure to develop and build Moonshine together with the owners, crew, and construction team.
From day one, they challenged us to refine the yacht to their tastes and intended use, and that has certainly been successful.”
The owners specified interior design in collaboration with the team at Hollander Yacht Design, a Dutch studio working on its first project with Moonen Yachts.
The main salon is filled with light thanks to full-height windows and new window details. The sliding doors with no sills create a natural transition between inside and outside.
Martinique’s exterior design by Dutch designer René van der Velden allows natural light in, offers spectacular views out, and creates indoor-outdoor connections.
The steel and aluminium Martinique has a maximum speed of 17 knots thanks to its fast displacement naval architecture and has long-range transatlantic capability. It has an interior volume of 345 GT.
The launch of Moonshine follows that of Lumière, the fifth yacht from Moonen’s semi-custom Martinique design, which hit the water earlier this year.
The seventh Martinique, the 37.4-metre (122ft) YN205, is also under construction at the Moonen Yachts shipyard.
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