We know we’ve created something special with the X-treme 105 Lady Fleur but entering her for one of the top superyacht prizes was a new step for our yard. Could we possibly win one of the esteemed BOAT Design & Innovation Awards in Italy on 8 February? The answer was ‘yes we could’… And ‘yes we could’ again, as Lady Fleur became the only superyacht to win not one but two of the famous Neptune trophies!
The winners of the 2023 BOAT Design & Innovation Awards were crowned on the opening night of the Superyacht Design Festival at a glittering ceremony in Cortina. It’s a little like the Oscars of the yachting world as the awards are chosen by professionals from across the industry. As judging panel co-chair and renowned editor Marilyn Mower said: “It’s a privilege to delve into the details and decisions that go into developing yachts that will no doubt set trends and expectations for yachts that follow.”
You can imagine how thrilled we were then when Lady Fleur won both the Outstanding Exterior Design category for yachts between 24m to 39.9m and Innovation of the Year for her tender platform/swimming pool. “This is a huge achievement not only for our team at the shipyard but also for the owner, the designer Bernd Weel and the architects at Diana who together created this stunning yacht,” says Holterman Yachts’ general director Herman Timmerman. “Lady Fleur is a textbook example of how a small team can create a great yacht!”
What did the experts have to say about Lady Fleur? “With many finalists re-imagining onboard spaces, the X-treme 105 was praised for the way the yacht fulfilled a complex owner’s brief – fitting a massive tender and family pool onto a single deck while maintaining an attractive yacht profile.”
The originality of Lady Fleur’s design clearly struck a chord with the judging panel of specialists from the global design and naval architecture community. As you can read in the reports below, they describe her as a “remarkable design achievement”, with the stern area being “a solution so novel it has to be seen to be believed.”
Outstanding Exterior Design category for yachts between 24m to 39.9m
“Lady Fleur was tapped for the top award because of the innovative, contemporary way her design team met a very complex owner’s brief. The goal was to carry a large tender that can be stored in a drive-in bay and offer a swimming pool within a yacht less than 35 metres long. In addition, there were to be five guest cabins and a crew apartment, while keeping volume below 200GT. The designer responded with a robust, well-proportioned, forward-leaning profile and paired it with unique flowing window shapes that tap into a highly functional interior arrangement. Interesting structure lines and chamfers develop 3D-like shadows that change with the angle of light. The fact that Lady Fleur carries such a large owner’s tender without looking like a cargo carrier and maintains quality outdoor living areas including practical water access is a remarkable design achievement.”
The first thing to realise is that this unique element – a truly multifunctional space – is on a 33-metre boat. Experienced owners challenged the design and build team with a simultaneous request for a drive-in tender bay for a large RIB and a swimming pool for their grandchildren. The solution is so novel it has to be seen to be believed. In fact, demonstrations created traffic jams at the Cannes Yachting Festival.
“In essence, creative engineering allows this monohull to temporarily become a catamaran, at least for the aft third of the yacht. By splitting the engine room into two watertight sections à la power cats, and building a watertight compartment between them, the aft centre section of the hull lowers to allow the tender to float out or in. With the tender launched, the bay, now containing seawater, rises to become a safe and secure 11-metre swimming pool flush with the aft main deck.”
