Dutch yard Royal Huisman has announced a new commission for an impressive lightweight 46m high-performance cruiser sloop: Nauta Reichel Pugh 151. This versatile sailing yacht is to be built for very experienced owners who presented a stimulating brief: comfort to explore the world, in an extremely lightweight structure to ensure victories in superyacht regattas. Royal Huisman Project 405 is scheduled to be delivered in 2022.
The yards precises that the owners wanted to be part of the whole process of designing and building it, and enjoy every step of the way. Which is why from the moment of the project’s inception, the owners drew together the team that could realize this experience for them – Nigel Ingram of MCM Newport and the owners’ professional race team for specialist consultation; Nauta Design for the exterior and interior styling, Reichel/Pugh for the yacht’s naval architecture, Rondal for her carbon Panamax rig, and Royal Huisman to provide their most-qualified engineering and construction skills for the optimal end result. The owners themselves, in addition to their extensive experience, brought their vision and confidence to the table: ingredients needed to see beyond the current world climate of Covid-19 restrictions.
Royal Huisman Project 405’s lightweight aluminum and carbon composite construction will present formidable competition to existing carbon yachts, whilst combining comfort with the low sound levels of aluminum yachts. This sloop will optimize the innovative use of the materials that Royal Huisman know so well, complemented with extensive Finite Element Analyses to ensure the very best blend of “proven” and “cutting-edge”, with target performance, excellent racing properties, and sound ocean worthiness all thrown into the mix, as well.
For Royal Huisman, the commission to build this innovative lightweight sloop fulfills a longstanding wish. Jan Timmerman (CEO Royal Huisman) says: “It is truly an honor to work with the owners and this great expert team of designers to realize their lightweight superyacht. The team of Royal Huisman is proud that the owners and their team have selected us for this innovative lightweight construction which was cleverly developed by our inhouse R&D team, backed up with over 55 years of experience with aluminum construction.
