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This Insane 243-Foot Superyacht Concept Will Have Giant ‘Wings’ So It Can ‘Fly’ Above the Sea

Plectrum is imagined with three hydrogen-powered motors capable of churning out 5,000 hp each., rachel cormack.

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Hydrofoils have been around for more than a century, but Lazzarini is hoping to make them bigger and better than ever before.

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Instead of being pushed by the wind like the sailboats, however, the new superyacht will be propelled by three motors capable of 5,000 hp each. Lazzarini claims Pectrum could reach 75 knots at full tilt, with the foils lifting her up and out of the water for a smooth ride and minimal drag. The studio also says she can run on hydrogen, though the technology isn’t there just yet.

“We like to remember that in 1964, shipbuilding was already capable of similar vessel construction,” the studio said in a statement. Indeed, America’s first hydrofoil ship, USS Plainview , was laid down in 1964 and launched in ‘65. “This different superyacht configuration will allow much faster travel than conventional ships of a similar size.”

Crafted from a mix of lightweight carbon and composite, the sleek vessel is finished in a striking orange hue. Inside, the living quarters are split across four decks and include six guest cabins, plus one owner’s suite. Outside, the bow is fitted with a helipad, while the aft deck sports a large beach club with a pool. Amidships, there is a garage for two tenders. There’s also a garage at the stern for a car and water toys.

Although Plectrum is still a concept at this stage, Lazzarini Design says the yacht can be built on request for roughly $87 million (€80 million).

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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Nemesis One — world’s fastest luxury hydrofoil superyacht

The ‘NEMESIS ONE’ will be the World’s Fastest Luxury Foiling Yacht, able to break the 50 knots speed barrier, while flying on computer controlled hydrofoils. Contrary to being a stripped out racing vessel, the all carbon fiber Nemesis One boasts stunning futuristic, yet comfortable interiors. The future owner of the world’s fastest sailing yacht doesn’t have to sacrifice on comfort.

Powered by VPLP Design’s patented ‘OCEANWINGS’ wing sail, the high-tech superyacht resembles more of a stealth fighter jet, than a conventional sailing yacht. The excessive speeds the sailing yacht will be capable of under sail, required the Nemesis team to completely abandoned the classic operating concept of: ‘Pulling lines and handling sails’.

To further minimize crew requirements, they’ve implemented state of the art hydraulic and electric controls throughout the design. Replacing bulky winches in the size of a car’s tire and line cluttered cockpits, commonly conceived when thinking of large sailing yachts.

One of the design’s cornerstones is the fully autonomous VPLP Oceanwings wing sail, powering the Nemesis One. The wing automatically adjusts it’s angle of attack, camber and twist, eliminating any need for manual sail trimming. Additionally, the reef and furlable wing sail is a staggering 2.6 times more efficient than a conventional sail plan of equal size.

But flying on water at speeds in excess of 50 knots, leaving most performance motor yachts in her wake, won’t come at the expense of security and comfort. Nemesis One will be equipped with the latest generation of smart LiDar (laser radar) sensors, precisely capturing the yachts surroundings. The current sea state, especially wave height, shape and frequency, will be live monitored by LiDar as well. All gathered data will be processed by the yacht’s mainframe and translated into precise control commands for the automated hydrofoils and rudders, making the yacht exceptionally stable & safe at any given speed.

The Nemesis One offers the unique option to exchange the port and starboard facing living modules, for ones with different interior configurations. Making it a breeze to transform the interior layout from owner to charter setup for example. To boost her performance even further, both modules can also be completely removed, transforming the already very fast yacht into ‘Ultra-Light Race Mode’ configuration.

Even without wind, the Nemesis One will remain a zero emission vessel. Powered by a retractable hydrogen-electric propulsion, the yacht has no need for any fossil fuel. In addition to the hydrogen fuel, up to 750 sqm / 8073 sqft of solar panels, will generate up to 150kW of power, to recharge the yacht’s batteries.

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Nemesis Yachts Reveals 101 Metre Futuristic Hydrofoil Concept

Nemesis Yachts has revealed a 101 metre futuristic hydrofoil superyacht concept named Nemesis One.

With an estimated top speed exceeding 50 knots thanks to computer-controlled hydrofoils, Nemesis One will be the “world’s fastest luxury foiling yacht”, according to the builder.

The all-carbon fibre yacht dispels winches and lines for cutting edge hydraulic and electric controls, including AYRO’s patented Oceanwings, which automatically adjust to conditions. This rules out the necessity of sail trimming and further minimises crew requirements on board. Engineering comes from French multihull expert VPLP Design.

“The high-tech superyacht resembles more of a stealth fighter jet than a conventional sailing yacht,” the builder said.

A beam of 39 metres provides spacious living areas of 1,130 square feet inside an interior described as “futuristic yet comfortable”.

Owners have the option to completely remove the interior modules, equipping the yacht with an “ultra-light race mode”.

Even without wind, Nemesis One will remain a zero emission yacht thanks to a hydrogen-electric propulsion package. Nemesis Yachts estimates the concept to have a cruising speed of 35 knots and top speed exceeding 50 knots.

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Baltic 142: The superyacht bringing foiling technology into cruising

• Toby Hodges
• May 2, 2019

Foil-assisted cruising is the latest innovation to emerge from Baltic Yachts. We talk to the team behind the Baltic 142 to find out how it works

The Baltic 142 may not be using the hydrofoils popularised by the America’s Cup , but her 29ft 6in long (9m) horizontal sliding foil employs the same principle of lift to reduce heel and boost speed.

The designers of the Dynamic Stability System (DSS) say it could improve the performance of this super-cruiser by 20 per cent, delivering a sustained 25 knots – not bad for a superyacht with a predicted lightship displacement of 140 tonnes.

This is the first time the DSS has been used in superyachting, but its benefits will be used for comfortable, fast long-distance cruising rather than gaining an edge on the racecourse. All eyes will be on the Baltic 142 when she launches later this year and sets off on her first ocean passage. If the DSS does what is predicted, it could become commonplace.

The Baltic 142 is due to launch before the end of the year. Photo: facebook.com/balticyachts

Proven technology

The idea, developed by British naval architect Hugh Welbourn and Gordon Kay of Infiniti Yachts, has certainly proved itself on a smaller scale, reducing heel, increasing speed, damping pitching and adding an unexpected degree of steering control in lively conditions.

Gordon Kay, who was at the helm of the Infiniti 46 with its DSS deployed in almost 40 knots of breeze in the 2017 Rolex Middle Sea Race , said: “The boat sat at 28 knots, arrow straight, to the point when I wondered if there was any need for me to drive.”

But can these advantages transfer to a 140-tonner for which speeds in the mid-teens, let alone the 20s, would be considered exceptional? The brains trust behind the project believes they can. These include Baltic Yachts’ head of research and development Roland Kasslin, Farr Yacht Design president Patrick Shaughnessy, BAR Technologies chief technology officer Simon Schofield, Gurit engineering’s Simon Everest, plus Welbourn and Kay. Baltic Yachts’ ability to take on complex engineering challenges and meet them with the latest in lightweight advanced composite building techniques, is well documented.

1-tonne foil

As can be seen in the diagram above, the carbon foil, weighing 1 tonne, will sit in a casing built into the bilge of the Baltic 142 just below the waterline and slightly aft of amidships. As it happens it runs directly beneath the owner’s double berth.

When not deployed the tips of the foil will be just visible, but when in use it will protrude a massive 22ft (6.5m) to leeward. It is designed to be deployed at speed at which point some 40 tonnes of lift can be generated pushing the Baltic 142 upright with a corresponding increase in speed.

Speeds of 25 knots

Gordon Kay says that a conventionally designed yacht beam reaching in 25 knots of wind would heel to just over 20 degrees, but with the foil working heel would be restricted to just 9 degrees and there’s a consequential increase in boat speed. In 25 knots of wind the Baltic 142 could reach sustained speeds of 25 knots depending on sea conditions.

In addition, any pitching motion can be reduced. So apart from speed, the increase in comfort levels is equally appealing. Because the foil is able to generate a large proportion of the Baltic 142’s righting moment, displacement and hull volume can be reduced, although this has presented it own problems.

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It limits the amount of space in the bilge to install the foil and provide enough separation between the upper and lower bearings, which enable it to ‘slide’ under load when the Baltic 142 is at speed.

Simon Everest from Gurit said: “We collaborated with Baltic Yachts to make small adjustments to the accommodation and with Farr Yacht Design to alter the hull shape creating a subtle blister around the foil exit.” The blisters provided the width or beam they were looking for.

The foil is controlled using a system of pulleys the lines for which run to a powerful electric captive winch positioned at deck level. To prevent water ingress from the casing, which is permanently flooded, the control lines are led through composite pipes to a point above the waterline.

The actuator or control lines travel to the outer extremities of the foil to a turning block so another challenge was to design a protective channel or groove on the underside of the foil to carry the line. A self-activating lock to prevent the board sliding straight through the casing in the event of the actuator line failing also had to be developed.

America’s Cup research

There are four sets of bearing cassettes, the outboard, upper pair taking the upward loads when the board is deployed and the inner, lower pair dealing with the downward load at the inner end of the board.

A lot of the bearing technology has been provided by the team at Ben Ainslie’s BAR Technologies whose research into friction is literally microscopic in its methodology and benefits from more than two-and-a-half years’ work on America’s Cup boats. What BAR found during that research was that reducing friction to an absolute minimum was paramount.

That might sound obvious, but when the microscopic behaviour of materials such as carbon fibre was studied it was found wanting in certain parts of the design. For instance, the trailing edge of the foil becomes so heavily loaded against the casing aperture when the yacht is sailing at speed, the surface of the carbon fibre foil distorts.

“It’s as if it’s pushing against a little hill of material created temporarily by the loading – in other words it’s constantly ‘going up hill’,” explained Simon Schofield at BAR Technologies. So to reduce the size of ‘the little hill’ and in turn reduce friction, the trailing edge is finished with a much harder material, in this case titanium.

Each case of bearings contains four cassettes made up of 25 Torlon rollers. They are contained in titanium housings that can be adjusted (with the yacht at a standstill) to alter the angle they meet the foil surface. We got some idea of their size when we were told each bearing set on the Baltic 142 weighs 30kg.

The foil itself is being built by French specialist fabricators ISOTOP and comprises a number of carbon fibre spars running the length of the foil that are wrapped and held together with carbon cloth. The foil is designed to deflect through 800mm at each tip and the leading edge is finished with a foam ‘nose’ designed to crush in a collision.

Technoculture

The all-carbon composite Baltic 142 is intended for fast, comfortable global cruising, but her owner hasn’t stopped at foil technology in his quest for innovation. This yacht will be fitted with diesel-electric propulsion and generating system, which burns less fossil fuel, is less space hungry and quieter than a conventional drive train.

Weight is being saved by specifying a 700-volt electrical system that uses lighter cabling and allows equipment normally run on heavy and space hungry hydraulics to be powered by the main battery bank.

The machinery room, housing the remarkably compact 400kW propulsion motor, two 210 kW generators, four banks of Alkasol lithium-ion batteries, watermakers and other ancillary equipment, has been assembled outside the yacht in Baltic Yachts’ Jakobstad facility and was craned into position as a complete module.

There has also been a major effort to improve serviceability so that long periods of independent cruising can be undertaken and maintenance carried out without having to seek out a specialist yachting facility.

With styling and interior design by Lucio Micheletti as well as the in-house team, the Baltic 142 sports a sleek, low deck saloon with a hard, fixed bimini extending over the forward cockpit area. Below, her vast deck saloon, providing panoramic views, forms the focal point of her luxury accommodation.

Unusually, the owner’s suite is located almost amidships, where motion is at its least, with further accommodation for six guests in three cabins. Other features include a Rondal rig with electric in-boom furling, a lifting keel and a propeller leg rotating through 180 degrees.