Nilaya’s arrival in Antigua signals this no-compromise cruiser is ready to race

After a fast Atlantic crossing that gave her owner and pro race team captain Bouwe Bekking and skipper Romke Loopik plenty of all-conditions experience at the helm. Delivered to her owners in June, 47m / 154ft Nilaya spent the summer cruising in the Med and tuning up for racing.

With this pause before the St. Barth’s Bucket and with over 10,000nm under her keel, Royal Huisman can shine a spotlight on the yacht that pioneered the shipyard’s comprehensive Featherlight™ approach. Delivering on the owners’ brief for speed, safety, reliability, and silence, Royal Huisman and Nauta Design explored every option to produce a bluewater cruiser packed with luxury amenities that blend the strength and motion of an aluminum hull with the speed and displacement weights common to carbon fiber maxi yachts.

“My previous yacht was [an all-carbon Reichel/Pugh-Nauta] Baltic 34m / 112ft. She was a fantastic yacht which we cruised all over the world and won many regattas,” shared Nilaya’s owner. During the 12 years I owned her, it became clear what my next yacht would be. The brief that I gave to Nauta and Reichel / Pugh was for more comfort in a fast yacht that can win a superyacht regatta,” he said.

The shipyard’s revolutionary Featherlight method for this sailing machine is not a single process or construction technique, but a holistic light weight approach combining various weight-saving solutions.

When Nauta Design and Reichel/Pugh approved the concept, Royal Huisman won the bid to produce arguably the most advanced sailing yacht it has yet delivered.

Continuous weight monitoring throughout the build achieved the ambitious goal of slicing 11% of the construction weight of its typical advanced aluminum cruising yachts with equipment, sailing and mechanical systems, and interior furnishings creating more savings for a 15% total reduction. Most importantly, it has achieved weight reduction without sacrificing stiffness or cutting corners on quality, and without the noise typical of carbon fiber hulls.

With their new Nilaya, the owners wanted to maintain the lightweight benefits of carbon but within a quiet yacht that felt solid and built to the highest standards for world cruising.

The build was a delicate balance of choosing the best materials and using them in all the right places.

To validate this concept the entire deck area from mast to stern was mocked up 1:1 – her bow simulated in the distance – and the owners felt comfortable choosing a  semi-permanent structure. This alfresco area and the main salon at almost the same level fulfill the owners’ brief for 360-degree views.

Rondal created a radical new curved carbon fiber spreader design that is shorter and more aerodynamic than anything previously available to allow narrower headsail sheeting angles. Most deck hardware is titanium.

Rondal supplied the mast and boom, but also deck hardware and product innovations such as a runner arrangement that saves 1,200kg / 2,646lbs. Rondal’s new generation hybrid captive winch with aluminum frame and carbon drums saved half the weight of previously available winches. Tapering the top of the mast on all four sides and eliminating a headboard lock in favor of a unique hook to capture and hold the mainsail are innovations that saved 150kg / 331lbs in a position that made an important positive impact on the yacht’s center of gravity.

Beyond sailing performance, another positive result of Featherlight™ means the yacht needs less power for motoring, a factor that leaves more space for interior accommodation. Less power required translates to smaller engines, and in this case, one less generator and gearbox, thus saving 2,000kg / 4,409lbs. The propeller can be powered in two ways: mechanical (directly from the engine) and/or electrical (either from batteries or a generator).

As you might know, Royal Huisman works closely with our clients and members of the yachting press. We do this in order to give all our media friends equal support and opportunity. This press release with editor’s notes has been produced primarily to provide our media friends with hundreds of fresh images and detailed background information,  so each publication can become unique. Please introduce us to new press colleagues: we will be pleased to assist them and add their contact details to future press releases.