In June 2015 it was announced that yet another superyacht with a name inspired by a James Bond movie would be built, the 66-meter Spectre. Commissioned by American businessman, John Staluppi, the superyacht is set to become his 7th yacht.
Active in the automobile industry since the 1950s, Staluppi is best known for building the fastest yacht on Earth, the 40-meter The World is Not Enough along with the rest of his Bond fleet that keeps growing in length.
Moving up from an 18-meter Viking boat, Staluppi commissioned the 36-meter For Your Eyes Only from Denison as his first yacht. The semi-displacement yacht was eventually launched in 1985 and became the first motor yacht to have a combination of MTU engines with water-jets in the US, which allowed it to reach a top speed of 30 knots.
In the late eighties, For Your Eyes Only hit a sandbar which led to her taking in water from a crack in the engine room. The yacht was eventually salvaged, refitted and renamed with some speculating that the following alleged legal actions, combined with the sinking of two other Denisons within a short amount of time, led to the bankruptcy of the US shipyard.
In 1988, Octopussy was launched as Staluppi's second yacht in a successful attempt to build the fastest yacht in the world. A defining moment for Heesen Yachts, Octopussy had to reach 50 knots in order for Staluppi to take ownership of the boat, which it ultimately did, reaching a top speed of 53 knots. Staluppi eventually sold the 44-meter yacht after having used her for close to a year in and a half, which allowed him to start working on his next project, Moonraker.
A fast cruising trideck, Octopussy now features an interior by Art Line. Fully refitted by her current owners in 2015, the 44-meter now has a sundeck with a Jacuzzi and raised sun pads. On the upper deck, she features a sky lounge and her sporty bridge along with two dinning tables to her aft.
Down on her main deck is the yacht's main lounge with a myriad of seating areas, tall windows, a bar area and a TV screen that slides out amidst ship. Towards the yacht's aft is a dinning table for 12 guests that can be either opened up in good weather or closed down with glass panels. Forward of the deck is the main cabin with four additional guest cabins on the lower deck. The yacht's current owner's are selling it at $4,995,000.
By the time Octopussy was sold, HH the Aga Khan, was building a yacht to overtake the crown of the world's fastest yacht. Staluppi therefore set out to build an even faster one and the 36-meter Moonraker was eventually delivered in 1992 by Norship with a design done by Dutch-based Mulder.
In 1998, Staluppi set up his own business in yachting, Millenium Superyachts that was to handle his project in the superyacht industry. In 2004, the newly created label delivered The World Is Not Enough, a 40-meter yacht with 20,600hp that could reach a top speed of 70 knots but couldn't steer past 66 knots according to the owner.
In October 2007, Staluppi acquired a project in-build from Henry Luken, co-owner of Christensen Shipyards. In 2008, the 49.6-meter Casino Royale which can cruise at a more regular speed of 12 knots, was delivered to her new owner. Built out of composite, the full displacement yacht came in at just under 500GT. It was later listed for sale in December 2008 and sold in April 2009 to Californian businessman, David McDonald.
Built with a more traditional, American audience in mind, Casino Royale features a straightforward layout with a full-beam master cabin forward of the main deck, 2 guest, 2 twin and one VIP cabin on the lower deck. With two tenders and three jet skis carried onboard, Casino Royale features a lounge on the main deck and a sky lounge as well.
In July 2009, Staluppi acquired Midlandia, a 52-meter Benetti with an asking price of €19,950,000, which he renamed to Quantum of Solace and extensively refitted. In August 2009, he listed the boat for sale again at an asking price of $24,995,000 and eventually sold it, two years later, in July 2011.
Designed with Italian roots at its heart, Quantum of Solace has a layout more typical of yachts found in the Mediterranean. Its main tender is brought into a tender garage aft of the lower deck, with a foldable platform for swimming. This clears out the sundeck for lounging, sunbathing, casual dinning and leaves enough space up there for a Jacuzzi.
In a configuration that has proven popular for charters, Quantum of Solace's main deck features a main salon and dinning room with an outdoor lounging area towards the aft. Up on the second deck is a large sky lounge with a playing table, bar area, lounging area and large outdoor dinning table.
In November 2011, Diamonds are Forever was launched for Staluppi who had acquired the yacht whilst in-built, 18 months prior to its delivery. Throughout the construction project, Staluppi made several substantial improvements including the addition of an extra top deck.
Originally intended to be chartered out by its owners, Diamonds are Forever was listed for sale in August 2012, asking $63 million. In October 2012, her asking price was reduced to $59.5 million and she was eventually sold in December 2013.
With a number of features mirroring the Quantum of Solace, such as the large bar area in the sky lounge, Diamonds are Forever became a refined version of Staluppi's previous builds. The main attribute that set the yacht apart from other Benetti's of her size is the addition of a fifth deck to act as a sunbathing area, creating a second master cabin on the upper deck and pushing the bridge up to the third deck.
Born in Brooklyn in 1947, Staluppi started as a mechanic at 16 years old with a life long passion for cars during the golden era of automobiles. His first business became a Sunoco station, which he established thanks to a loan that his father took on.
After establishing a chain of gas stations, Staluppi risked bringing on an unknown car manufacturer at the time to the American market, which is now known as Honda. After 10 years, Staluppi established 20 dealerships of Honda cars in the United States. After Honda, Staluppi established a network of dealerships of Hyundai cars.
An avid collector of cars, Staluppi had established a museum around cars from all eras and an extensive personal collection. In 2012, these cars were put up for auction by RM Sotheby's in Palm Beach and generated over $11,5 million in sales revenue.
"John Staluppi is larger than life and well known in the collector-car hobby. His collection reflects a very precise collecting philosophy, focused on securing only the very best." said Donnie Gould of RM Auctions at the time of the auction.
Commissioned in July 2015, Spectre will become Staluppi's seventh superyacht named after a James Bond film and will also be designed by Mulder.
The newest Heesen 50m superyacht Book Ends (previously known as Project Sapphire), which was launched earlier this month, has gone through intensive sea trials at the North Sea. She is the second in the new semi-displacement 5000 Aluminum Class, a fast-cruising design of under 500GT which follows from the successful Satori Class. The in-house team was supported by Van Oossanen Naval Architects, who carried out the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tests. The yacht was sold in September 2021 by Thom Conboy from Heesen USA for experienced owners. After the successful sale of their 2017 47m Heesen motor yacht of the name Book Ends (now Artisans), Bob and Amy Book have returned to the Dutch shipyard for their second Heesen yacht in four years.<iframe src=https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fheesenyachts%2Fvideos%2F584941556381205%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0 width=560 height=314 style=border:none;overflow:hidden scrolling=no frameborder=0 allowfullscreen=true allow=autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share allowFullScreen=true></iframe>An optimized, low-drag hull design with a reduced transom depth – a design refinement conceived by Heesen’s in-house team of naval architects – has resulted in efficiency gains of around 12 per cent. A draft of just 2.15 meters makes her the perfect yacht for exploring shallow waters. Her ultra-efficient hull shape is seamlessly complemented by two MTU 16V4000M65L ‘green ocean’ engines, fitted with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) units to reduce NOx emissions. With a top speed of 23 knots, she perfectly embodies Heesen’s sporty DNA. Book Ends interior was penned by Cristiano Gatto. Twelve guests can be accommodated in four spacious suites on the lower deck and a master stateroom forward on the main deck. She offers plenty of outdoor deck space, with a raised lounge on the main deck aft, a dining area on the upper deck and another lounge on the foredeck. She also features a hot tub, bar and dining table. After completing sea trials she now undergoes interior outfitting before her delivery. Heesen Yachts is a Dutch ship building company that specializes in custom-built superyachts in aluminum and steel from 30m to 70m in size. Founded in 1978, it has launched more than 170 yachts since its inception.Credits: Heesen
June 29, 2022
The 26.58m Grand Banks 85 is the company's newest flagship. Following the success of the Grand Banks 60 in 2017 and Grand Banks 54, the model will make her European debut during this year's Cannes Yachting Festival 2022.Like all new Grand Banks models, the GB85 benefits from the infinite knowledge gained from building cruising designs for nearly seven decades and delivering more than 7,000 yachts. The GB85 is an ocean-going Bluewater cruiser that is also nimble with a shallow draft, making it equally suited for coastal cruising. Designed to travel efficiently at 21 knots for extended cruising, and easily handled by owner-operators, the internal configurations also accommodate spacious and impressive crew-quarters capabilities should that be the owners’ choice.Hull No. 1 is powered by twin 1,000HP Volvo IPS 1350s. During the pre-delivery test, the GB85 met all expectations. Like the entire range of the new generation of Grand Banks, the GB85 runs flat and pushes very little water, demonstrating the superior efficiency of the V-Warp platform. A beam of 6.75m allows Grand Banks to offer a range of internal configurations and amenities for both guests and crew. For long-distance cruising, special attention was given to both sociability and privacy.“First, we focused on what makes a superior long-distance cruiser while underway for long legs,” said Mark Richards, CEO of Grand Banks. “This means understanding the rhythm that occurs while on passage, and creating various spaces where you can separate from others off-watch. Some people onboard are focused on running the boat, others are relaxing, and others may be sleeping. This approach ticks a lot of boxes in how the design comes together.”The story of the famous line of Grand Banks defined the “recreational trawler” category, began as American Marine in 1956. In 1993 the same time in Sydney, Australia, the Palm Beach brand was established, soon transitioning from impeccable sailing sloops into picnic-style motor yachts, taking cues and paying homage to the classic lines of the lobster style boats in both Australia and the United States. GB Marine Group story started in 2014, when Grand Banks acquired Palm Beach Motor Yachts and appointed Mark Richards as Chief Executive Officer. Credits: One Van der Wal/Grand Banks Yachts
June 29, 2022
Marine Construction Management (MCM) of Newport, Rhode Island, is recognized as one of the industry’s leading management firms. For the first time, MCM is working with renowned Italian shipbuilder Benetti. Oasis 34MOn hull BO204, the 4th hull in the Oasis 34M family due to launch next year, MCM was engaged as owner’s representative at the very early stages of the project and handled the contract negotiations and final detailing of the specification, and are currently managing and monitoring the construction phase. Once she is launched, Peter Wilson will be on board for dock trials, mechanical trials, sea trials and the official handover.Peter Wilson“I recently visited the Benetti shipyard in Viareggio to inspect the Benetti Oasis 34M hull number four which we are managing for repeat clients. This was an extremely informative visit as it also provided me the opportunity to look at the preceding hulls in this family in differing states of completion and in particular, hull number 1, which had just completed her sea trials,” says Peter Wilson, co-founder of MCM. Wilson was able to meet Benetti’s various heads of department to delve deeper into the design details to ensure that hull No. 4 will meet or exceed the client’s expectation. “There is considerable enthusiasm around our project” adds Wilson. “I have every confidence that this will continue to be a happy project and ready for a timely delivery in spring 2023.”CalexMCM has also been engaged to manage the operations of FB278, the 67-meter motor yacht Calex designed by Giorgio M. Cassetta. Mark Dauplaise of the Newport-based company is her dedicated yacht manager. Calex was delivered in early June and is currently cruising in the Mediterranean. MCM was awarded the management of Calex towards the final construction phase of the project, which allowed them to get everything well in order prior to the handover.“The owner is planning on cruising the Med for the full summer season, then after some expected warranty work will head to the Caribbean for the winter season, possibly spending some time in Florida and the Bahamas as well,” says Wilson. “At the end of the winter season, she will head through the Panama Canal and cruise Mexico and the West Coast of the US.”Founded in 1873, Benetti is the oldest Italian shipyard specializing in luxury yachts. Benetti designs, builds and sells composite vessels from 29 to 44m and steel and aluminium boats from 37 to over 100m. The fleet consists of five categories: Class, Oasis, B.Yond, B.Now and Custom to meet all the needs of the market. Benetti belongs to the Azimut|Benetti Group, the largest privately owned luxury yachting group in the world.Credits: Benetti; MCM
June 29, 2022
The California-based designer Steve Kozloff has unveiled a 100 meter double-masted trimaran concept named The Trident. The vessel has six decks and two dedicated helipads, one on each of the vessel's crossbeams.The mast tilts 70 degrees forward to reduce the air draft from 238 feet to 138.5 feet making it possible for The Trident to traverse below most bridges. The Trident now can have direct access to the Panama Canal, San Francisco, San Diego and other harbours. Solid Sail system is the automated setting and dropping of the sails. The boat can be pointed in any direction when raising or lowering the sails. The Solid Sail System has a 360-degree rotating mast. The captain simply rotates the mast into the wind to perform the raising and lowering of the sails.The Trident features the full beam beach club in the main hull with retractable decks, which is a unique feature for any sailing yacht, two large bow pools, two spas in the main hull, forward and aft.The interior space has multi-levels, curved walls, and a multitude of large windows providing a near panoramic view. A 210 sq. m owner’s suite is located in the bow of the central hull, the two additional master suites are found towards the bow of both side hulls. Guest cabins that can host 26 guests and crew cabins that accommodate 20 crew. The piano bar and entertainment area on the upper deck include floor to ceiling windows providing views of the surrounding seascape. A full beam garage that can handle 2 tenders, one Nemo U-Boat Worx submarine with dedicated launching systems and other water toys.The Trident can cruise at 14 knots for 6700 nautical miles with diesel power only. Her range is greatly extended with careful management of her hybrid diesel-electric systems and sail power. Under sail power only, she can make 12 knots.This comes after a 170m gigayacht concept Glory, which was revealed by Steve Kozloff in April. Credits: Steve Kozloff
June 28, 2022
The second Damen YS 53 support vessel is in-build at Damen Yachting facility in Antalya and scheduled for delivery in 2024. The first vessel from the all-new YS 53 series was sold to Anthony Hsieh and will be delivered in 2023.The 53m yacht was made by an in-house design team. Her naval architecture also was made by the shipyard specialist with the help of Damen Research Laboratory in the Netherlands. The YS 53 is strongly focussed on highly demanding performance, efficiency and comfort with a wide range of upgraded features for the yachting lifestyle. “The YS 53 exterior design starts with a familiar functionality, but there is more than meets the eye,” says Wouter Kleijpoel, the Design Manager who led the team of Damen Yachting designers who created the concept. “It’s playful, muscular and emboldening, you believe anything is possible. I think it’s an exciting design.” The vessel is equipped with a deck crane that can lift up to 15 tonnes. The huge 250 sq. m deck space is designed for storage of boats, toys, vehicles and tenders up to 16-meters.She can accommodate a number of guests, between six and 16 and a crew member with a captain. There are different layout configurations to satisfy the owner's needs. In terms of power the yacht is equipped with twin Rolls Royce MTU main engines that allows her to reach a top speed of 19 knots. Damen Yachting, a division within the Damen Shipyards Group, was created in 2019. The division combines the pedigree and heritage of Amels yachts with a growing portfolio of SeaXplorer yachts and Yacht Support vessels.Credits: Damen Yachting
June 28, 2022