Disruptive... and design-focused

Yet another delicacy to add to the feast that is Michael Schmidt’s wonderful YYachts range of luxurious, stylish and always fast yachts

The creation by Michael Schmidt of YYachts is perhaps the crowning achievement in a long yachting career that was already best described as 'highly successful'. Just a few years ago Schmidt, a passionate racing sailor and boatbuilder, was looking for the perfect yacht that met his own personal requirements. But the Admiral's Cup winner and former shipyard owner was unable to find what he wanted anywhere... so it was time to build his dream yacht himself.

The Y8 has a mezzanine saloon with an upper lounge and lower lounge/dining area

In Lorenzo Argento and David Chipperfield, Schmidt found two designers who shared his passion for real sailing boats – Argento had designed YYachts' first 80-footer, while Chipperfield developed the interior design. The birth of YYachts was in 2014 when Schmidt, one of Germany's best-known and most experienced sailors, created the 80-foot Cool Breeze, a yacht that inspired many subsequent customers. Barely a year later, in 2015, a state-of-the-art shipyard was built in Greifswald in order to be able to build up to five yachts at the same time.

‘When we started the YYachts adventure, the team had prior experience creating one-off and semi-custom yachts during Luca Giammattei’s work with Wally and other brands, plus my experience with early carbon fibre Admiral’s Cup racers and then later leading a big production shipyard,’ explains Michael Schmidt. ‘It does not happen often that a team like this starts a new yard from scratch. It was also happening in an atmosphere of industrial change. The world had become digital.’

Sophisticated dark wood creates an elegant ambience

Schmidt set the strict goal to concentrate only on sailing yachts from 70 to 100 feet. This allowed the engineers and designers to focus in on all relevant questions within a reasonably narrow range of size and scale. Another key criteria for was, and still is, to build yachts in carbon fibre only; with lighter interiors using composite panels as well as the best marine plywoods.

After Cool Breeze, the first YYacht to go afloat, and further individual Y8 follow-up orders, YYachts developed the latest modified 80ft platform. For this new Y8, the YYachts design and development team based in Palma de Mallorca cooperated with Surge Projects. The Mallorcan design studio built around Javier Jaudenes has a knack for a timelessly elegant design, but also has great experience in designing fast yachts.

The updated Y8 has fewer bulkheads so the interior can be configured differently

The new Y8 also offers YYachts' usual mix of innovation – such as the transverse garage in the stern, the self-tacking jib system, the separate crew access in the cockpit or the low-profile deckhouse with carefully placed windows that prevent the yacht from heating up too much.

As sustainable as possible

Building as sustainably as possible is part of YYachts' philosophy. Lightweight, flexible and highly efficient photovoltaic panels are available as an option with a composite bimini. Combined with the energy generated by the hydro generator, the average daily consumption can be completely covered by renewable energy, and YYachts has also replaced the teak decks with a natural wood with a much smaller ecological footprint. This wood is an alternative to the classic Burmese teak deck, which is heavily affected by deforestation. Other new and innovative developments such as sandwich materials made from flax or recycled PET bottles are being used in yachts to replace traditional construction materials.

The interior volume of the yacht is 20 per cent greater than its predecessor. This results in many different layout options: the owner's suite, including a separate saloon, can be located either in the bow, or in the stern with direct access to the cockpit. The galley can be installed open-plan or closed off, and there is a choice of three or four generouslysized cabins. Locating the engine room beneath the saloon floor helps to ensure a relatively low centre of gravity for more righting moment and additional speed.

‘For me, this new Y8 is a very special design,’ says Michael Schmidt. ‘After all, I founded the shipyard with the first Y8. In between, there were plenty of orders, but yachting is always evolving with new building materials, different rigs and a changing regatta scene. This is what inspires us at YYachts to continually develop new products.’

Yachts for every need

The YYachts portfolio consists of four different models - the Y7, the Y8, the Y9 and the YB75. While the Y7 can be sailed alone and the Y8 with a very small crew, such as a family, the almost 30-metre-long Y9 belongs in the superyacht category and requires a professional crew. The YB75, meanwhile, is a completely redesigned daysailer that is available as a charter. yacht. In the custom division of YYachts, owners can have completely individual ideas realised.

The interior design is the work of David Thulstrup. Thulstrup is an award-winning architect and designer whose refined and holistic approach to architecture, interiors and product design combines his Scandinavian heritage with a modern design language. His practice is grounded upon enduring Scandinavian values of honesty and humanism but with a particular emphasis on materials. By taking a holistic approach to each aspect of a project Thulstrup creates spaces where people feel genuinely embraced by their surroundings.

A big asymmetric sail flown from the end of the bowsprit provides ample power

The look of the interior of the new Y8 reflects Thulstrup's approach perfectly. Warm beige, brown and wood tones create a cosy ambience that is both relaxing and elegant. A plank-like floor visually connects the exterior with the interior, while generous but elegantly-styled windows provide plenty of brightness.

Incidentally, the David Thulstrup version of the Y8 has fewer bulkheads than the previously delivered Y8 yachts, which has made it possible to configure the spaces. The crew now occupies their area in the stern, in front of which four guests can sleep in two cabins each with en suite bathrooms. The heart of the layout is the saloon, which is divided into a lounge with big sofas on both sides and a dining area with a table for six to eight guests. The dining area can also be separated off with sliding doors to create a more private area – or even an office.

Ease of operation is at the heart of the concept

The Y8’s naval architecture was developed by Javier Jaudenes’s Surge Projects

‘This new Y8 is hull number eight from our Y8 series,’ Schmidt explains. ‘But the thinking is completely different from her hull-sisters – a different interpretation of the coachroof and the cockpit created by a design icon – and a YYachts customer who has been sailing his own Y7 for many years. This new Y8 has also a different thinking for the interior. The owner loves his space inside and this yacht has a saloon bigger than on many 90-footers...’ From a technical point of view the yacht is kept super-simple in the established YYachts fashion. No backstay, a selftacking jib, a carbon mast, a hydraulic system and all-electric winches. ‘There is a quote attributed to several famous thinkers,’ says Schmidt: “I'm writing you a long letter because I didn't have time for a short one.” Transferred to yacht building, this means: You have to be able to operate a yacht intuitively and without much effort, so a great many details and processes have to be thought through and simplified in advance. The art is to reduce a yacht to the essentials without compromising on comfort and performance,’ he says.

The new Y8 made her worldwide debut at the Palma International Boat Show from 25 to 28 April and will be on display at the Cannes Yachting Festival.

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