Bronze Yacht and Marine Vessels Design · 2022
54ft Racer Cruiser High Performance Yacht
- A' Design Award 2022 Bronze Winner in Yacht and Marine Vessels Design
- Awarded April 15, 2022
- CLIENT: /H/arry Miesbauer Yacht Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 605,650
- Verification code D7715FDF28 · Verify this award
About 54ft Racer Cruiser High Performance Yacht
Developed for an Italian boat yard, with big emphasis to create a light, safe and fast sailing yacht, easy to handle also by a small crew. On the other hand easy to build in a series production setup. A light weight yacht, built in Full Carbon with different interior layouts, in order to suit the various needs of different clients. The deck layout features a cockpit separated into a sailing, working area and the relaxing area around the cockpit table. Powerful hull shapes were chosen to generate more stability, and therefore allows for a safer and more comfortable sailing also in rough seas.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The yacht was developed for an Italian boat yard with the emphasis to create a light, safe and fast sailing yacht, which can be handle also by a small crew, yet to be easy to build in a series production setup.
It is a Full carbon light weight yacht with different interior layouts to choose from, in order to suit the various needs of different clients. The yacht features powerful hull shapes to generate more stability, and therefore allows for a safer and more comfortable sailing also in rough seas. This is further enhanced by the low weight achieved by using carbon. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Length over all 16.425 m / Beam max 5.010 m / Displacement ca.12.300 kg @ measurement trim / draft 3.000 m
- Tags
- yacht design, sailing yacht, high performance, racer, cruiser
- Production Technology
- Full Carbon-sandwich construction,
carbon mast,
composite rigging,
CNC milled high strength steel fin - Design Challenge
- Studies were made how weight can be reduced also by the aesthetics trying to show a certain lightness in the appearance of the yacht, and how to avoid a complicated building process, but using this limit as an aesthetical feature.
- Project Duration
- The concept design started in October 2020, preliminary design was done in 2021, and the project is now ready to start with the mould making and the series production.
- Operation Flow
- The main focus was to separate the cockpit into a sailing, working area and the relaxing area around the cockpit table. All winches for the sail control are grouped beside or in front of the steering wheel, in order that the helmsman can sail the yacht alone from the steering area once the sails are hoisted. This was done for safety reason, so that guests who are not used to sailing do not interfere during sailing manoeuvres. Dedicated sun bathing areas are on the foredeck and coachroof. The yacht meets also all requirements for the ISO standards, to be operated on the open sea without any limits.
- Research
- - 10 different hull shapes were studied to optimise the boat for high stability and good seaworthiness
- a detailed weight estimate was made, from which areas of weight savings could have been established and further weight reduction was achieved by using carbon throughout the hull, deck and structures.
- performance parameters were optimised for the wind conditions of the Mediterranean sea
- parameters of similar size boats of the competitors were studied in depth
- further studies of the deck layout and deck ergonomics were carried out to optimise the yacht also when used by a small crew - Inspiration
- Performance is the new Elegance, was the main idea which has been followed on this design. The exterior styling should show the sporty and a performance character of the boat, yet it should be elegant and timeless with well balanced proportions, not following common trends in order not to be outdated in a few years. A design which is elegant and light in both senses. Light in the appearance. Light in terms of weight.
- Image Credits
- renderings: /H/arry Miesbauer Yacht Design
Colors of 54ft Racer Cruiser High Performance Yacht
Grand Interview about 54ft Racer Cruiser High Performance Yacht
In all our projects performance is a key priority for our clients. Therefore we are very weight sensitive in the whole design process. We achieve a light and stiff boat by a cleverly designed structural layout of the yacht and we are saving weight by combining the interior, like furniture, interior panels etc., with structural elements. We have chosen a full carbon structure, as the advantage of carbon in its stiffness to weight ratio can’t be overseen. Furthermore we are working since 20 years with a high profile structural engineering office from New Zealand to optimise highly stressed elements by running Finite Element Analyses in that areas. Additionally some of the interior elements are modular and can be removed easily for regattas.
We have seen over the years that the number of experienced / enthusiastic sailors in a crew has decreased. Nowadays a typical cruising crew is divided in two or three good sailors who are doing all the manoeuvres and sailing, and the other part just wants to relax and having a good time on the boat, maybe haven’t been on a sailing yacht even before. Especially for a safety reason we have separated these two areas, and because the yacht has to be manged by a small crew you need to have all your sheets and lines in close reach for the ones who are doing the sailing part.
All winches for the sheets, halyards, reef lines etc. are situated aft in the cockpit close to the steering console. For example, we have eliminated the halyard winches at the mast. Two/three people can literally do all the manoeuvers from the aft area of the cockpit, and, as a side-effect, also in safer way as nobody has to be on the foredeck especially in windy conditions.
For racing yachts and one-offs we use carbon more than two decades now. As yards use it in the series production more and more, and do have more experience with the infusion process for laminating, the switch to full carbon was easier. Anyhow the impregnating of the carbon is more difficult than with “normal” E-glass. you definitely need experienced process technicians and one/two boats to fine-tune the laminating process. Obviously the Carbon comes with a higher price tag.
After a thorough parametric study and a comparison with other yachts, we decided the parametric envelope of the yacht. We than designed several different hull shapes modifying different parameters, and had them run through our in-house velocity prediction program (VPP). Based on the VPP results we had chosen three different hull shapes, which we, in this case, also checked for the IRC rating. Based on the IRC results the final hull and the final rig and sail dimensions were chosen.
Model cycles in our business are longer than in others. A successful model maybe runs 8 to ten years. therefore you can’t design something which is outdated in two years. Something which is, and looks fast has a certain elegance, obviously the proportions have to be right. And something elegant is difficult to get outdated quickly.
We are listening a lot to clients/owners, especially how, where, how long they use their yacht, and how big are typically their crews. This differs quite a bit among them. So you need to account for this different preferences with different interior solutions, paying a lot of attention to the weight of the interior. Obviously you think twice if you want to add a furniture or not. On the other hand you can’t have too many versions from a logistic point of view in the production.
When it comes to yachts which are used also in regattas or are optimised for some rating rules like the 54ft Racer/Cruiser, other yacht design studios will look what are doing. The A' Design Award is another great impulse that others check on your design in more detail. So, you can be sure that we will see some solutions of the 54 ft Racer/Cruiser on other yachts in the future
A great part of owners we talked to at the beginning of the project have their yachts based in the Mediterranean Sea, where you typically expect light winds. Many of them were not happy with the light wind performance of their current yachts. So, we therefore focused a lot on optimising the performance in light breeze for the 54ft Racer /Cruiser, and having developed a clever hull shape, we are not compromising the stability/safety for the upper wind range.
Fore sure opting for a full carbon construction is a brave step for a series production yacht. But we will see this coming more and more also in the motor yacht industry as environmental protection, fuel consumption and therefore weight saving is a big issue now for all in the industry.