A custom superyacht is among the most expensive assets anyone can own, costing hundreds of millions of dollars and taking years to build. So when it comes to its design, every square meter matters.
For Bart Bouwhuis and Marnix Hoekstra, that often has less to do with the sleek profile or signature silhouettes one can see from a marina, and more to do with everyday practicalities.
The pair are the co-creative directors of Vripack, a naval architecture and interiors firm that has designed superyachts for billionaires and members of the Saudi royal family.
“Ultimately, the object needs to fulfill the requirements of the day, the evening, and the night,” Bouwhuis told Business Insider. “It’s a puzzle.”
Solving that puzzle means understanding how a particular client spends their day on the water.
“The outside you could consider more or less a dress: you can dress up any layout with a modern dress or a classic dress,” Bouwhuis said.
Should the yacht prioritize an outdoor cinema or a sprawling beach club? How much space should be devoted to the crew without compromising guest areas?
Other decisions, from stabilizers that reduce seasickness to insulation that dampens engine noise, are less visible, though equally important to a client’s experience on board.
While no two superyachts designed by Bouwhuis and Hoekstra are the same, they have noticed changing priorities — or new ways to address age-old ones — in recent years.
No days off
Health and fitness have become vital to the longevity-obsessed superrich, including Vripack’s clients.
While they used to be OK with a hotel-style gym — no windows, some free weights — “those days are gone,” Hoekstra told Business Insider.
Clients have requested Bikram-style hot yoga studios, kickboxing areas, and even a hyperbaric chamber for oxygen therapy, which antiaging gurus swear by.
“You don’t walk a lot on a boat,” Hoekstra said. “A treadmill or bike, both of them are very nice pieces of equipment to keep your muscles going.”
Constructing a gym on a ship comes with challenges, be it finding a room with a high enough ceiling to accommodate large machines or properly enclosing and climate-controlling the space.
WFY: Work from yacht
The pandemic popularized the phrase “WFH,” short for work from home. For the very wealthy, there’s also WFY.
“Life is blurring between private and business and between being on the boat and off the boat,” Hoekstra said.
Increased workplace flexibility has prompted clients to view their yachts as more than just places to unwind. Plus, as superyacht owners become younger — and less likely to be the stereotypical retiree — they are more likely to be working.
There’s also been a shift in what technology can support. Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, for example, has made Zoom calls at sea more common.
Comfort at sea
“Since the beginning of mankind, we want to be out at the sea, and we don’t want to move,” Hoekstra said. “It’s a little bit of a paradox.”
Superyachts have long had stabilizers to prevent seasickness, and that technology has improved in recent years.
On the design side, computers have become more capable of modeling the motion of various points on the boat. For Bouwhuis and Hoekstra, that means designing for specific sea states — a yacht that will only sail in the Mediterranean, for example, requires specific stabilizing systems. The designers also have to think about where to place the master cabin and bed to minimize seasickness.
Consider the lobster(‘s habitat)
One of Vripack’s most famous works is Project Zero, an all-electric superyacht powered entirely by renewable energy that is set to launch later this year.
While that yacht has a unique sense of purpose, other clients have been interested in adopting some of its advancements.
Hoekstra said the project shifted clients’ thinking from avoiding anything related to environmentalism to pursuing the “low-hanging fruit,” such as skipping excessive engines.
“Can I get a bigger engine?’ That’s just so 80s,” Hoekstra said. “Why would you pick a heavy four-by-four Jeep to drive to a meeting in Manhattan?”
They’ve been more intentional about equipping yachts with better insulation and heat reflective paint to reduce the need for energy-sucking air conditioning. Actual AC systems have been made more energy-efficient, for example, by turning off when someone leaves the room.
Teak, once a popular decking material, has been phased out due to the deforestation it causes.
With alternatives available, “it doesn’t really make sense not to do it,” Hoekstra said.
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