Exclusive: Owner Erik Vonk on putting his 46m rebuilt yacht Scintilla Maris up for auction

Translating from Latin as "the spark of the sea", the 45.7-metre yacht Scintilla Maris was delivered to her owner, Erik Vonk, in September 2023, and since then BOAThas tracked the 1989-rebuilt fishing trawler's epic journeys. Now up for auction, Vonk reveals why he decided to put the yacht for sale through this process, while the yacht's broker, Jack Mahoney at Boathouse Auctions explains what prospective buyers can expect from auctions. 

When it comes to buying a superyacht, nothing comes close to the exhilaration of an auction house. Quick-fire decisions, backed by genuine interest and knowledge of the item for sale, ensure a sure sale for the owner and an adrenaline-fuelled experience for the buyer, and when the end prize is Damen Maaskant’s Scintilla Maris, the stakes are higher than usual. 

The journey from 37-year old fishing trawler to explorer yacht has taken over a decade of development, with owner Erik Vonk at the centre of the decision-making. When he took on the hull, Vonk presented his concepts and sketches to Dutch shipyard Damen Maaskant and they developed the ideas together to create the ultimate adventure vessel. While sharing his experience, Vonk told BOAT that the experience of spending “an extraordinary amount of time conceiving something to [his] own standards and to [his] own experience” was “a pleasure and a privilege”.

Since her launch in 2024, she has logged an impressive 22,000 miles across three Atlantic crossings, Europe, the Nordics, the Canadian coast and Bermuda, to name a few, before settling in Brunswick, Georgia. Of all of her incredible voyages, Vonk says it is Scotland that takes the crown; “the Outer Hebrides in Scotland were an unbelievable, undiscovered treasure; an extremely breathtaking environment” that he encourages anyone who can to see. 

But none of these voyages would have been half as spectacular if the chosen transport was lacking in any way. The meticulous design of Scintilla Maris means that she is a yacht that suits anyone - as Vonk shares, she “has no limits”. She is built for anything from long-range cruising to Mediterranean hopping, meaning "you can do things on your own terms, not your yacht's."

Among her many highlights, her owner’s favourite feature is her capability at sea. As an ex-fishing trawler originally built in 1989 and known as Vertrouwen Hd23, she “represents the epitome of seaworthiness”, developed over generations of survival across the hostile environment of the North Sea. This level of sea-keeping quality is rare within regular yacht design, setting her apart from others on the market.

While her exterior design still nods to her former life, traces of her fishing heritage can be found throughout the completely refitted interiors. Her main cabin features a two-metre-diameter skylight that was once the fish hatch, while the former refrigerated storage space below has been transformed into a contemporary, comfortable cabin. “Whether it’s the sun or the moon, whatever is happening outside is part of the interiors in the room,” Vonk says.

Vonk is keen to stress that Scintilla Maris was not converted or even simply refitted, but completely stripped back to the bare hull and rebuilt from scratch. No longer designed purely for practicality, her loft-like interiors feature curved walls, an eclectic palette of reds, greens and yellows, and a level of finish that reflects the quality of the rebuild. Vonk says his decision to start with a bare hull rather than convert an existing vessel was also driven by his commitment to minimising the yacht’s environmental impact.

“Recycling a hull makes a lot of sense from an ecological point of view,” Vonk says. “We’ve done everything we can to make the carbon footprint of this yacht as small as possible.” These decisions included installing a hybrid propulsion system which can run one to three generations cumulatively. When running on one, the boat reaches nine and a half knots and uses 80 litres of diesel fuel per hour, which Vonk reminds is “unheard of” for a yacht with 1,000 tonnes of displacement.

Scintilla Maris is also RINA-classed and possesses a Green Plus with Gold notation, so anything in terms of waste management, exhausts and water has been done to ecologically optimise responsibility. Vonk explains this responsibility is a choice, as “when you build something of this size, and for pleasure, you have that responsibility to make sure the impact of it is as little as possible.”

When it comes to selling the unique vessel, she is incomparable to anything on the market, so Vonk settled on Boathouse Auctions as an alternative route. Almost too unique to price, Mahoney says, “she is a very special boat, so our approach allows the buyer to name their price."

The explorer will be marketed for 60 days, which will end in a one-day online auction on 5 November, sold at 4 pm Eastern time. Jack Mahoney, Scintilla Maris’ broker at Boathouse Auctions, explains this drives the urgency and provokes a sense of realism, asking buyers how much they really want her. After the buyer has been granted all the necessary information, they name the price. “Our approach forces a decision,” Mahoney explains, “there is no slow drift, no endless carrying costs.”

Mahoney expects her to bring in a lot of interest now that she is up for auction, anticipating a lot of intrigue around her appearance at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, prompting curiosity from people who walk by. “Once they start learning more about the project and what Erik has done, they will start to fall in love with it and start to ask what the possibilities are.”

Erik Vonk sums up his decade-long project as “a go-anywhere platform, a home away from home”, which he admits he will ultimately be sad to sell.

Yet there is a silver lining: Vonk already has his sights set on another project. “You can’t be half pregnant,” he says, “and it is the lure of doing this once more that I can’t resist. I can’t help myself!”