A review of the 61m Royal Hakvoort yacht Asia

And that is evident as you step on board: the ergonomics, the style, the comfort, the touches of Hollywood glam, the engine room, the sinuous Radio Zeeland dash on the bridge (a petrolhead would certainly appreciate) and the approach to service – more casual and convivial with the crew than is typical on superyachts.

It all points to the US, even if the yard, designer and naval architect all hail from the Netherlands. Despite love affairs with boats of all sorts, many of which were built in the US (by Viking and Valhalla particularly), Asia is this experienced couple’s first large new custom-built yacht.

A Northern European-quality build was always on the cards and the last visit on the list, by virtue of scheduling, happened to be the family-owned Hakvoort. Like the yard itself, a small facility on the outskirts of a 16th-century fishing village founded by monks, the meeting was low-key.

“We sat with Albert and Klaas [Hakvoort, the fourth generation of boatbuilders behind the brand] in a small conference room just before we left,” she recalls. Whatever they discussed and however they interacted during that meeting, it felt right. In May 2019, they shook hands on a deal.

“We had seen Top Five II and Just J’s [two previous Royal Hakvoort yachts of identical length],” he says. These were projects Moran Yacht & Ship also sold and managed. The yard is limited in the size and timing of deliveries, with just two sheds, the largest of which accommodates a length of up to 65 metres, but it delivers a hands-on and personal approach.

“They don’t have a huge amount of overhead,” Sean Moran says of the Royal Hakvoort Shipyard, “yet use many of the same subcontractors” that the bigger builders use for what they do not make in-house (which is to say electronics, electric and engine components, plus doors and windows). They have a superb interior department a few minutes from town where they build precise mock-ups and furniture.

With the yard chosen, a solid build team came together. The players knew each other well: Robert and Sean Moran, their on-site representative Justin de Chalain, joined later in the build by the owners’ long-time captain, Jordon Weinmeier, plus Sinot and Diana Yacht Design, Hakvoort’s long-time collaborators (they’ve done the naval architecture on 90 per cent of the yard’s projects).

“We did our usual process,” Sean Moran says, explaining that they got involved in the nitty-gritty of the specifications at the front end as the firm tends to do and have kept in touch throughout the build and with the crew on the yacht management side.

On the technical side, Asia shares features with many of Moran’s larger projects (including 122-metre Kismet), such as PTI/PTO (power take in/power take out) functions on the variable speed shaft generators, peak shaving for stable electric delivery, heat recovery and condensation collection systems. It’s an extensive package.

“The vessel has not specifically been built as an eco-boat, but the owners do care about the environment, and for this reason at their request we have implemented solutions that do have a quantifiable reduction in emissions,” says Klaas Hakvoort.

All solutions that can be applied to a conventional motor yacht – using diesel as its primary power source – to reduce its footprint, have been implemented on Asia, from naval architecture to more technological solutions. “In order to reduce fuel consumption, the vessel has been fitted with a bulbous bow. The effect on fuel consumption varies from five to 11 per cent reduction depending on the sailing speed,” Hakvoort says.

“All generators have SCR systems and Xeamos soot filters and the exhaust lines go up to the mast, which prevents oil spills on the water. Also helpful towards this end are electric motors. At the same time, running on the electrical motors (from the PTI/PTO) at slow speed allows you to run the vessel extremely efficiently and quietly,” Hakvoort adds.

Hakvoort further explains the set-up. “We have three main generators and besides these, Asia has a 64kW battery bank. This battery bank is used to ensure that the main generators are always running in their ideal power range.”

If the power load on the generators is too low, the battery bank will be used to increase the load. When the load is too high, the battery bank will be used to lower it. The boosted battery power allows the captain to manoeuvre without firing the main engines and suffices to supply the onboard electric demand when the yacht has just crew on board. It also can, with the Dynamic Positioning engaged, keep the yacht right in its spot, the captain says.

This is all housed in an engine room that the engineer maintains in an immaculate state and oversees from the comfort of a well-insulated control room. “Good insulation is something the yard takes pride in,” the captain says as I remark that the sound of the running generator is barely perceptible. “I can’t hear the engines running from inside,” he says, having had plenty of opportunity to navigate in all sea conditions.

A full-displacement hull with a fine entry, Asia has a cruising speed of 12 knots but she’s reached speeds up to 14.9 knots. She is particularly efficient at around 10 knots when she gets a 5,000-nautical-mile range.

“We always try to achieve a little bit more, because it’s what makes people happy,” HansMaarten Bais, Diana Yacht Design’s creative director and naval architect, says of the extra speed at full power. But range is the priority. The Maldives, Japan, Alaska and the Sea of Cortez are on the hit list.

What’s most unusual about the engine room, however, may be its location. It’s a bit forward of midship. This stems from the owners’ wishes to give their guests the lion’s share of the lower deck, with direct access to a delightful beach club that includes a bar, sauna, terraces and a large swim platform.

From the exterior, one feature that stands out is the amount of glass. “I wanted a lot of light,” the owner says but given the volume, he admits, “I was a little concerned about the exterior design.” Concerns did not last – they were both over the moon when they stepped on board, so much so, that they stayed for four months straight after taking delivery in May 2024 and spent the entire winter on board again.

Costerus says his team spent quite a bit of time finessing the lines. “[The owners] told me they wanted a timeless design, not overly modern, a little bit sporty, but not too extreme, not too architectural,” he says. “They also wanted to have quite a bit of interior – to get the profile in balance on 60 metres of length, with the demand of the interior volume was the biggest challenge. I think the result looks quite nice.”

The glass by Het Anker Shipwindows, Hakvoort says, is around 220 square metres in total and weighs around 15 tonnes. It is technically challenging for sure, but also design-wise, this amount of glass can create an unpleasant sharpness or dark void.

“We placed a lot of effort on the side profile,” Costerus says. You have these lines that go up and down forward, so the curvature of those lines is very delicate. We must have modelled it 20 times before we got that right and still, we needed to somehow make the deck aft thinner.” That’s where the grey colour on top of the high bulwarks (which the owners requested to enhance safety) comes in. “From the profile view, that somehow makes things visually finer.”

Aside from the large glass-sided spa pool on the top deck (containing 6,600 litres of water warmed using the heat-regenerator system), a smaller one is on the private terrace forward of the owners’ suite, matched in its shape and footprint by a delightfully retro breakfast nook where the owners enjoy complete privacy.

The owners’ suite includes a marvellous hair salon with textured walls painted white, stone worktops and pink chairs – her touch but a space much appreciated by the husband as well, the captain says.

A lift connects the decks, but the central stairs are wide and offered an opportunity to make a statement. A column holding glass globes rises from the bottom to the top. It was done by Preciosa and is painstakingly stabilised with rods.

The Sinot touch is obvious in the delicate balance of materials and a deceiving appearance of simplicity – look closely, and you’ll discover how intricate details form part of every door, frame, column, wall and piece of furniture – but as Costerus says, “we design for our clients.” And these clients, who live on both US coasts and enjoy warm weather, love bright colours.

Each of the bedrooms has a bright colour represented in the fabrics and the tiles of the bathrooms. “It gives the boat a lot of personality I must say. You can’t imagine how many rounds we had to select exactly the right shade of pink, blue or green,” says Costerus, who enjoyed the challenge.

“The hot pink tile with the pearl effect [for one of the bathrooms] came from a supplier of [the owner]. With the materials too, we had to go beyond our comfort zone. We needed to step out and reach out beyond what we normally do. It pushes you to rethink things,” he says.

The lady is over the moon with the results. “Compared to the rendering, it was very true to life,” she says. Completing the yacht’s many offerings are several bars, multiple well-hidden television sets and that karaoke kit for the beach club. There’s also a well-stocked garage (with two spectacular tenders, one a beachlander and another a limo for shore excursions). It is all pitched to create experiences that will remain in the memories of the owners and their guests. It’s design that works – in any language.

First published in the June 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.