Highly secretive 103m Feadship Ulysses on sea trials

The highly secretive 103-metre Feadship superyacht Ulysses is now on sea trials. Formerly known only as Feadship 1011, she is owned by Graeme Hart, New Zealand's wealthiest man.

Ulysses was last spotted on transport from Feadship's Makkum site to its Amsterdam facility, marking the first time the yacht's distinctive clean lines and squared-off deck design had been seen since she hit the water in October. Dutch studio Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design is behind the exterior, and Feadship has said that the yacht's modern profile uses 1,100 square metres of exterior glass that culminates in twenty exterior sliding doors, twelve glass windbreaks and six-metre panels of glass along the main deck guest cabins.

Ulysses follows in the footsteps of famous yachts under the same name, including two Kleven-built explorers and the 74-metre CRN yacht Odyssey (now known as Andrea).

The yard has said it was challenged to maintain many of the same elements as the owner's previous yacht of 6,000 GT, but condensed into a package of around half the size. Feadship also revealed that a two-tier engine room on a yacht of this size "is virtually obligatory", but the yard was able to maintain the engine room to just one deck to devote more space to guest areas.

Key features of the new build include a 15-metre-long tender garage, representing the largest shell door that Feadship has ever built. Elsewhere, the yacht is also home to four exterior hot tubs, a swimming pool that covers the entire height of the main deck and a helicopter hangar concealed in the foredeck. On the interior, the yacht has a glass staircase and elevator in the main atrium.

The yacht is an all-Dutch build, with naval architecture by Azure Yacht Design. The project is the fourth largest Feadship to be built to date, following the 118.2-metre Feadship 821 and Feadship 1010, both currently in build at the shipyard, and the 110-metre Anna.

Ulysses is the 10th collaboration between Feadship and Sinot after teaming up on vessels such as Lonian and Aquarius.

“As a repeat client and Feadship fan who has built his own yachts in the past, the client had a very clear idea of what we are capable of and pushed the boundaries in terms of design and engineering,” said Feadship director and CEO, Henk de Vries. “He wanted to be part of the team, which ordinarily is something we try to avoid, but he was fully prepared to collaborate and our working relationship ended up being both friendly and fun!”

Once delivered, Damen Yachting's U-81 will serve as Ulysses' support vessel.