Following the rollout and launch of B105 last month great progress has been made on the vessel. After her 22 month build journey at Pendennis, the completed yacht was able to show off her distinctive lines and styling during the two-day trials in Falmouth. Now named Akalam, this 32m Barracuda Yacht Design Sloop created a spectacular sight against the cliffs and castles of Pendennis and St Mawes. During her trials she achieved 14 knots under power and over 11knots sailing, with a wind of 20-25 knots in the Bay.
Akalam is a technically advanced yacht, designed and built to the highest standards with uncompromising attention to detail at every stage of her development. The elevated pilot house with a large glass area provides the yacht with her unique profile. Most impressive is the amount of glass along her sides as the huge windows form an almost unbroken vista from the interior of the vessel, enhancing the cruising experience by allowing as much natural light in as possible.
Such a design presented unique challenges to the designers. As Iñigo Toledo, of Barracuda Yacht Design, explained ‘bearing in mind the larger than normal window area in the hull sides, Barracuda has successfully alleviated any potential concerns about the integrity of the rig by ensuring rig tension is focused on the double-bottom rigid structure, thereby diverting most of the stress away from the hull’. Under sail the Barracuda 105 has been designed for ease of handling and will carry a self-tacking jib and no running backstays. A retractable dagger board increases her draught from 3.6m to 5.5m allowing a wide range of cruising and anchoring opportunities.
The social areas and master cabin are both of a substantial size and comparable with yachts of a much bigger scale and are complemented with an impressive 60 m2 covered aft deck space. This was achieved on the aft deck by positioning the coamings and seating positions right out to almost the full beam width. The interior by Javier Muñoz consists of contemporary styling, with neutral cream leather and upholstery balanced by hand crafted features in a mixture of mixture of sycamore, grey tinted zebrano with further accents of olive and panga woods. This enhances the feeling of space and luxury complementary to the natural light that floods this superyacht. Finishing touches are now being made by Pendennis before delivery to her owner.