The top 5 ways Project 75 reimagines superyacht design

Could designing a yacht “backwards” save owners money and time in the long run?

A trifecta of yachting masterminds hope it will. Rainsford Mann Design, Steller Systems and Andrew Weir Yacht Management have joined forces on Project 75, which aims to offer a more streamlined approach to design, saving time, headaches and money by reversing the design process – the exterior is literally the last thing to be designed on this innovative yacht.

The building blocks of this project were just that - building blocks. The first draft looked much like a Lego block boat, but then RMD came in with the exterior styling, delivering a sleek, window-full exterior.

What makes this 76.4 metre more than just another cool-looking concept is the innovative inside-out approach the team took. Instead of starting with a far-out exterior concept and working out the logistics, the naval architects and yacht managers designed the platform before the exterior designers even conceived what the yacht would look like.

"If you think of a standard design process, a client comes along, then finds a designer, the client then gives the designer the brief. It’s very client-centric, very fantastical sometimes,” says designer Rupert Mann. “The designer’s job is then to hone that, try to understand the brief and come up with a design at the conceptual stage that will work. Then the designer will work hand in glove with a naval architect.

“I think that often there’s a little bit of deconstruction that has to happen at that stage," Mann says. "You have to unwrap the concept slightly, deconstruct it, because the client has gotten a bit carried away or the designer has…”

“We stick reality in there,” says Robert Skarda from Steller Systems, who is providing naval architecture on Project 75.

“There’s a bit of lost time there, it’s not efficient,” Mann says.

Both Steller and Andrew Weir have a vast background in commercial and military vessels, and they brought this streamlined efficiency and robust design nous to superyachts. The result is a yacht literally designed from the keel up that takes into account future-proofing, provision storage, efficiency, guest comfort and ease of maintenance.

“Ultimately, what we get as a concept designer is a really well refined technical platform where engines are in a position for a reason, where naval architecture has been really well thought through – right at the beginning of the project,” says Rupert Mann.

“So you’re getting inside out design, getting ultimately something where form follows function, which is also quite radical, because it’s usually the other way around.”

The engines are placed as far aft as possible on the Rainsford Mann Project 75 for easy maintenance, which will save the owner money over time as well. An added bonus, by placing the engines far aft, noise and vibration is also mitigated.

"From a maintenance point of view, what we did is put the engines as far aft as possible, and that created a nice environmental solution, which is looking at podded drives on the backend of the boat… so worked with Kinetic tank testing on naval vessels, and saw that they are very, very efficient,” says Robert Skarda from Steller Systems.

“The advantage to the yacht is that we can put the engines aft so it’s easy to remove them, and the noisy bits as far away from people as possible, reducing noise and vibration.”

Of course, the first draft looked much like a Lego block boat, but then RMD came in with the exterior styling, delivering a sleek, window-full exterior.

The lines of Project 75 flow seamlessly from bow to aft, sloping down the expansive, open aft deck. The exterior is styled to be timeless and elegant, belying the commercially backed approach to her design.

Project 75 also has plentiful deck spaces, flexible interiors and all the trappings of a much larger yacht with a drive-in tender bay and helipad.

There is a float-in tender garage that will accommodate a 10 metre limo tender, sunken storage area for Jet Skis and a wet bar on the entry from the tender dock to the main entrance. Other amenities in the concept include a central elevator, gym and spa.