Discussion Thread on Lurssen Kismet II Review...

Simply wow.......

Thanks for the great write-up.

Kudos Judy (honorable mention to Carl) for a Mega Review of a small city masquerading as a yacht.

"Hertz where it hurts", indeed.
Ha!

C0ngratulation to Judy and YF for this review. Well done, indeed. Kismet II is a spectacular yacht regardless if you like her interior style or not. To bad YF was not allowed to take its own pictures. But most likely the management company or the ownership had sold the exclusive rights of making pictures to this photographer. From what I have heard, this ownership was not very easy to deal with.

IMHO, the size of the role of those management / broker companies in one of those megayacht projects is exaggerated. In many projects, a management company is only involved, because they buy the delivery positions from those high ranking yards without having a real client. If a client then wants a yacht from one of those yards with a reasonable delivery date, he has to go via and with one of those management / broker companies. Sorry to say but this is a win win situation for the yard. If a broker buys the next 8 or 10 delivery positions (in words eight to ten !!!), the yard has a full orderbook for several years. The whole risk is on the broker company. Thats why they collect so much money from their clients. The broker takes a well calculated risk but a huge amount of profit.

The management part of the deal is by far not as big as suspected. Even with a big and complex project like one of those 90 Meter projects built by Luerssen, a management company is not needed. With a trustworthy yard like Luerssen, you need an external and internal designer, a good naval architect (in this case Luerssen), a good owner representative and most likely a build or construction captain.

Taken the example of the Luerssen 90 Meter Class, the naval architecture part is pretty standard. If you compare the general arrangement plans of several yachts of this class like Quattroelle, Phoenix II, Solandge or Kismet II, you will find their hulls are identical, the complete machinery and its layout is identical and also most of its general internal layout is either identical or at least very similar. Each yacht has its individual gadgets and its design. But most of this is proposed by the designers and choosen with the advisory of the yard, the build captain and the owner rep. Only an absolutely unexperienced client will approach a broker / management with the simple order: " build me a nice and spectacular megayacht and do not bother me with details" . And most important to me, those management companies may turn a very nice megayacht project (for the sake of their convenience and their profits) into a semi custom project.

A good owner rep with a solid reputation is a little management company of its own. He is backed up by his own team and capable of hiring external expertise, if neccessary and communicates with the build captain and the ownership. I would have no problems whatsoever starting such a project with an owner rep like for example KIWI and one of our captains at one of those yards located on the Weser River or at Vollenhove, NL. With a yard in the northeastern Med or far east, I am not so sure about that.

Who needs a management company for building a boat? Taking part in a yacht or ship building project (as the owner) is more exciting than owning her afterwards. And I would not need one of those "crazy" artists, as my yacht would not have one of those expensive pieces of "art" in the staircase . I say again, Kismet II is a spectacular yacht, IMHO the internal design and this bow emblem are a little bit over the top.

Just my 2 (Euro) cents

Thanks for the vote of confidence HTM09.

Maybe arrange a tour of the plunge pool?

Good for YF that I'm not doing the reviews, I guess I would have called off the whole thing right at "No photographer".

Nice work, and a good explanation for the contrast between staged pro shots and selfies in the glass doors.

Some yards, management and most of all charter companies try to keep making pictures of yachts under their contract under close control. By hiring a professional photographer, they want to assure, he only makes pictures as wanted and in the quality as accepted. And only that will show the product in their opinion in the best possible way and light. Having media running around on a yacht with cameras (they believe) will not assure that.

IMHO, if I am confident about the quality of my product and I would have decided to go public, I would not have any problems, if media would be making (interior) pictures of my boat on their own. With Kismet II, the restriction came for sure from the management company or the ownership. A piece of art and some picture on the wall, shown in wrong light or from the wrong direction, can look pretty cheep or silly. But as the invitor, I can assure, by careful selection of the media invited, that my product will be shown as wanted. IMO, inviting YF under the lead of Judy and Carl, is the most careful selection one can take, period!

On the MYS 2013, I was invited to visit Quattroelle. After receiving a pair of soft shoes, I was briefed by the charter company not to make pictures with my own camera, as I would be provided with a complete media kit including a data stick with a complete set of high res pictures. After I complained with the Luerssen staff, I was allowed to take pictures with my own camera but strictly for private use only. Later I was free to move around the complete ship as long as I wanted and without a guide. Only when entering the crew quarters and delicate technical spaces, I asked to be accompanied by a higher ranking crew member (bosun or first mate), a procedure I adhere to even on my own ships.

What I like on Judys review very much, is her showing crew area and machinery details. This is left out on almost all reviews by magazines. Only by taking the crew area and the high gloss guest area in relation, will give you a complete picture of those "floating cities". The most spectacular yacht will loose with poor crew quarters and crew rest aereas. Pity that most companies do not provide general arrangement plans with their media kits. With a liitle maritime background, one can read in a high res GAP like in a book and that for hours. But Quattroelle is still my favorite ship of the Luerssen 90 Meter class of yachts. Too bad she disappeared to the middle east like many other beautifull large yachts.

What would the world be without boats, regardless of size and purpose, as long as it floats .

Unfortunately, to my disappointment, the jaguar is not a hunk of metal:



Probably better so they can either take it off easily for crossings or if it gets taken off it is likely cheaper to replace.

Pete

Oops. I missed that the jag was only on during game time.

She has just announced being for sale.

We will see if they announce a new Kismet project at the MYS.

If they do I would not be surprised if it is much bigger and a Lürssen Build.

Lurssen announced the build of a 116 mt. yacht due for 2022: is she the new Kismet?