I just saw this and was wondering whether it was a conversion or something because it does not look liek a newbuild?......http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!0iaYn9iGHxl_lmxRcY32fg--/photo?pid=242&prev=241
Yep, it is a refit with new superstructure. Quite a bit of story behind this yacht between the owner and the builder.
It was a big news back in Taiwan and to the east asian yacht industry. The owner of the yacht is public knowledge, pretty easy to guess from the file name. The story goes something like this. The owner bought a research & survey vessel form Germany and had different yards bid on the project. Because the owner is an extremely high profile individual, the builder Jade Yachts in Taiwan decided to bid on the project at their estimated cost reported to be US$30 million. Competing yards from Holland and Germany were asking 2 to 3 times of that amount. Jade yachts wanted international recognition rather than profit from doing this refit, this was a big news back then. The news reports said that the owner was being difficult, insisted that things are done in a certain way, changed the design in the middle of the project...etc. Due to NDA, Jade Yachts can't really discuss the details. In the end, the contract is terminated when the yacht is said to be 95% done. The carpet and the final polishing will be done in Hong Kong. The owner did not pay some of the remaining balance and Jade Yacht actually made a lost on this project. One of the biggest issue was that Jade Yachts wanted to put their own brand name on the yacht but the owner wanted to use a more prestigious name to increase the resale value. I don't know how that can possibly be done, as the potential buyer in the future will surely find out about it. With that said, I am not sure about the quality of some of those news reports. They said that the yacht is close to 80m displaces 1400 tons and is the largest yacht from asian builders. That's obviously not true, it might be the largest from Taiwan, but the Evergreen is longer and was built in Japan. Incidentally, Evergreen is owned by a Taiwanese. The boat was towed to Hong Hong because the owner wanted to start the engine himself.
She looks good though Kevin. The superstructure is fabulous however, the bow and hull in general makes her have an old look. I read that her name is Caravelle.
Actually I think the designer is the one that's responsible for the interior and exterior look, the builder followed the specification and layout that was given to them. EDIT: Actually the more I look at the bow, the more I like it. But then again I am a fan of explorer yachts and navy ships, so I am biased.
I very much like the hull design. The bow is quite classy. I like it much better than the newer straight or downward angled pointy bows. The superstructure is what buggers up the whole look. It doesn't go with the hull.
This yacht is indeed made in Jade yacht. The original name of this project is "one Eagle", however, after one year, the name of this yacht changed into "Caravelle". After the owner received it, the name were changed again. Now, the name of it is "Amadeus". Her exterior design is by Reymond Langton, with engineering by Vripack and an interior by Zuretti. Her Specifications : - Length : 70.00 m (230 ft) - Beam : 11.50 m (38 ft) - Draft: 4.00 m (13 ft) - Hull / Superstructure: steel / aluminium
asian beauty not being a purist I think the exterior lines are powerful looking.Additionally glad to see a dark hull.thanks for the great shots Jeff!
The hull is striking, but the superstructure seems to slop forward as the hull comes up. Iy you look at the original link and go onto the next photo it seems more visible. I wonder what see would be like in a heavy swell? Single prop, even with those stabs on her side.
I would not want to see her in a heavy sea. I was wondering why she has one screw, was supprised to see that, which would most likely lead to one relatively powerful engine. To me she almost has an OceanLiner hull below the waterline just on a smaller scale.