After 40 Tim Heywood-designed Limited Editions superyachts built at Amels in the last 15 years, this astonishingly successful concept is to be augmented by another designer, the equally illustrious Espen Oeino.

Striking profile of the new Espen Oeino-designed Amels 60 Limited Edition

Rose Damen, Managing Director of Amels parent Damen Shipyards Yachting Division, says that she is delighted to introduce the Amels 60m, a brand new Espen Oeino design in the Dutch luxury builder’s Limited Editions range.

The vessel features Hybrid by Amels technology, is now under construction, and will be available for spring 2022 delivery. There is a huge sundeck, swim platform and folding owner’s suite balcony, a generous interior volume, signature principal deck windows, and a 9m tender can be stowed on the foredeck.

Beyond that, premium semi-custom options can be ordered or developed, although the yard has once more appointed a recommended interior designer, London-based Studio Indigo, whose creative director Mike Fisher heads up a skilled team of 50 designers and architects.

The idea behind Limited Editions is that Damen, an enormous worldwide ship building group, can itself finance first-class initial hull construction and fit-out technologies, so that a buyer only has two years to wait before delivery instead of four, and gets involved at prime time to customise the vessel.

Back in 2005, we well recall an Amels media breakfast briefing at one of the Monaco beachfront hotels, during Monaco Yacht Show, and being surprised to see Tim Heywood and interior designer Laura Sessa also in attendance.

Aft aspect of the Amels 60 reveals in-depth attention to detail

Heywood was long a partner of the late great Australian designer Jon Bannenberg, whose son Dickie continues in the industry as Bannenberg & Rowell. They fell out over the Bannenbergs taking an equity interest in West Australian builder Oceanfast, where Echo Yachts is located today, but Heywood still built one of the steel-hulled Sycaras there.

The concept they announced that morning was nothing short of revolutionary, and although other yards have tried to reproduce something similar, there has been nothing quite like it since. Deniki was to be the first Limited Edition superyacht, delivered in 2007, and we are told she still has the same owner.

Since then, Limited Editions have been built in six different LOAs, from 55m to 83m, and they are getting steadily bigger as each year passes. Heywood has styled the overall profile and upper decks, but he adds a deft touch here and there so that, seen in a marina, they can present a quite different look.

“I suggested to Amels to use different designers about five years ago,” he told Yacht Style, “as I thought it would give the yard more strength for their sales.

“We hope that all new designers who work with Amels will have as much success and enjoyment as we are having. It has been a remarkable success story for us all, the yard, clients and the designer. For Tim Heywood Designs to be the first company to create the concept is an honour and great pleasure”.

Four Tim Heywood Limited Editions superyachts are currently under construction at Amels. The yard said: “Tim is and always will be an important part of the Amels family, and our friendship and collaboration with him is one which we hope will continue for a long time yet.”

Designs reveal a helipad forward of a jacuzzi

The Amels 60 is the builder’s second collaboration with Espen, following the 78m Amels Full Custom by Espen Oeino that is now under construction for delivery in 2021.

“With the Amels 60, Espen and his team deliver nothing short of the stellar creativity and passion for detail that he has built his enviable reputation on,” said Rose Damen.

Oeino comments: “The Amels 60 is a package that no-one else can offer at this time. It’s a very well thought-through design where we incorporate all the experience Amels has as a builder and we as designers. I think it is truly a design that reflects the future. I can’t wait to see her being built, to experience her. She will be instantly recognisable when she hits the water in 2022”.

Amels naval architects, in collaboration with Damen Shipyards’ in-house Research Laboratory, developed the Amels 60’s all-new hull form. The naval architecture provides the optimum combination of full displacement comfort with fuel efficiency.

“As a naval architect and as a yacht designer, I like how the Amels 60 optimises the waterline length, which increases the length to beam ratio,” Oeino continues. “It is the right way to go. This is a very efficient hull form, which in combination with the hybrid propulsion, makes the Amels 60 quite unique in this size and range of vessels.”

With Hybrid by Amels technology, the Amels 60 offers cruising up to 7 knots with electrical propulsion motors. The system works with multiple sources of energy working together seamlessly throughout a wide operating profile. The owner benefits from very low noise and vibrations, and lower fuel and maintenance costs, while reducing harmful emissions.

Interiors are handled by Studio Indigo of London, but many custom aspects can be considered

“The Amels 60 has a future-proof hybrid package that our clients can rely on,” Damen explains. “No full displacement superyacht of this size can match the Amels 60’s comfort, quality and efficiency in such a cost-effective design. We developed pragmatic technology that works invisibly in the background to deliver maximum efficiency, minimum impact on our environment, with the widest operating flexibility.”

Says Studio Indigo’s Mike Fisher: “We refined the GA to make the space as ergonomically efficient as possible, generating a layout that seeks to maximise the perception of space and flow.

“This was achieved by opening up the views and vistas between spaces to make them feel bigger, lighter and brighter. The interiors are chic and contemporary, using a rich variety of fabrics and textures throughout, allowing the guests onboard to experience different atmospheres that surprise and delight”.

The vessel is 830GT, has a maximum speed of 15.5 knots, and a 4,500nm range at 13 knots eco-cruising across, say, the Atlantic. Six suites for 12 guests, and 12 crew plus the Captain.

www.amels-holland.com

The original article appears in Yacht Style Issue 49. Email subscribe@lux-inc.com for print subscription enquiries or subscribe to the Magzter version at: www.magzter.com/SG/Lux-Inc-Media/Yacht-Style/Fashion/

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