Return to Design 95 top pageEverything about the $3.8 million behemoth seems overlarge and out of scale when viewed from below. But from the yacht's decks, or especially inside, it is a graceful and well-proportioned creation where even the largest spaces are organized to deliver the most utility from every square inch.
The boat is a design from the Bainbridge naval architecture firm of Jack Sarin, which has drafted dozens of similar yachts for clients around the globe.
The designers clearly had the objective of maximizing space for the owner, not for the crew. Crew quarters are far forward, where space is most limited and the ride is most bouncy. A tiny shower stall for the crew occupies the V-shaped tapering space in the very arch of the bow; just a step away is a small toilet, while berths are shoehorned against the steeply angled hull.
But the crew's quarters are the only parts of the boat that are truly cramped.
Aft of them one finds the owner's master suite, with a built-in double bed, walk-in closet, jacuzzi, bath and electronic entertainment center. Then comes the boat's laundry, followed by two matching guest suites, each with a double bed, bath and TV.
Above them is the forward salon with dining area, bar, TV and a sweeping view forward over the bow. On top of that is the pilothouse, topped by an open cockpit and a crow's nest. A boat deck carries small craft that can be lowered over the side by a davit.
The main salon occupies the middle of the vessel. Adjacent to it, at the stern, a semi-enclosed "California deck" looks down onto the stern cockpit and transom, the actual end of the boat. And underneath the California deck, the engine room encloses the throbbing heart of the vessel: twin turbocharged, intercooled, 1,000-horsepower Mercedes-Benz V-12 diesels.
The engine room is lined with lead to silence the earsplitting racket produced by the huge engines. But they in turn have a lot of work to do. Spinning propellers three feet in diameter, they can push the 90-ton vessel through the water at speeds up to 21 knots.
At that speed the engines consume 110 gallons of fuel per hour. But fuel consumption falls to a much more moderate 28 gph when speed is cut in half. Then the boat could run for a week before emptying its 5,000-gallon tank.
While the hull and superstructure are built of fiberglass composite materials, the interior is being constructed of plywood, hardwoods and straight-grained clear fir. Everything but the hull is custom built and carefully fitted into place. Even the major fiberglass assemblies, like the decks and superstructure, are built to within half-inch tolerances over the length of the boat.
The hull comes from Westport Shipyard, on Grays Harbor, which also produces complete yachts. That yard has enough capacity to make hulls for smaller yards like Eagle to finish. And its molds can be used to make boats of varying lengths -- depending on where one chooses to put the transom -- so a 110-foot hull could be made from the same mold that produced the 94-foot example at Eagle.
The key to this innovation is a hull design that works when lengthened at the rear. To make sure of that, the Sarin firm builds scale models of the hulls and has them extensively tank tested.
Further testing occurs when the boat is launched. It must pass control and stability tests, perform emergency stops and starts, and perform as specified by the designers. Only then is it released to its new owner.