Design Insight into Feadship’s Royal Blue Project 3249

In the latest episode of the Dutch shipyard’s series ‘Feadship Unveils’, the focus is on ‘A Bespoke Beauty in Blue’. Project 3249 will boast a striking dark blue hull and a masculine double hull line with fixed bridge wings, a testament to the design prowess of Feadship. Much of the focus of the discussion, though, centres on the extraordinary lengths that the shipyard went to turn the Owner’s dream into a reality.  

Project 3249, described by Feadship as a ‘Royal Blue Family Yacht’, is the product of an owner-centric design and development process. Sipke Halbertsma explains that his first contact with the client was at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, where the client was impressed by 92m superyacht Aquarius and began his own journey with Feadship.

Every inch of this bespoke superyacht has been specially curated to the Owner’s preferences. To reach some of the Owner’s favourite harbours, which have restrictions, the superyacht needed to remain below 70m in length. At 69.75m, Project 3249 meets the Owner’s requirements while offering an incredibly voluminous vessel, with six luxurious staterooms and an Owner’s suite.

The extensive use of glass and elongated aft deck was central to the brief given to Feadship and the design team by the Owner. Flooding the interior guest areas with natural light creates a relaxing and harmonious ambience for family and friends to enjoy. The layout is deliberate to ensure an informal environment for guests, with social gathering concentrated on the main deck.

Sipke highlights the long aft deck as one of the stand-out features of this superyacht, and designer Chris Bottoms explains how it was developed.

“That was driven by the swimming pool,” Chris says of the aft deck. “Having that infinity but with a connection to the swim platform so a full wide staircase across the whole aft end of the boat makes it really inviting for family and friends to fully socialise over all levels of the vessel.”

Chris later explains how Feadship allows Owners to play a lead role in shaping their vision. “My role in a project is as much designer as it is translator. You have to be good in both. You have to be good in coming up with new ideas to push the boundaries, but you have to be open and listen to what is coming back and work that into their dream.”

For Sipke Halbertsna, the Owner’s decision to opt for a dark blue hull gives the yacht distinctive character, while Sipke also delves into some of the opulent features of Project 3249. “It is a really personal thing,” says Sipke. “The client is a big wine lover and one of the things that he really appreciated was a very good wine cellar.

“A wine cellar is a very difficult thing on a yacht because first of all, you need a very stable temperature. It is also something that takes up a lot of space so normally if we do wine cellars they tend to end up on the lower deck. With this specific design, it ended up right next to the Owner’s cabin – a very special occasion for a wine cellar and it really had to be almost like an art piece.”

Feadship continues to set the standard as a world-leader in the build of full custom and Top100 superyachts. Project 3249 serves as yet another example which underlines the shipyard’s ability to realize an Owner’s dream in superyachts of all categories.