Exclusive First Look at World Yacht Group's Sub 500GT Semi-Explorer Artemis

Weighing in at 490GT, the defining feature of this new-wave project is her remarkable volume while remaining under the all-important 500GT threshold.

“One of the main features is her enlarged main deck,” Joan Plana Palao, World Yacht Group Co-Founder and CEO, tells us, “Once you’re under 150 feet that’s very difficult to achieve while enjoying enough living space.”

And ‘enough living space’ Artemis certainly has. Packing six double cabins, a full-sized swimming pool, beach club, gym and tender garage, this modern explorer is quite unlike any 47m superyacht the yachting world has ever known. 

But getting to this stage was no stroke of luck, Joan explains. After almost a year of intensive research and development, born out of close attention to his yachting clients’ feedback, World Yacht Group’s brainchild is fully-developed and will meet MCA, LY3 and RINA Commercial compliance for unrestricticted navigation.

With her long, straight bow, and a modern, sporty aesthetic, Karatas Design has successfully achieved the delicate balance between luxury and explorer. She will be equipped with a hybrid propulsion system allowing 5000 miles range using combination generator propulsion, as well as being capable of zero-emission cruising at 7 knots for 3.5 hours or 9 knots for 2 hours.

Joan tells us, “Artemis is a yacht for an owner who loves yachting. That is, someone who enjoys the traditional milk-run of the Med and Caribbean, but wants to discover less conventional protected destinations like Norway or the Pacific Ocean too.”

Every aspect of Artemis’ design ethos and choices have been meticulously thought through by Joan and the team - from the positioning of the glass-walled gym behind the wheelhouse to afford sea views, to the selection of brands such as TRIBU, Minotti and Cattelan Italia for her main deck furnishings. 

“I’ve never seen a yacht with such high-tech equipment,” Joan adds, in praise of US-based A/V & Automation provider No-Static Pro Audio. “The Sky-lounge has a six-panel door that folds to both sides featuring an amazing surround system which can be opened and form a kind of cinema. No-Static Pro will program everything in LA and install it directly onto the yacht in Turkey while they will be able to monitor the A/V functionality remotely.”

Arkin Pruva Yachts in Antalya, Turkey is the chosen shipyard for the build of Artemis, promising a rapid build time of between 18 - 24 months. This project is a priority for Arkin Pruva and thus the yard will mobilize any necessary resources to complete the project on schedule. Her interior design concept is by Istanbul-based CA Architects & Buju Design, though her potential future buyer would be welcome to bring their own interior designer into the project for complete customisation. 

“I chose the Greek Goddess Artemis because she is wild and free-spirited, she breaks the moulds and was the favourite Goddess among the Populace,” says Joan, “That’s exactly what we’ve done here with semi-explorer yachting.”

Artemis is available to buy for 17.2 million EUR. For more information, get in touch with Joan Plana Palao of World Yacht Group.