NILAYA: Royal Huisman Delivers First Featherlight Superyacht

NILAYA (Project 405) left the Royal Huisman facilities in Amsterdam, where she was transported earlier this year from the Dutch builder’s newbuild facilities in Vollenhove. In Amsterdam, the Rondal carbon performance sloop rig was installed, and the yacht was Christened Nilaya (“beautiful home”), during a private event at the national maritime museum.

The 47m Nauta 154 yacht is the flagship of Nauta Design’s sail division, with the Italian Studio responsible for the design of the general concept, exterior profile, and interior plan. The resulting light, calm, and contemporary atmosphere that has now been unpacked after the completion of sea trials.

“A full day in the beautiful sunny and windy weather in the North Sea off Amsterdam showed how Nilaya’s performance under sail is truly outstanding,” reflects Nauta Design’s Mario Pedol following the sea trials.

“This fantastic yacht showed to really match all of the quite demanding main aspects of the Owners’ brief. Royal Huisman masterly succeeded in engineering and building the yacht, fulfilling the Owner’s request in terms of robustness, reliability, quietness, and last but not least amazing performance under sail, thanks to super high level Naval Architecture by Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design.”

Nilaya becomes the first superyacht to feature Royal Huisman’s new Featherlight design and production method, achieving the Dutch shipyard’s goal of slicing 11% of the weight of its typical advanced aluminium cruising yachts.

The Featherlight method is a holistic light weight approach to yacht building, combining various complementary weight-saving solutions utilising aluminium and carbon fibre components. This weight reduction has come without sacrificing stiffness or compromising on quality for the high-performance cruiser.

“For such a large yacht, the acceleration is exciting as she rapidly reaches high speeds,” explains Nigel Ingram of MCM Newport, who served as the Owner’s Project Manager. “Twin rudders and the light, positive steering give superb manoeuvrability and she has reached all her project targets with ease. Rondal’s sailing systems enable fingertip control of the massive loads involved.”

Sharing his experience of the experience aboard, Ingram continues: “Below decks, life is as comfortable and quiet as one would expect of the latest performance cruiser from Royal Huisman. The builder’s efforts toward building a light and stiff structure have paid off.”

Nilaya represents a milestone for Royal Huisman, and one which sets a bold new precedent for what the shipyard wishes to achieve with its Featherlight approach. For Royal Huisman CEO, Jan Timmerman, the departure of Nilaya was bittersweet, marking the end of a long and emotional journey of building a unique yacht.

“We are always a bit sad to see one of our yachts sail away,” shares Timmerman. “It’s a bit like a child leaving home. At the same time, we are proud to have delivered another unique vessel, especially one that advances innovative engineering and build technology.

“Nilaya is a milestone in composite superyachts in the truest sense of the word and another fine example of Royal Huisman’s ability to provide owners with the ultimate expression of personal freedom.

“We wish her owners and all onboard fair winds and following seas during both world cruising and many exciting regattas.”