Trust your instincts - Trust in Maverick
by John Curnow, Global Editor, SailWorldCruising.com 9 Nov 05:00 NZDT
Maverick powered up © Dixon Yacht Design
How could you not get into this? An amazing looking craft, full of interesting tech, a brilliant project title, and the pedigree of two of the greatest names going around in Dixon Yacht Design, and Lateral Naval Architects. Ah. Yeah. I'm going to get my teeth into that, all right!
For me, the only problem was do we first talk about who did what on Maverick, or do we look at who is going to be inspired to build Maverick, and why? Hmmmmmm. Yes. A conundrum, but I went with the former. Now both houses operate in the same industry, as such, but different sectors, as it were. The key thing here is that both know who can do what, really, really, really well. The brilliance is that Maverick taps into the very core of this differentiation.
So, what was the point of connection, and how do you delineate? Anders Berg, Partner and Principal Naval Architect at Dixon Yacht Design explained, "The concept came from us. We wanted to redefine the way large cruising yachts come about. We have been designing large boats for quite a few years, but we wanted to do something a bit different, so we took a slightly different approach than we have done, historically.
"Given that the large sailing market is not as vibrant right now as it once was, we thought about changing things around, somewhat. So, instead of designing a boat and retrospectively looking at energy regeneration and a more sustainable approach, we decided to look at these elements first and foremost, and these are what then actually defined the very concept of the boat."
"It is why she looks a little bit different to a lot of other boats. What we needed to do was design a boat that is powerful, with distinct hull form stability, and could also be easily driven through the water. On top of that, we wanted to design a vessel that offered the solar capacity that we needed to achieve our cruising and energy usage objectives.
"It got us thinking, and we arrived with the 59.5m, 600GT Maverick concept, which has quite an elongated superstructure, so that we can pack 200 square metres of solar panels. Whilst it is a relatively narrow 11m beam, Maverick retains great form stability (think max beam carried all the way aft). Sailing yacht design is very much inside our DNA at Dixon, and I am a sailor from an early age.
"As an example of this, you'll note that the primary sailing helm is on the flying bridge, where you have the best sight lines, and that includes the ability to look at the sails themselves.
"However, one side that we didn't know a lot about from an engineering perspective was the energy architecture. It just seemed sort of a natural fit that we partnered with Lateral, who are literally only just down the road geographically, given their expertise in the subject. I introduced the project with some nice renderings, and Lateral were interested as a way of showing what we can create, and also introduce to the market, collectively," said Berg.
Cool with a capital C
Being totally honest, one of the reasons I really wanted to do this was because Maverick is such a beautiful looking yacht. Was it in the overhangs, the slightly reverse bow with knuckle out for that purposeful stance, maybe the expansive party deck aft, or the eaves extending out from the coachhouse roof? Think it was all of them, to say nothing of Southern Spars' impressive DynaRigs!
So, if interest in sailing superyachts is presently about as taught as the lazy sheet, whom are we targeting, and probably just as importantly, why? Is now the age of remembering that it is important to have an end to journey towards, but in the end, it is the journey that matters? Well yes, this is certainly part of it, but there is also a changing of the guard, as it were. Traditional customers are far less prevalent than before, and a new, younger, style conscious breed is on the rise.
Berg stated, "We are seeing younger yacht ownership, and they want to be careful with their energy use. So, it is imperative to have more efficient boats, as this helps with their overall image, which also means the vessel has to be tech savvy, as a lot of the new, independently wealthy buyers operate in technology-based industries."
Definitely not a pile of junk
"I think if you're designing a boat that relies on energy efficiency, having a rig that's really efficient to sail, is a key ingredient," said Berg.
Yet there was even more to be had in the digging, and that was before you got to the added bonus. You know, 'But wait. There's more!' kind of thing in true TV shopping ad voice over style.
600GT from basically 60m, 17 knot hull speed, cruise at 12 to 14 knots, fit into the main anchorages. Let's see... They're sort of Motor Yacht numbers, only you won't be bunkering 150,000 litres of diesel, and that's just the start of it.
Sail off the anchor, having never needed a drop of ICE power. Wow. For some perspective, Maverick sports a pair of 930m2 DynaRigs. LawConnect, Scallywag, or Comanche have around 1000m2 in their A2s, and Maverick has two sets of sails with the same kind of area in operation, so that puts the horsepower discussion to bed.
Now DynaRigs are not light. Read substantially heavier than a conventional rig. They are, however, freestanding. So, all that pesky running rigging is a thing of the past, and there are no under deck captive winches. Everything is inside the masts. Read safe with fewer trip and finger hazards.
Their sleek, curved yard arms are all secured permanently to their mast, with in-mast furling making deployment and recovery a push button affair that takes but a few minutes. That's about as sexy as they look, especially in full flight. Just take a look at the Maltese Falcon...
Ease of use and performance go hand in hand, and they are as reliable as they are efficient. Trimming is done by mast rotation, which is again all push button. Less exterior crew required is another tick on the list, and spots can then be given to interior crew to bolster that all-important superyacht feel.
"You also do not need to source a specialist yacht builder when you use DynaRigs, as it is all plug'n'play. You build a steel tube into the hull, then lower the assembled rig into it, all ready to go," added Berg.
Other considerations? Saving fuel, decidedly fun, with only a moderate angle of heel, and distinctly 'square rigger' glamorous in an old school Clipper kind of way, as opposed to conquer the world at three to four knots in a Dutch, Portuguese or English manner. Got it.
Did someone say, Tech?
Being a sailing yacht, the mass and volume available for engineering are at a premium. The development of deployable now, real world energy systems is a speciality of Lateral Naval Architects, and they remain completely across the perpetually changing and very complex landscape.
Ollie Cooper, Senior Naval Architect at Lateral said, "We really wanted to place an exclamation mark behind the ideology of Maverick. The 1.5MWhr energy system very much applies the use of the free elements, namely wind and solar. Every large vessel has to deal with its hotel loads.
"In Maverick you have design features to reduce requirements, like the eaves over the windows to reduce the induction of heat through the glass, then input with an immense 200m2 of photovoltaic cells over the coachhouse roof to capture solar energy, as well as two Hundested SPS 286 400kW pods for hydro-regeneration.
"We didn't want to be completely isolated from having the reliability of diesel generators on board for charging as and when required, but did want to be able to sail and be at anchor completely silently to not only enhance the superyacht experience, but then deliver on the very essence of Maverick."
"The principal architecture behind it is that the batteries are the primary supporter of all the energy on board. The generators are only bought online to charge the batteries. The idea is that during certain periods of the day, maybe when you're coming into port or something for an hour, you could turn them on, charge the batteries and then you could go through the whole night through to the next day with the batteries doing the hotel load at anchor overnight.
"Then maybe you come off your anchor and go into a state of regeneration which at certain speeds can cover the hotel load as well as some sort of support from the solar array. Under ideal conditions, 94% of the time will be done without the need to burn fossil fuels, as essentially you will run the generators for an hour a day just to charge the batteries back up."
"This is in a cruising kind of situation, pottering from bay to bay. A superyacht does not don't follow the exact same routine every single day, so you need inbuilt flexibility. When crossing the Atlantic or Pacific you will get much closer to, if not reach 100%," said Cooper.
In numbers it looks like this:
- Silent anchor mode - 21 hours
- Silent motoring - 7 hours
- Charge time - 1.5 hours
- Motoring - 14 knots
- Silent motoring - 8 knots
- Regeneration sailing - 12 knots
The hull has a theoretical speed of 17 knots under sail, which given her rigs you would think she will get right towards it. So, at the correct angle and TWS, Maverick will be a blast. Now the fore pod will do wonders when it comes to regen, and the aft one will be awesome at propulsion. Together, they will make manoeuvring a treat, as they are 25.5m apart. So that means you'll park it as well as you sail it!
Alas the fore pod will put disturbed flow over the stub keel and retractable fin, but at 6.25m down (4m up) lift won't be decimated, as such. Also important to talk about the whole arrangement at this time. Yes there is form stability, and there is 130 metric tonnes in the stub keel and lifting bulb that does a lot to counteract the DynaRigs. Being that far down is great for righting moment. Every 100mm down counts, after all.
Impressively, said bulb does recede back up into a pocket in the stub keel, which definitely gives an air of comfort to the operators, as it will be much more like a hefty keelson at that time...
For what it is worth, 14 knots SOG under sail (less 1.5 for the regen) will cover the entire hotel load, and the Hundested pods are renowned for their regen capabilities, which is why they have been selected. Now, if you look at the trajectory of battery tech right now (especially when it comes to energy density), by the time Maverick is built, that requirement could be a whole lot less both in capacity and time to charge.
Selecting a genset to run at peak efficiency, whilst matching load to required output is something Lateral are very good at, and in this case Maverick has two mtu 08V 2000M 41B gensets. Less fuel, lower noise. Always a good plan rather than running a main with alternators, and no spikes as the gensets deliver a constant flow to the batteries, which are the primary energy supporter.
Back on deck
The rigs are located as a balance between centre of effort and lateral resistance of keel and rudder. It is the long counter out aft that allows for that expansive space in the most sought-after locale on board for complete connection with the water. It also means a pair of 7m tenders are carried, which in turn are deployed via a longitudinally mounted crane hidden in the deck. The crew tender is below decks for'ard and deployed off the yard arm.
The flying bridge is so neatly tucked into the profile, and provides for a commanding control position, and an invigorating lounge. Of course, it all means you have a tremendous enveloping and ultra-appealing aesthetic, which often gets referred to simply as, dockside appeal. You want to be pleased when you walk down to your vessel, or see it at anchor from the balcony of the restaurant where you are having lunch. In reference to my notion of a classic Gentleman's yacht, Berg says to me, "Single cambered, very pure shape." Bingo.
A final word on that is to say that to integrate the shade to reduce the HVAC (aircon) requirements, the louvres, the dyna rigs, along with the photovoltaic cells, is the mastery, and how so mastered it is. No chines either. Nothing disturbs the guiding light. It is the engineering arrangement that defined the shape, which in turn means there are no steps in the deck on either the main or lower level.
12 guests will be pampered in five generous Staterooms, and Maverick is scalable, from 50m to 80, or even 100. It is a genuine alternative to a Motor Yacht, and as we have seen earlier, is comparable in the delivery of every aspect thereof, barring fuel consumption, and a small angle of heel. Nota bene. Nothing ever rides as well as a sailing yacht, so interested parties literally have everything to gain, only the one nemesis to lose, and its departure actually comes with massively enhanced range.
As for the interior, well that is subject to owner's requirements, and no doubt the work of a specific designer, but the overarching theme is for a continuation of the simplicity of the surfaces. Pure. Natural. Liveable.
"No doubt the magic will flow with things like fire pits and outdoor movie screens that is the joy of working with engaged owners," said Berg.
So, what's the defining principle? Everyone can do with some time with a Maverick to get the job done. Is this Maverick as compelling as watching the catapult launch an F/A-18 off a carrier? Yes. Just a whole lot subtler... It is why there is a green boot topper on one of the renders here - sophisticated, yet oh-so-distinct. Consider it a tie pin of honour, as opposed to gawdy sports shirt festooned with sponsors' logos. The queue for this Maverick starts here.
If you want to see what is happening in the other Hemisphere, go to the top of the SailWorldCruising home page and the drag down menu on the right, select the other half of the globe and, voila, it's all there for you.
Finally, stay safe, and let's see where it all goes now,
John Curnow
Global Editor, SailWorldCruising.com