Below: the S78’s main deck helm station, which has a door to the
side deck on the starboard side and an opening window to port.
Right: the Princess R35’s seating area can be converted into a double
berth, and it has an en suite too
Princess teams up
with America’s Cup talentAside from revamping its lines of yachts, Princess has
launched one of the most innovative production
dayboats in years, the R35 (pictured left), pulling
resources from the America’s Cup world. The
consortium brought together Martin Whitmarsh,
who after heading McLaren’s F1 team joined
America’s Cup outfit Ben Ainslie Racing as CEO,
and Italian luxury design firm Pininfarina. The result
is a 10.9-metre performance yacht that not only
uses America’s Cup-style underwater foils to achieve
speed and stability but an all carbon-fibre hull to
shed 30 per cent of the weight of similar boats.
The Active Foil System (AFS) has port and starboard
foils that enhance comfort and speed, responding
to an onboard computer that calculates angles at
100 times per second. The AFS dramatically improves
stability and seakeeping, reduces drag and provides
a top speed of more than 50 knots from two 430hp
Volvo engines, making the R (for revolution) 35 the
fastest Princess ever built.177I