yachts yachtsinternational.com
international
40
below: The main bedroom
in the master suite offers
180-degree views and step-
out access to the foredeck.once participated in a discussion at Connecticut’s
Mystic Seaport museum with an august group of
yachting historians, designers and builders. The sub-
ject was the fundamental question, “What is a yacht?”
You’d think such a group with so simple a question
might quickly reach some consensus, but an hour in,
the verdict was still out.
Over the years, I’ve had similar debates focused on
whether yachting is a sport or a lifestyle. In some ways,
that’s a more absorbing question, and my conclusion
has always fallen on the latter definition, especially
when the subject is large motoryachts—which gener-
ally are all about the lifestyle preferences of their own-
ers, from décor to amenities to intended use.
What makes the first Amels Limited Editions 272,
Here Comes the Sun, so worthy of discussion is that
she was designed around the lifestyle preferences of
not one, but two owners who hail from different con-
tinents and cultures. What easily could have been an
unfortunate hodgepodge proved a cohesive integration
of taste, style, luxury and amenities built around her
owners’ shared vision for spending time with their
expanding families.
When I stepped aboard Here Comes the Sun off
Mallorca, in Spain’s Balearic Isles, I found a well-
proportioned, beautifully crafted expression of luxury
yachting. Lifestyle functions on multiple levels and
involves amenities, ergonomics, décor and a host of
other, more ethereal elements.
Andrew Winch, founder and creative director of
Winch Design, which created the interior, says the pro-
cess was a relative breeze, in part because he and his
team leader, Jim Dixon, already had a strong sense of
the owners’ tastes from designing their previous yacht,
a smaller Amels Limited Editions called Imagine.The understated elegance of Here Comes the Sun’s
interior obviously is intended to soothe the senses and
facilitate relaxation. Natural and bleached oak, brushed
perrera stone from Spain and leather accents gently
massage the eyes and brain. A subtle vineyard motif
appears in different parts of the yacht and infuses the
ambience with a whiff of the organic, as do the carved
oak wall panels that line some of the companionways.
The sole-to-ceiling paneling conceals crew access doors.
A decorative spiral theme evocative of an Archimedean
screw appears throughout the yacht. Winch custom-
designed furniture to occupy nearly every space, in
keeping with the owners’ tastes and lifestyles. Light and
lightness are in. Ostentatious bling is out.
“We design lifestyle,” Winch says. “It doesn’t matter
if it’s a plane, a yacht, a house—or a china service or a
carpet. There is nothing shiny on this yacht. It’s a home. phOtOs COURtEsy OF amELs