The skipper estimates that he can have
the tender deployed in 90 seconds.
“Plus we gain an entire extra RIB.” He
admits that when entering a busy port,
they may choose to remove the tender
before jostling into a berth. And using
a bigger tender means they had to beef
up certain stanchions to support the
weight of a boarding ladder. The extra
weight could have been a problem, but
in fact it is very nicely offset by an extra
tonne and a half of chain and anchor at
the bow. “She balances up nicely on her
lines,” Gibbs says.
This leaves the bow free of the rescue
tender and davit that it would otherwise
house, and this extra real estate has been
put to good use. Gibbs has planted a plunge
pool module here, with sunbeds and half a
dozen big speakers. In the event of a sale, it
can just as easily be returned to its standard
use for storing a rescue boat in order to
meet classification rules. “There were a lot
of the standard ‘hidden’ componentsinstalled, such as crane sockets, wiring,
plumbing and deck plates to make retrofit
a lot easier,” Chinery says.
There are steps down to the bow, where
the vast Lewmar capstans gleam like
sculptures. In one of Gibbs’s final tweaks,
the tip of the bow has been filled in,
upholstered and rigged for a parasol. “This
is one of my favorite places,” he says.
“Sitting on the edge of the foredeck, out of
the wind.” Here, then, is the man’s true
Elysium – his paradise within a paradise.BGibbsredesignedthe
131’sstandardupper
salonasseenon
Zozo(below)intoa
spaciousowner’scabin
(left).Sunseeker’s
in-housedesignteam
isresponsibleforthe
yacht’sinterior,inlight
oakfinishonthewalls,
withwengefloors,pale
carpetsandfeature
panelsinLegacyfaux
leatherfromMajiliteSTANDARD 131 UPPERDECK121