T
alk to owners and designers about
the most successful family
superyachts and what you’ll hear
is surprisingly unassuming. Sure,
you can have an IMAX theatre, a
10 metre inflatable slide and a
squash court that converts to a laser tag arena, but
for long-term family cruising, what you’ll really
want is more along the lines of plenty of deck
space, bunk rooms, durable finishes and toys that
can be launched in five minutes.
In fact, Mindy Stearns says the best part of her
family’s 15-month round-the-world trip on
Minderella, a 58 metre Feadship, was simply that
her eight-year-old and 10-year-old girls got to sit
down with their usually busy dad for every single
meal. When your goal is quality family time, a
yacht’s design can help make the closeness as
comfortable and fun as possible.
First things irst
“As a young parent, you are perpetually worried
about your kids falling overboard,” says naval
architect Greg Marshall. “You feel like you can
never relax, so to me a properly designed family
boat begins with that – how do you, say, keep
the kids on the flybridge from tumbling down
the stairs?”
His solutions are gates and plexiglass
screens (rather than railings) so kids can’t stick
their heads through, while Marnix Hoekstra of
Vripack notes that railings should have vertical
bars instead of the typical horizontal ones that
invite intrepid youths to climb. To keep an eye
on little runners, Hoekstra is investigating
technology where a kids’ Apple Watch would
work like a sensor. “Parents can check where
they are on board and certain areas, such as a
kitchen or an engine room, wouldn’t be
accessible, or a deck door won’t open.”
Other stress triggers are those uncleanable
precious surfaces that don’t mix with chocolate
fingers. “Kids don’t care about lacquered
goatskin countertops,” says Marshall. “They
might have peanut butter on their fingers,
they’re carrying cans of Coke and when they put
on sun lotion, they will lean against cabinets. On
a successful family boat you need to make those
concerns go away.”
Choose surfaces that can be wiped down
easily and that do not stain. Marshall suggests
quartzite instead of marble and fabrics that can“Kids might have
peanut butter on
their fingers... they
will lean against
cabinets. On
a successful family
boat you need
to make those
concerns go away”Howcanayachtboostfamilytogetherness
andgoodold-fashionedfun?
Kate Lardyhas designs on some good times
The ultimate
family
superyacht
TheAppleWatchcouldbe
used to help parents keep
track of their children on
family yachts likeMinderella136