I DON’T WANT A WOLF IN SHEEP’S
CLOTHING.”Three years later, we know
what he meant by beast.
“He was very clear on his ideas. He
wanted something that hadn’t been
done before. He really pushed Ed
[Dubois] very hard,” says project
manager Godfrey Cray, a Whitbread
Round the World Race and America’s
Cup sailor who has managed the build
of 14 superyachts, including eight
Dubois projects. “The owner wanted a
boat that was fast and aggressive
looking, a visual weapon with no
superfluous systems. He wanted a
sailor’s superyacht and didn’t want to
compromise on speed by adding more
beam or a bunch of extra cabins.”
At first, the owner’s vision outstripped that of his naval architect.
“The first designs were not sleek enough, not oriented for the sheer
joy of fast sailing,” saysNgoni’s captain, Iain Cook. “We had asked
three architects for proposals and gave them two months to work
up a design. When he saw Ed’s, he told him ‘I know you can do
better.’ ” Thus challenged, Dubois went back to his studio and
started again, using some of his earlier powerful racing boats as
inspiration. “In two weeks he gave us a design that was like nothing
we had seen before,” says Cook. “That was it.”“BUILD ME A BEAST.THE YARD REVEALED THE OWNER’S BRIEF:AT THE 2014 MONACO YACHT SHOW,
WHEN ROYAL HUISMAN’S PROJECT 398 WAS ANNOUNCED
Ed Dubois blessedNgoniwith an aluminium
hull, inflected sheerline, plumb bow and
beautifully sculpted superstructure. The
performance cruising sloop has been designed
to achieve a maximum hull speed of 17 knotsThe “Beast” takes styling cues
from Dubois’ racing boats and 66
metreAglaia, launched in 2012, with
copious amounts of glass defining her
superstructure, but that’s where
similarities end. Dubois’ enthusiasm
was palpable when he presented the
design at that press conference; its
reverse sheer and bow shape were
quite a departure from the status quo.
Although the designer would not live
to see the yacht’s completion, his joy
for something he considered truly
visionary is a happy memory for all
involved in the project.
Ngoni– the word is the name for a
people of eastern Africa and their
language – is also unique for the non-traditional way she was
managed. “It was a bit different for Royal Huisman,” says Cray.
“Generally about a year into the build, a project focuses on rig and
deck layouts, load factors being accommodated at that point. We
had all of our partners in at the beginning to discuss speeds and
loads that would be generated by the sails, how we would handle
them on deck and how this would impact the entire design, the
amount of glass, and the large tender that would be stored under
deck. Only by having everyone in on the details from the beginning
were we able to achieve this level of detail without revisions.”
Cook, a British sailor who brought to the table 20 years of racing
and cruising experience and seven years of captaining forNgoni’s
owner, shared the development and supervision equally with Cray.
The owner told them to get on with it; he’d see them in three years.Dubois went back to
his studio. “In two
weekshegaveusa
design that was like
nothing we had seen
before. That was it”
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