http://www.boatinternational.com | April 2018Letani is the fourth of five similar hulls built in a little over three years at Feadship. She is one metre
longer than her sisters, thanks to an extended aft deck and bathing platformloungers out on the swim platform, while the
children play in an inflatable swimming pool
tethered of the stern. And on the aft deck there
is now space for an elegantly curved full-width
sofa made by French interior design house
Liaigre, as well as a table and armchairs to seat
eight in comfort.
You could say that sofas are one of this
boat’s defining features. There’s another one
in white leather in the saloon, two more face-
to-face on the sundeck, another S-shaped
one under the hardtop, and still more help turn
the flybridge helm station into a comfortable
lounging space.
Letani’s owner sums up life on board: “One
can be in the front watching ahead and chatting
to the captain. The other side of the bar is
a wraparound sitting area where smaller groups
have a more intimate experience over cofee or a
quick bite. While most of the time is spent having
meals on the sundeck dining table, our favourites
are the two large sofas at the back, which allow
for comfortable lounging/sunbathing while
really opening up the views of the sea.”
If the near full-length sundeck is the heart of
family living on Letani, with seating, al fresco
dining on teak furniture and a relaxing bar area,
fun is centred at the stern of the boat. Letani can
garage a big 6.2 metre Pascoe tender, using
a system of stainless steel frames and rollers to
winch it over the bathing platform. “By the end
of last season we could do it in about 10 minutes,”
first mate Jon Tout says. There’s also plenty of
room for a couple of Seabobs, stand-up
paddleboards, diving gear and other toys. This
owner doesn’t like jet skis, but there’s certainly
space for them in the roomy garage.
Like her sister yachts, Letani has a low 1.8
metre draught to make it easy to slip into smaller
anchorages, something the owner has taken full
advantage of. “The owner was on board
constantly for three or four weeks at a time,” says
Tout, who joined to sail her from Norway to the
Med, round the Balearics, Sardinia and Corsica.
“The low draught gives you more options. You
can park tight in for better shore access. On the
other hand, you’re in among people who don’t
necessarily know what they’re doing!”
Inside the yacht, the interior tells a similar
story of family-friendly cruising. The two smallerhen you really, really want
something, it can drive you
a little crazy. And so it was in 2014
that the would-be owner of an as
yet unbuilt 34 metre Feadship found himself
recruiting other clients for the Dutch yard in
order to make his long-held dream a reality.
At first, Feadship wasn’t even sure that it could
build his boat to its required standards, such were
the limitations of a size it hadn’t touched for
20 years. “We decided to explore whether it was
practical,” says director Bas Nederpelt. “Our
research established that, while building such a
custom yacht was indeed possible, it would only
be economically viable for the client if we built
three of them to the same design template.”
Turning normal practice on its head, then,
Feadship agreed to the proposal as long as the
would-be owner introduced two more clients to
buy the design. He not only found the two
customers, but his design brought in two more.
The five yachts are all different, although
based on the same hull design and broad
configuration. But one stands out in particular.
Despite significant modifications compared to
the original, Letani, the fourth, set a new record
at Feadship for build time. From initial client
contact to delivery, her story took just two years
to unfold.
From the dock at Tarragona, near Barcelona,
Letani looks identical to the others in style,
with the same crisp lines, low superstructure,
acres of glass and towering vertical “axe” bow
(designed to make the hull “cut” through waves
and therefore more eicient). But, crucially, she
is a full metre longer than her sisters. Nederpelt
explains: “The starting point was a ‘platform’ but
the yacht was lengthened to allow for a bigger aft
main deck, garage and a bigger swim platform.
We moved the stern, including the stairs and
[transom], by half a metre [and] the swim platform
was lengthened by half a metre. The overall
performance remained unchanged.”
This was a key part of the brief from the client.
“We wanted her to feel like a home for us and our
two children,” he says. “We all enjoy spending
time outside, so it was important that the spaces
would allow us to experience the wonders of the
Mediterranean climate.” That extra length allows
the family to put a couple of deck chairs orW
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