T
he owners who created Moon Sand very nearly
didn’t. They almost bought 43 metre GO, built
by Feadship in 2010, on the brokerage market.
Then they changed their minds, disappointing
their broker until they said “no, we want to build
a new yacht”. And so began the 30-month
adventure of creating the new 44 metre family yacht they
ultimately wanted. “They really had a great time building her,”
says Bas Nederpelt, Feadship’s commercial director.
That’s evident at first sight. The décor is lively, with happy
colours that glow in the sunlight and bespoke furnishings.
Not a middle-of-the-road interior, this is highly personal, with
a collection of glass pieces, rich fabrics and stunning stones.
The furniture, most of it custom-designed and built, hails from
superyacht favourites Silverlining and Linley in the UK and
from Pollaro in the US.
The yacht is an interesting blend of modern and classic, part
beach house and part villa, with materials cherry-picked from
diverse sources, from a marble shop in Italy to a warehouse
of rare veneers in New Jersey. On board for the adventure was
the UK studio Bannenberg & Rowell Design, who the owners
chose to create the sophisticated and cheerful ambience.
Although a custom build, Moon Sand draws some of her
features from the SL39 series, which was also created
by De Voogt Naval Architects. Early in the new millennium,
Feadship decided to develop two “custom” series to respond
to the demands of younger owners unwilling to wait for
a custom yacht but desiring the same quality. The F45 Vantage
series was born first, in 2005, and then came the SL39 series;
GO was the third of the SL39s.
Features from these well-executed concepts are recalled
in Moon Sand, also designed in-house by De Voogt. A size
between 39 and 45 metres was just right for these owners.
Moon Sand started right in the middle, at 42 metres, and
ended at just over 44 metres, because the owners wished
to add a pool with a contraflow system on the main deck aft.
The 9,000-litre pool is six metres long and two metres
wide. It fills up in only 20 minutes and has an adjustable floor
height, which makes it deep enough for adults to swim in
and safe enough to be a play pool for children. Such a large
pool is uncommon on a yacht of this size, says De Voogt’s
chief designer, Tanno Weeda. “It is used very frequently by
the owner for a good swim in combination with the contraflow
system. The pool doesn’t always need to be emptied. You just
close the pool by lifting the teak deck floor of the pool to the
deck [level] and you can use the aft deck without even noticing
the pool is there.”
To enter the main saloon, you step right over the raised pool,
which is truly invisible, and through doors that part with
a swoosh to reveal the luxurious and quiet universe within.
The interior layout is traditional, with a comfortable saloon
and a formal, full-beam dining room, connected to the galley on
the port side via a large pantry. On the starboard side, a corridor
leads to the owner’s suite – a study, large dressing area, cabin
http://www.boatinternational.com | April 2016
Right: the floor of the 6m x 2m pool can be
raised for use as a children’s play pool or
brought up completely level with the deck,
creating an uninterrupted aft deck area.
Above: the upper deck, left, and sundeck
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