It is the kind of weather that would strand
most pleasure yachts in port. Force 5
wind, white-capped seas and gloomy
skies – a proper winter storm that makes
the summer splendor of the Côte d’Azur
seem a distant memory. Not an ideal day
for a sea trial then – except, perhaps, for
testing 174 foot Galaxy of Happiness, a
futuristic trimaran specifically designed
for stability in rough seas.
Gleaming in silver, Galaxy of Happiness sits alone in
Monaco harbor looking like a spaceship ready for take
off. While her profile is inarguably eye-catching, the
aim of this project is function over fashion. Efficiency,
stability and speed are the ultimate goals.
She comes from the drawing board of Jean-Jacques
Coste, of Coste Design & Partners, the multihull
specialist known for its sailing catamarans such as
95 foot Cartouche. This is its first foray into powered
multihulls, but it is one that has been a long time
coming. Coste has been working on powered trimaran
concepts for more than a decade, fully formed with
naval architecture work-ups and tank testing. “We were
simply waiting for the right owner to come along,”
says Coste. “I’m a sail guy but that market is now only
five per cent. And when you’re thinking about power
and a bigger yacht, a trimaran makes more sense
than a catamaran.”
The right owner did emerge at last. “Creator” might
be a more appropriate term as this client breathed life
into both Galaxy of Happiness and her sistership,
Galaxy, keeping the latter for himself in Greece and
gifting Galaxy of Happiness to a friend. The twin yachts
were built alongside one another at Latitude Yachts in
Latvia and delivered last summer. They mark the first
full superyacht projects for this young shipyard that
previously concentrated on smaller boats, refits andAbove and left:
The red-tinted
mahogany floors and
cherry joinery that is
also stained in a red
varnish have the
effect of warming
the interior, which
contrasts strikingly
with the cool exterior>
Right:
A swimming
platform can
be attached
to the sternsome subcontracting work for northern European
yards. Latitude specializes in composite but it has also
set up facilities where it can build in aluminum. The
yard’s youth was a virtue, it turned out. Freed from the
shackles of heritage, Latitude wasn’t afraid to take on
the wild and new.
Only a handful of yachts have been launched in
Latvia, so it was an interesting choice. But the owner
had worked with the yard already, when Latitude built
a luxury riverboat for him years before. “It’s still
Europe,” says Maxim Lyashenko, Latitude’s business
development manager. “It’s not an exotic country. We
work with a top French designer, top suppliers. Our
workers are northern European, very hard workers
who take pride in their work and love what they do.”
The big difference, he confirms, is
that the man-hour rates are very
low, allowing Latitude to offer a
competitive price.
Galaxy and Galaxy of
Happiness don’t share a mold as
they were built in tandem in
female molds out of composites,
carbon fiber, fiberglass, epoxy
resin and polyurethane foam
materials using Gurit’s Sprint
infusion process. The entire boat
is also post cured, for a light and
strong structure.APRIL 2017 WWW.BOATINTERNATIONAL.COMART
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FEAT_Galaxy of Happiness, 2