If it’s true that the only source of knowledge is experience, then there’s little wonder that Vripack continuously knows how to create some of the most sophisticated yachts in maritime history.
“We had a lot of fun making this film, and thought a pizza was the perfect device for explaining our concept of holistic design,” said Hoekstra. “The pizza base is the naval architecture, the exterior design is the passata and the garnish is the interior – you need all three working together to make the perfect pizza, or superyacht.”
That is the focus of this film – holistic design. In it, the co-creative directors of Vripack, Bart Bouwhuis and Marnix Hoekstra, who took control of Vripack from its founder, Dick Boon, in 2009, explain – with the help of a pizza – why boats are better when a single design studio takes on the entire project.
In the film, Hoekstra and Bouwhuis also shed more light on their working relationship, how they are using VR to revolutionise the design process and what they get up to when not in the office. Don’t miss this chance to go behind the scenes at one of the world’s most innovative design studios.
‘I wish Vripack a healthy future, one in which they fulfil many more dreams of their visionary clients and remain the leaders that they are today.’
MR DICK BOON, FOUNDER
So fascinated was he by boats while growing up, that he spent all his free time during his job at the Amsterdam Dry Dock Co. indulging his interest at the sailing school in Sneek. And when he judged the school’s instruction boat to be less than satisfactory, he simply designed a new one.
Boon soon worked at one of the region’s oldest shipyards. However, despite its long heritage, it failed to offer the level of craft and ambition he sought. On October 2nd, 1961, when he decided to set up his own practice, his wife supportively replied “Well, you’d better get to work then.”
A selection of the most memorable moments from more than 8,000 projects by Vripack.
Scooping ‘Outstanding Exterior Design, Motor Yachts 40m to 59.9m’, ‘Best Interior Design, Motor Yachts 499GT and Below’ and ‘Best Naval Architecture, Displacement Motor Yachts’, the judges singled Al Waab out for her holistic interior, exterior and naval architecture. It’s a design approach that Vripack has long championed and places Al Waab at the forefront of yacht design.
Al Waab, the longest steel and aluminum yacht below 500GT in the world, wins the Judges’ Commendation at the @boatinternational 2022 World Superyacht Award for “Displacement Motor Yachts 499GT and below, 45m and above” category.
NEW 60 METER YACHT – A WINNING FORMULA
Dutch design studio Vripack reveals a new 60-meter go-anywhere design that reunites the build team responsible for Al Waab, with Turkish shipyard Alia Yachts responsible for the build and GCC-based SF Yachts serving as project manager and owner’s representative.
With an interior volume of 810 gross tons and generous exterior spaces, the Owner’s family will be able to enjoy extended cruises without having to return to shore for provisioning or refueling. With an Ice Class hull, there is nowhere the yacht – set to be delivered in 2024 – won’t be capable of accessing.
55M AL WAAB DELIVERED TO HER OWNER
Some interesting facts:
Longest steel & aluminium yacht below 500GT;
Unprecedented interior & exterior space for size category;
6 spacious guest suites with split-level master suite;
Volume-saving tender bay arrangement.
Interior and Exterior Design, Naval Architecture by Vripack.
START OF PROJECT 406 – WORLD’S LARGEST SPORTFISHER
PROJECT 406 is a 52.0 m Motor Yacht, currently being built in the Netherlands by Royal Huisman and to be delivered in 2023. Designed by Vripack, responsible for the naval architecture, exterior and interior design.
LEVEN WINNER 2020 BOAT INTERNATIONAL DESIGN & INNOVATION AWARD FOR BEST NEW SERIES
Earning no less than four nominations at the 2020 Boat International Design & Innovation Awards, Vripack’s 28m LeVen 90 brought forward-thinking design home to Holland by winning the hotly contested award for Best New Series.
ONE DESIGN SOLAR RACER. DISCOVERING SOLAR FUEL AND POWER
At Vripack, we believe the best way for the studio to quickly learn something new is for us to challenge a small team under very tight constraints. And once again it worked, resulting in the design and in-house creation of a handful of prototype solar racing boats. The knowledge gained from the experience was subsequently poured into the creation of the first One Design Solar Racer, the V20.
A SIGNATURE MODEL. THE DOGGERSBANK® EXPLORER 185, NORTHERN STAR
Vripack designed this 185 foot-long Doggersbank Explorer, basing its design on the tried-and-tested blueprint from 1996. This base design had become the studio’s signature model and was tendered for construction at numerous yards around the world, before its 2000 incarnation as the Polar Star.
EXTENDING THE BRAND. THE VOYAGER DOGGERSBANK EXPLORER, JASMIN
The studio had grown immensely by this point, and continued to amaze its clients with endlessly fresh takes on the rugged voyager. The first Doggersbank Explorer, a scaled-down version of a 280’ concept, represented an extension of the Doggersbank brand.
MR BOON’S VERY OWN MOTOR YACHT, THE TRADITIONALLY-STYLED MARE-N
Design No. 4750: Dick Boon’s very own yacht, a traditional white motor yacht with a classic yellow funnel. Boon named Mare-N after his grandchild, and he sailed her via one of the French canal routes to the Mediterranean Sea, and all the way to his beloved Turkey.
THE FIRST CNC CUTTING FILES, PRODUCING BETTER BOATS IN LESS TIME
Vripack was the first to work with CAD/CAM software, which allowed it to digitally loft a vessel’s shape in 3D and subsequently produce the code that allowed robots to cut the physical metal sheets. Turmoil’s CNC files were sent by 9600 baud modem to the American shipyard where the yacht was to be built, allowing construction to begin the very same day.
FIRST TIME ‘IN THE TANK’, TESTING THE HIGH-SPEED SEAHUNTER 70’
Computer software was still a distant dream, so the hull of the high-speed Seahunder 70’ had to be resistance-tested at the TU Delft towing tank facility, with the test conducted by the internationally renowned marine hydrodynamics expert, Professor Gerritsma. The test confirmed Vripack’s calculations, but indicated a need for additional trim wedges.
AN INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH: THE DOGGERSBANK OFFSHORE NO. 1
Designed and built for an American family, the steel-aluminium Doggersbank Offshore marked Vripack’s international breakthrough. Vripack would go on to create a whole series of the Offshore, all of which would be renowned for their sturdy appearance, exceptional seakeeping performance and comprehensive technical specifications.
SPORT FISHING VESSEL, THE 65-FOOT ALL-ALUMINIUM FIRST LIGHT
During one of his many trips to the United States, Dick Boon received a commission to design and build a 65-foot all-aluminium Sport-fishing vessel. First Light was built at the Kuipers yard in the Netherlands, and sailed on her own keel to the US.
EXPEDITION SAILING YACHT, THE STORMYBANK CLIPPER 68’
Designed and built for an English lord, Ashly St. Mary was equipped with a kits-wishbone rig. In January 1983, she set sail for the north of Greenland, on an expedition that would take her within 580 nautical miles of the North Pole, earning her a place in the record books as the first recorded sailing yacht in history to sail that far north.
AN INNOVATION IN YACHT DESIGN, THE DOGGERSBANK 1525 MY
The first Doggersbank was designed in 1968 and built from steel until 1977. This Doggersbank 1525 was the first to be built from composite materials, as well as the first round-bilge motor yacht to be designed according to the Low Displacement Length principle (LDL).
OUR FIRST APPEARANCE AT A BOAT SHOW, HISWA, AMSTERDAM
Vripack’s first appearance at a boat show, where it exhibited two steel-hulled boats. The 23-footer was designed for Mr. De Vries (then Boon’s business partner), and the traditional flat-bottomed boat, measuring nearly 32 feet, was designed and built for Jaap Gaastra, who would later achieve global fame as a sailmaker
DESIGN NO. 1 – A 21-FOOT WOODEN SAILING BOAT
Dick Boon’s very first design, a 21-foot open dayboat intended as the first in a new series of training vessels for the First Frisian Sailing school. Many were built, at least five of which during his lifetime, all at the Abele de Jong yard in Joure.
It is always an honor to have the ingenuity and innovation of one’s designs, engineering and construction acknowledged by such esteemed bodies as the World Superyacht Awards, the International Superyacht Society Design and Leadership, and the Design & Innovation Awards, and this humbling experience has been granted the studio more than 45 times.
Some of the studio’s yachts have even been honored multiple times, owing to refits or rebuilds. The prestigious Voyager’s Award, awarded to the yacht that, in the judges’ opinion, completed the most inspirational cruise in the preceding year, has been won more times by Vripack’s yachts than by those of any other yacht-designer.
Gratifying as these awards may be for both designer and builder, each is also an acknowledgment of the respective owner’s ambition, and of their contribution both to the craft of yacht-building and to the rich history of yachting. Each yacht is the result of two or three years of dedication on the part of the team, builders, and owner, united for a common goal: the creation of yet another world-beating yacht on which both owner and crew can feel at home at sea.
Vripack has created over 8,000 designs and has been a world-player in Yacht Design and Naval Architecture since the early 60s. Our passionate team is involved in the entire building process of innovative high-quality yachts that are professionally developed for private customers and shipyards worldwide.
With these series, we would like to take you on an expedition through our Holistic Design Approach by presenting the realization of four diverse projects: Rossomare, NED70, Gamma, and MY Star. During the series, you will experience how our team is working together with the owners on a journey towards creating their yacht.
Enjoy watching our series.
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