March 2022
BOAT INTERNATIONAL - Al Waab: How Alia Yachts delivered a 55m titan in two years
A complex project delivered in two years, Al Waab shows a clear path forward, as Sam Fortescue discovers...
Yacht names are famously subjective, but the latest 55 metre from Alia Yachts and Vripack gets very close to the mark. Her Middle Eastern owner has called this powerful, elongated boat Al Waab, an Arabic word that refers to a boom town in Qatar and translates roughly as “vast area that accommodates things”.
Al Waab, the yacht, was born of the collaboration between Dutch design studio Vripack, owner’s rep Francesco Pitea of SF Yachts and Turkish shipyard Alia Yachts.
Vastness was not the focus of this project at the outset. But the concept grew during the early design phases, as is often the case. “We had a platform that we had started with Vripack, and I proposed it to the customer,” explains Pitea, the owner’s project manager.
“It wasn’t what he was looking for, so we developed a new platform for him. She sets the world record for the longest steel and aluminium vessel below 500GT. We were not looking for the record, but at a certain point in the design, the owner said, ‘I want 55 metres.’”
Al Waab stands alone for her arrow-like foredeck and sleek lines, when you look at other yachts in this size range. Her 9.1-metre beam completes a slender hull form, which is one of the keys to understanding this yacht.
“When you do slender, you encounter propulsion efficiency and comfort,” says Bart Bouwhuis, Vripack’s co-owner and creative director. “You can do the same speed with less power. You have relatively small engines, which means a relatively small engine room, which means you achieve more interior space.”
Read the full article on https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/al-waab-alia-yachts-vripack
Yacht names are famously subjective, but the latest 55 metre from Alia Yachts and Vripack gets very close to the mark. Her Middle Eastern owner has called this powerful, elongated boat Al Waab, an Arabic word that refers to a boom town in Qatar and translates roughly as “vast area that accommodates things”.
Al Waab, the yacht, was born of the collaboration between Dutch design studio Vripack, owner’s rep Francesco Pitea of SF Yachts and Turkish shipyard Alia Yachts.
Vastness was not the focus of this project at the outset. But the concept grew during the early design phases, as is often the case. “We had a platform that we had started with Vripack, and I proposed it to the customer,” explains Pitea, the owner’s project manager.
“It wasn’t what he was looking for, so we developed a new platform for him. She sets the world record for the longest steel and aluminium vessel below 500GT. We were not looking for the record, but at a certain point in the design, the owner said, ‘I want 55 metres.’”
Al Waab stands alone for her arrow-like foredeck and sleek lines, when you look at other yachts in this size range. Her 9.1-metre beam completes a slender hull form, which is one of the keys to understanding this yacht.
“When you do slender, you encounter propulsion efficiency and comfort,” says Bart Bouwhuis, Vripack’s co-owner and creative director. “You can do the same speed with less power. You have relatively small engines, which means a relatively small engine room, which means you achieve more interior space.”
With her twin 522kW Caterpillar C18s, Al Waab was designed for cruising at 12 knots maximum, but she hit 14.5 knots in sea trials. At the same time, she burns around 35 per cent less fuel than comparable 499GT yachts - no mean feat when you’re comparing a heavier steel-hulled vessel to all-aluminium craft.
“Yachts are getting longer and wider, but owners still want to stay below the 500GT mark,” says Alia president, Gökhan Çelik. “We’ve seen increasing interest in this kind of yacht and so to be one of the first with such an impressive project is an important milestone for Alia.”
Written by Sam FortescueRead the full article on https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/al-waab-alia-yachts-vripack