Lawson Robb’s Project Phi has been featured by the Superyacht Times.
Discover article on Superyacht Times as below
Following our recent trip to the Royal Huisman shipyard in Vollenhove to look behind the scenes at its 58.5-metre in-build project Phi, SYT explores the impressive collection of superyacht toys and tenders which will accompany her on her travels around the world.
The Phi story doesn’t end with the mothership. She will be joined by a fleet of toys and tenders carried on a 36-metre shadow vessel.
A shadow vessel was envisaged from the start for Phi, which has no tender garage and only a rescue tender on the foredeck. Also designed by Cor D. Rover with naval architecture by Van Oossanen, this shadow vessel is visibly the ‘little brother’ of the ‘big sister’ mothership.
In build at Alia Yachts in Turkey and due to launch next spring, the 199GT vessel has 157 square metres of cargo deck and 45 metres of lazarette for transporting an array of tenders and toys that can be deployed by a 15-tonne capacity knuckle boom crane.
The payload will include a custom limo tender and sailing dinghy, Jet Skis, mountain and road bikes, KTM electric trail bikes, Sea Bobs, all manner of boards, an inflatable water park (including an industrial spec air pump) and a small electric car, extra fuel to extend Phi’s 4,000-mile cruising range, as well as a large laundry and additional crew accommodation.
“Launching and recovering tenders takes time and involves several crew,” says Capt. Booth. “The shadow vessel means Phi can leave as soon as guests get back from the beach and the tenders and toys will be in the water and waiting at the next destination. In the meantime, the crew on the mothership can dedicate all their time to the owner and guests.”
A heavily customised 14-metre P40 limo tender with a new sheer line to match the mothership is also in build at Spirit Yachts in the UK. Powered by Mercury stern drives for a top speed of nearly 50 knots, the elegant cedar and mahogany runabout will have bespoke aviation-grade dashboard gauges inspired by 1950s and ’60s sports cars and a cathedral-style skylight in the foredeck illuminating the covered seating below.
The gentleman’s tender will be named ‘Spirit of Phi’ and, true to her name, the design has been developed to adhere to the rule of phi, even down to the fabric patterns. Spirit Yachts is also developing an eight-metre sailing dinghy for the owner with a collapsible mast and keel that can be easily handled by one person.
The shadow vessel will further carry a customised Axopar 37 Sun-Top sports tender. The novelty here is that it will be equipped with twin Cox Marine 300-hp diesel outboard engines with the highest torque ratings in their class.
The CXO300 is a new generation of diesel outboard that was still not commercially available when the British engine manufacturer was first approached by the owner’s team, which wanted to keep the shadow vessel petrol-free to simplify the design and reduce the build cost. A test tender fitted with the new engines is currently undergoing trials in Germany.
