Royal Huisman shipyard celebrated the launch of 46.8m (154 ft) Nilaya, previously known as Project 405 and Reichel/Pugh-Nauta 154.
Nilaya is the first vessel to utilize Royal Huisman’s innovative ‘Featherlight’ construction method, which aims to decrease the weight of the vessel for increased performance and efficiency.
“[This process] has reduced weight without sacrificing stiffness or cutting corners on quality for this high-performance cruiser. The shipyard’s revolutionary Featherlight™ method for this 46.8m (154 ft) sailing machine is not a single process or construction technique, but a holistic lightweight approach combining various weight-saving solutions,” the shipyard explained in a statement to the press. Royal Huisman estimates it reduced the weight of the vessel by 11 percent.
Sailing Yacht Nilaya is also the first vessel from Royal Huisman in her size category that uses the innovative structured luff design from Doyle Sails. This yacht design allows for the mast, rig, and components to be lighter. The shipyard utilized carbon fiber expertise from its sister company Rondal.
“The success of the innovations with Nilaya paves the way to use this bold new approach for future builds. I am proud of the investment we have made in advanced engineering and of the way teams from Royal Huisman and Rondal advanced new solutions to meet the brief from very knowledgeable clients and designers. The owners deserve congratulations for pushing everyone to achieve just a little bit more and for encouraging innovation at every step. Nilaya will be the world’s lightest aluminum sailing superyacht for her length: she rewrites the script for high-performance superyachts,” commented Jan Timmerman, CEO of Royal Huisman.
Nilaya’s naval architecture was developed by Reichel-Pugh Yacht Design, and interior and exterior yacht design are the work of Nauta Design.
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Images courtesy of Royal Huisman. Credit Guy Fleury.
