SKAT

Yard Lürssen Year 2002 LOA 70.7m Designer Espen Øino

Why is she so special? Skat was one of Espen Øino’s first projects under his own name, and he recalls the whole process fondly. “The owner was a mathematician and a very logical guy. He said: ‘I don’t know why all these yachts look like they were carved out of soft cheese. All these convex shapes don’t make sense, it needs to be logical, rational, and as far as I know steel and aluminium come in flat plates.’ His basic idea was to do something that reflects the materials, so Skat is essentially a succession of flat intersecting surfaces. In his brief he was very specific as to what he didn’t want. He had a vision of not what it should look like, but he had ideas as to what it should not look like. Luckily, I presented the drawings to him, and he loved it. The whole process happened so quickly after that. She’s a very unique boat. When she came out in 2002, people were very divided as to whether they liked her or not. People thought she looked military. But I don’t mind that, I’d rather have people reacting to something. There’s nothing worse than people being indifferent.”

Testament to the owner’s appreciation of the yacht is the fact that she is still in the same hands, and still cruising the American coast. The owner says: “She is a perfect home away from home, office away from the office, and the best hotel, restaurant and wine cellar wherever she sails.”

Where is she now? Still with her original owner and cruising privately.