The new 46m (150’) sailing yacht concept has been proudly unveiled by Rob Doyle Design. The 46m Rob Doyle superyacht concept is a striking performance ketch, providing the owner, guests, as well as crew with a thrilling ride in full comfort.
46m (150') superyacht concept by Rob Doyle Design
Rob Doyle Design Philosophy is performant, pragmatic, timeless design, geared to extend the envelope of naval architecture and exterior styling to the modern limits of material science whilst maintaining a philosophy that prioritises safe, fast and comfortable yachts.
From 1996 to 18 months ago Rob Doyle was intricately connected with every Ron Holland Design project. Most notable amongst these projects were charter yacht Felicita West, a 64-metre ketch and at the time the world’s largest aluminium sailing yacht M5 (ex-Mirabella V), 79-metre sloop and the current world record holder as largest single masted yacht, just recently refitted by the office, superyacht Ethereal, 58- metre ketch, reputedly the most technically efficient yacht afloat, luxury yacht Christopher, a 46-metre ketch, also just finished a refit by the office, and the Perini Navi series of which 23 yachts have been delivered to date.
Rob Doyle Design focuses on the naval architecture and styling of power and sailing yachts. Rob Doyle’s studio’s extensive design, build and operations experience across more than thirty power and sailing yachts of over 100 foot in length (5,746feet / 1,750m, average length of 53.1m), plus the myriad other designs for vessels smaller than that magic threshold, positions it well for new projects in this exciting environment.
46m Rob Doyle sailing yacht design
Rob Doyle Design is one of the new generation of yacht designers tackling the modern challenges of the large yacht business. With a strong 20-year career evolution in the large yacht sector, his experience is unique in the hands-on field of design, styling, performance, naval architecture and, importantly, classification.
Rob Doyle Design: Trust
The simple answer as to why a client should trust Rob Doyle Design with a commission is to consider the principal’s track record – an attribute and asset that is constantly available to be checked and always ready to be endorsed by past and current clients and collaborators. As in any big creative project the relationship between the client, the designer and the various collaborators is everything. The human approach and the tangible body of work combine to provide confidence in collaborating with Rob Doyle Design.
Rob Doyle Design: Uniqueness
The team’s (7) collective careers span the full evolution of modern yacht design – be it power, sail, race performance, cruising luxury and practicality, from small boats through the superyacht sector’s entire history. But primarily Doyle’s team’s experience is unique in the combination of hands-on design and engineering through operational performance even as far as classification society rules optimisation.
46m Rob Doyle luxury yacht concept
This wide experience base does not however make Rob Doyle Design ‘old-school’, it just puts the company in a situation where it can benefit from its younger design style, imagination and energy levels whilst being genuinely able to keep construction value firmly embedded within its ethos. With the capacity to run several different projects simultaneously Rob Doyle Design has the ability and the competence to work with others as well as lead projects alone.
Hull and Deck Styling and Design
The Rob Doyle designed/styled hull package combines a very powerful performance hull with good sea keeping qualities, combining speed and comfort. This is achieved with a relatively beamy boat with that beam carried well aft, giving a fine angle of entry but still allowing extensive internal volume for a spacious interior layout. The hull form features a chine that carries the beam far out board to give best form stability coupled with a hydrostatic spray rail that aims to keep the wetted surface to a minimum.
Rob Doyle Design uses the latest in VPP (Velocity Prediction Program) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technology along with a large database of Tank Test results to provide the backbone of its cutting edge naval architecture.
The combination of a sleek profile, balanced shearline and a plumb bow allows the hull to take full advantage of the longest possible waterline. Careful design on the run aft allows the boat to float dry in light airs, reducing the wetted surface area but soaking up the waterline length when needed for best upwind performance.
The offwind performance will be exceptional. The high stability and high level of control from the twin rudder configuration in combination with the powerful sailplan will give a thrilling ride in full comfort for the owner, guests and crew.
The deck styling is all about exposure of the interior to the exterior with as low sleek glass wraparound superstructure and a distinctive Rob Doyle Designed superstructure styling detail, this enables a very large and secure sky deck to which the client and friends can enjoy the sights and sounds of sailing a yacht of this size in comfort.
The design will lean on Rob Doyle Design’s 20-year experience of designing and building the most advanced aluminium and composite hulls. Rob Doyle Design has been at the cutting edge of this development, having been involved in the design of the world’s largest aluminium sailing hull structure of the 64m Perini Navi Felicita West and later the most technologically advanced aluminium hull of Royal Huisman’s 58m Ethereal, to M5 the world’s largest composite sailing yacht, all three projects pushing the classification societies to new grounds in performance aluminium and composite structures.
The foil package
The fin and bulb keel is designed to give the least drag and gain the maximum stability but to allow the draft of the yacht not to be prohibitive to gaining access to the best cruising grounds. This is achieved by means of a vertical lift keel using a fast acting single hydraulic ram, tried and tested technology that Rob Doyle Design has developed and had passed through the most meticulous classification societies. The twin rudder system is the best solution to allow shallow draft cruising whilst still giving total control of this high performance yacht. The twin rudders allow the owner to push the yacht hard when others need to back off. Power is nothing without control, and this yacht will have an abundance of both.
The Ketch Rig
Bucket Racing has pushed the designers to seek maximum performance from performance cruising yachts. Rob Doyle Design can see great advantage in the rating rules regarding the mast/sail configuration and how the boat is best used in cruising and racing modes. The advantages and performance gains are large for yachts that can complete manoeuvres quickly and with total safety. Often overlooked but the extra undervalued area and weighting of mizzen staysails can give ketch rigs a nice advantage in this style of friendly competition.
Following years of extensive racing on the biggest yachts Rob Doyle Design has developed and optimised the Bucket rig, again maximising performance along the way. The sailplan calls for fast flush deck furlers, coupled with high speed captive winches, enabling quick and safe manoeuvres. The latest advances in the top down furling for asymmetric spinnakers and mizzen staysails keep the crew safe and always allow spinnakers to be dropped at any time. Rob Doyle Design is involved in the largest top down system on a 60m performance sloop which will be delivered later this year.
Coupling this rig with a balanced foil package and a powerful hull shape will give a truly exciting package and lift the performance levels of performance cruising ketches still further.
Main Dimensions of the 46m Rob Doyle superyacht concept
LOA: 46m / 150’
LWL: 35.6m / 117’
BMAX: 9.5m / 31.2’
Draft keel up: 3.8m / 12.5’
Draft keel down: 9m / 25.5’
Max displacement: 285t
Mast height above DWL: 52.7m / 173’
Layout:
1 Master cabin
4 Guest cabins
1 Captain Cabin
3 Crew cabins
