Luxury yacht manufacturer, Curvelle, has partnered with the top Dutch supplier, Lift Emotion, to create an elevator solution for the yard’s motor yacht ‘quaranta’. Curvelle is presently putting the final touches on the unique compact luxury vessel, on a highly stable catamaran hull form. Charter yacht Quaranta is scheduled for delivery this spring.
When the Curvelle team researched options on how to create the ideal custom yacht solution for owners or guests with reduced mobility, the need for an elevator was quickly identified.
“Our original research found that superyacht owners very often had older parents who need wheelchair assistance and found it frustrating that they could not be included in the cruising itinerary”, Curvelle founder Luuk V. van Zanten comments. “That’s why we addressed this factor right from the start. We obviously prioritised getting the project underway and starting the build of the first yacht, which incidentally is on schedule, before we completed the design scheme for a more specialised custom yacht where we added a glazed lift.”
It comes as no surprise that Curvelle entrusted Lift Emotion to come up with a custom solution. Mike Brandt explains: “Within the limits of the applicable regulations, we are capable of designing every elevator desired by customer or architect, as was the case with the Curvelle quaranta.”
“Putting a three deck guest elevator on a 33 metre yacht, is quite a challenge, but we managed to create an attractive, and unique solution. As far as I know, this is the first elevator solution on a yacht this size.”
Despite the limited space available on the 33 metre charter yacht Quaranta, Lift Emotion created plans for a glass elevator, running from the main deck, where all the guest accommodation is located, all the way up to the sun deck. “The elevator on the sun deck is cleverly incorporated at the front of the fixed bimini which has been extended forward to incorporate this feature”, Luuk explains.
Even though the first Curvelle, which is scheduled to hit the water in a couple of weeks, is not yet fitted with an elevator, all the plans for adding one at a stage are already in place.
