Heart of Glass
THE 90R BRINGS A FRESH NEW DESIGN APPROACH TO THE OCEAN ALEXANDER LINE. BY LOUISA BECKETT
From the expansive beach club to floor-to-ceiling windows, Ocean Alexander’s 90R is a translucent surprise.
Ocean Alexander has gotten high marks for seaworthiness and safety throughout its 40-plus-year history. With the introduction of the new Revolution series, which it recently developed with longtime yacht design collaborator Evan K. Marshall, the shipyard has added another attribute—sexiness.
The highly contemporary Ocean Alexander 90R, the first model in the series, made its debut at last year’s Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. It was moored diagonally—so showgoers could take in her profile at a glance—and stern-to the face dock with its unique sliding-glass transom doors opened to reveal the beach club. This inviting space is set up like a chic little bachelor pad with a sofa, wet bar and TV mounted in the bulkhead where you can watch the game while keeping an eye on the kids diving off the swim platform. A smoky glass skylight also lets you catch a glimpse of the sky.
“In this size yacht, I don’t think anyone else has a beach club like this,” said Marshall, who was showing the 90R off to clients. (The only other Ocean Alexander to feature one is the 120 Megayacht.)
Marshall is also justifiably proud of the interior that he and the Ocean Alexander design team created for the yacht. The shipyard’s design directive was simple—make it contemporary, in line with the current tastes of its American clientele with an unequivocal connection to the water. The results were crystal (ahem) clear: The salon, skylounge and main-deck master suite have some of the largest windows I have ever seen in a yacht. Many of these windows are floorto-ceiling and quite a few are actually sliding glass doors that open to bring the outside in. Literally.
“My wife and I love all of the vision in glass. Sometimes, we say we are living in a greenhouse,” said the first 90R’s owner, who bought the yacht sight unseen based on Marshall’s renderings. We joined him on board for a sea trial off Ft. Lauderdale a couple of weeks after the boat show.
The yacht’s interior furnishings, woods (oak with ebony and
walnut accents), Cambria quartz stonework, soft goods and the other décor that shares space with this abundant glazing are all lowprofile and neutral in hue, providing a backdrop that is elegant yet carefully designed to complement the windows rather than distract from them. The salon’s flat-screen TV even deploys from the overhead so it will not block the view. Much of the furniture is loose and looks like it belongs in an upscale urban loft; in fact, Marshall refers to it as “penthouse style.”
The 90R’s windows also inform its exterior design, providing wide swaths of dark glazing that contrasts sharply with the white hull and superstructure. The yacht’s profile is curvaceous, aggressive and contemporary—large sections of the bulwarks are absent, adding to her rapacious stance and allowing guests inside wide-open views.
“All the other boats I’ve had have been classics,” said the owner, a veteran yachtsman who has owned 10 boats over 100 feet and at least 20 more smaller ones. “We think [the 90R] is way ahead in terms of traditional design, and it will be the style of boat that people will want in the future.”
Socializing is supported throughout the vessel by a large number of fully-furnished gathering spaces. On the main deck, above the beach club, is a spacious aft deck with a dining table, settee and wet bar. Open the aft sliding doors and the party can flow seamlessly into the salon and dining area. Head up to the top deck and you’ll find another huge indoor/outdoor area designed for entertaining, from the enclosed helm and skylounge with its wraparound settee and bar to the exterior bridge deck with yet another bar, an outdoor grill and seating area. There’s no tender here to spoil the view; it’s mounted on the extended swim platform below.
For those in search of a slightly more intimate setting, the foredeck settee is a perfect spot for a sunset drink. If the owners are in the mood for a private tête-à-tête, they can retreat to the main deck master stateroom, which has twin “penthouse-style” armchairs that swivel to face ocean views through a huge side window.
Ocean Alexander, which offers yachts up to 155 feet, is a semiproduction builder that understands its owners’ need to personalize their onboard living space. Nowhere is this more evident than on the 90R, which has several lower-deck configurations available. The standard layout has a VIP suite forward with a full, walkaround king berth, sofa and commodious en suite. This truly large suite, made possible by the volume afforded by the yacht’s plumb bow, can also be configured as two twin cabins—both en suite.
Likewise, the amidships area forward of the engine room bulkhead can be arranged as two king berth suites, two twin berth suites or—luxuriously—a second full-beam master suite. Therefore, an owner theoretically could specify sleeping accommodations for as few as six guests on board, or as many as 10.
Her flexibility also extends to the crew areas. The owner of Hull No. 1 said he plans to operate the yacht himself with the help of a mate who has been with him for 15 years. However, for owners who prefer to let a captain do the driving, the crew’s quarters accommodate up to three. Accessed via private stairs from the port walkaround on the main deck, they include a captain’s cabin with a twin berth, a second cabin with two bunks, a shared head with a separate shower, a small crew lounge with a sink and a microwave, and a washer/dryer. The wood and stonework in the crew’s quarters are finished to the same level as the rest of the yacht, except that it has Amtico flooring for easy cleanup.
The 90R’s galley, located on the main deck, also is a versatile space. Marshall designed unique pocket doors for its entry, allowing owners to open the galley up entirely to the dining area and salon. This should suit the first hull’s new owners, letting the wife, who does all the cooking on board, stay connected with her guests. There also is a small dinette tucked into one corner where guests can enjoy breakfast or watch the chef at work. Of course, the pocket doors can be closed to turn the galley into a more formal, crew-only space.
The 90R does not have a lower helm, but the upper helm station in the protected skylounge offers just about everything an owner/operator or captain could hope for. The windshield with its huge center pane, twin pantograph doors with inset glass panes, large windows and sliding glass doors that encircle the skylounge offer nearly 360 degrees’ worth of visibility. Three large Garmin multifunction touchscreen monitors flush-mounted in a slightly tilted, raised panel are easy to read and interact with. While the owners affectionately refer to this space as their “greenhouse,” it was quite comfortable inside during a sea trial on a sunny day in South Florida, thanks to the UVreducing V-Kool film on the windows.
Hull No. 1 is equipped with upgraded propulsion—twin 1,600-hp 16V MTUs—and features a remote docking station that the captain used to effortlessly pull us away from the dock. (Having opening pantograph doors on either side of the helm station made this operation even easier.) On the Atlantic Ocean off Ft. Lauderdale, the 90R’s rounded planing hull, designed by Arrabito Naval Architects, gave us a very smooth ride through lumpy 2- to 4-foot seas, and also cornered well. Most impressive was how quiet the yacht was at speed: When running wide open at over 25 knots she was at 70.5 decibels, just over normal conversation level. Like all Ocean Alexanders, the 90R is built with a cutting-edge sound reduction package, including vibration-isolation engine mounts.
Overall, the 90R delivers a knockout combination of eye-catching looks, social spaces, luxury accommodations and performance. But while its overt sex appeal might make it seem to be a “revolutionary” departure from the rest of Ocean Alexander’s line, when we went through the yacht a second time with a focus on the details, it was evident that the shipyard’s hallmarks remain in force. The craftsmanship reflected in the stainless steel inlays embedded in the décor; the perfectly formed, leather-wrapped handrails; the smoothly self-closing drawers; clever features like the twin berth that slides over its low night stand creating a hidden safe; and the fanatically tie-wrapped electrical runs in the engine room all whisper “Ocean Alexander.”
Next up in the series is the 80R. When she debuts, we’ll be first in line for a drive.