Beauty & Power
Dynamiq’s Jetsetter looks great and performs at the top of her class.
TTraditionally, yachts have come in two flavors: planing and displacement. Planing hulls are fast with styling to match, but they have limited range and comfort. Full-displacement hulls offer more comfort underway, but they are generally slow and less exciting to look at.
“Why can’t we have something in the middle?” asks Sergei Dobroserdov, a Moscow-born yacht broker turned designer and builder. “A new category that combines fast performance with good comfort and range?”
His answer is the 126-foot (38.6-meter) Jetsetter, the first D4 model, which made her debut at the 2016 Monaco Yacht Show. She is the first in the Dynamiq range of all-aluminum displacement yachts with a common technical platform.
To create the Dynamiq range, Dobroserdov gathered some of the top names in the yacht industry: Azure Yacht Design & Naval Architecture for hull lines, Van Oossanen Naval Architects for optimization and Bannenberg & Rowell Design for interiors. Together, they developed three models that vary in size, volume and performance: the D4, with a top speed of 21 knots; the S4, at the same length overall but with a top end of 25 knots; and the 131foot (40-meter) D4 L, also with a top speed of 21 knots. Dobroserdov calls the fleet Gran Turismo Transatlantic (GTT) yachts, borrowing from Italy’s gran turismo cars, which are fast and can cover long distances in stylish comfort.
“The number of very wealthy people in the world is increasing, but yacht sales do not reflect this growth because the products are not appealing enough,” Dobroserdov says. “I simply believe we can propose something better that offers owners more choice.”
Jetsetter’s reverse bow and fluid lines, inspired by automotive styling, give her a distinctive exterior profile. Her top speed is in excess of 20 knots. At 10 knots, she burns just 80 gallons of fuel an hour for a cruising range of 3,000 nautical miles.
But Dobroserdov’s objective was not just longer range and higher speeds: Although the yacht is compact by superyacht standards, he believes owners should not have to compromise comfort based solely on size.
Jetsetter’s ceiling heights of more than 7 feet (2.1 meters) exceed rival brands of equivalent length overall, and Dobroserdov says that aboard Jetsetter, the shipyard used the same marble supplier that Lürssen did on Azzam, the world’s largest yacht.
To reduce the likelihood of seasickness, Azure developed the fast displacement hull form by calculating a “comfort index” that includes waterline length, beam, displacement, draft and center of buoyancy. The design team opted for electric, at-anchor stabilizers,
Smart SolutionS
another aspect of the Dynamiq business model makes it different: Clients can use an automotive-style, online design tool to personalize their yachts.
Deluxe and Sport packages are available, or clients can select individual items ranging from exterior paint to interior finish, a/V systems and technical equipment. Clients can select the shape of the hot tub, add water toys, choose crew uniforms and even add a crew car. Starting from a base price of around $15.5 million, Dynamiq yachts with these options can be viewed in real time online, with prices for each option displayed.
Dynamiq aims to deliver a fully finished yacht in 17 months. this is achievable thanks to the fixed technical platform; the integrated bridge is one of the few areas that cannot be customized.
Even still, the ‘build your own’ online tool removes much of the mystery associated with yacht ownership—a further factor likely to appeal to the wealthy millennials who Dynamiq is targeting.
which are quieter, more reactive and take up less space than their hydraulic counterparts. With U.S. clients in mind, Jetsetter’s range and relatively shallow draft of 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters) make her Bahamas-friendly.
The main engines are coupled to Contra Rotating Propeller (CRP) pods for increased efficiency, and reduced noise and vibration from cavitation. The fixed pods, unlike steerable pods, require rudders but provide more thrust at high speed. The result is sound levels of 40 decibels—equivalent to softly falling rain—in the owner’s suite adjoining the engine room when at anchor. Jetsetter earned a RINA Comfort Class notation for her low levels of noise and vibration, and RINA Green Plus certification for low environmental impact.
Bannenberg & Rowell integrated its knowledge of larger yachts, developing a fresh, sporty template that can be customized by swapping out materials and finishes, but without falling into the generic design solutions common to most series yachts.
“The unusual aspect of Sergei’s brief was that we should forget everything, but also use everything we know,” says Simon Rowell, the firm’s creative director. “In terms of aesthetics, there was no defined style we had to stick to, but we wanted to weave in a level of detail and human soul, if you like, not usually found on a semicustom yacht.”
AAboard Jetsetter, the London-based studio’s cheeky but taut handling of forms and finishes is combined with loose furnishings by Trussardi Casa, thanks to a partnership between Trussardi and Dynamiq. Those furnishings include a custom Relief sofa, Larzia armchairs, ottoman poufs, carpets, fabrics, lamps and other items in colors ranging from cognac, sand and cocoa to ecru, petroleum and Air Force blue. Enough of Bannenberg & Rowell’s progressive style remains amid the heavily branded glamour of Trussardi, and, as Dobroserdov says, “You can easily take the loose furniture out in one day and put in something else.”
Nuovi Cantieri Apuania built Jetsetter in Tuscany under Dynamiq management. The yard, part of the Italian Sea Group, also launched 180-foot (55-meter) Quinta Essentia, the Admiral E-Motion hybrid developed by Dobroserdov.
Jetsetter’s general arrangement went through several permutations before arriving at a four- or five-stateroom layout on the lower deck. The former has the added luxury of a full-beam master suite, and both provide discreet crew access to the guest staterooms for servicing. There is also a dedicated laundry room and a crew dinette.
Instead of a beach club, the transom garage houses a 17-foot (5.1-meter) Castoldi jet tender, and the transom door folds down to create more than 320 square feet (about 30 meters) of swim platform. The tender stowage affects the size of the engine room, but the main machinery is readily accessible. The sundeck has all the features associated with larger yachts, including a hot tub, covered dining area, barbecue, bar, sofas and sun loungers.
More than offering a range of semi-custom yachts that gives rival brands a run for their money, Dynamiq takes the series concept a step further by tapping into what it sees as a “lost generation” of owners that falls between the markets for composite planing boats and larger displacement yachts.
“The demographics are changing,” Dobroserdov says. “There is a new segment of high- tech industry leaders out there who made their money by being extremely smart and making rational rather than emotional decisions. They want something new and different.”