HOW SUPERYACHTS DO IT

Several companies serve the superyacht market, and many will be brands you will recognize. Sleipner, well known for its Sidepower thrusters, is one key player, and Italianbased CMC is another. The latter is bringing fin stabilisation to much smaller boats by using electric motors instead of hydraulics. Seakeeper is another brand now also available to the sub-superyacht market, although all these installations are still many thousands of pounds. However, they allow a boat to extend its cruising range by having a more relaxed crew, and are increasingly energy-efficient.

here’s what the internal workings of a stabiliser fin look like. these react very quickly to a roll, even when the yacht is stationary, but cost tens of thousands to install

inside this sphere a gyro spins at 1,500rpm, with a tolerance of a few thousands of an inch. it takes 20 minutes to spool up, and 6 hours to run down

this 24ft white Shark tender is fitted with the Seakeeper 2, currently the smallest gyro stabiliser available, but the mothership can run several of the larger units in tandem, each flywheel weighing up to four tons apiece