OnBoard Magazine - Issue XI - Summer 2019

W hat does it take for a large production luxury yacht builder to shift gears and unleash an innovative new concept boat on the public? The newest model from Princess Yachts was a top-secret endeavor from day one. The first demo boat remained shrouded in mystery even after initial sea trials, thanks to a clever hull wrap that tricked the eyes to see different shapes and lines. The Princess management team explains they had been toying with this idea of a radical, relatively small, new model for a few years. But the concept never fully took flight until Antony Sheriff became the new Executive Chairman and reignited that conversation. He recalls, “The first day I came in, I sat down with the team and I said 'Gosh, wouldn't it be cool to build a small boat?’” Not every team member at Princess was originally on board with creating a high- performance small boat, but the project thoughtfully moved forward. Great care, discussion and research was undertaken to ensure they could indeed execute the revolutionary design without sacrificing the qualities that a Princess yacht is known for. Andrew Lawrence, the Head of Design for Princess Yachts explains some of the detail and collaboration that went into this radical new yacht, "We came at the project from two completely different angles: the boat needed to be useful and it needed to be comfortable. This is not a racing boat, it's a high-performance boat." Lawrence adds, “We went through many iterations of the general arrangement— about five before finalizing the plan.” This healthy dose of vision, research and development is what gave birth to the breath-taking new Princess R35—a true revolution in yacht design, both above and below the waterline. To reach these ends, Princess developed some impressive partnerships in the design and technology of this new build, including the top- notch outfits of Pininfarina and BAR Technologies. If all the secrecy and stealth remind you of a hot new concept car, there’s good reason for that. Pininfarina is a world-renowned Italian design studio with over 85 years of heritage, penning some of the most iconic and breathtaking luxury sports cars for generations. The R35 immediately catches the eye with her incredibly sleek form and those massive air intakes molded into the aft hull sides. There is certainly a hefty dose of Italian supercar DNA in this new yacht design. COLLABORATION BETWEEN PRINCESS YACHTS, PININFARINA AND BAR TECHNOLOGIES BIRTHS THE ALL-NEW R35 RRRREVOLUTION A new yacht design with Italian supercar DNA. by Magnus Thiersmann 21 SUMMER 2019