Designing a 282-foot expedition yacht around the size of its toys may sound like an unusual approach to yacht design, but the Italian shipyard CRN has launched some very unusual yachts in the last two years. Its newest concept, the 86-meter explorer yacht, was designed around two missions: to give as much space to toys and tenders as possible, and to make sure every social area has an unbroken view of the ocean. Oh, and it will be able to visit the most remote waters of the planet.
London-based designers Harrison Eidsgaard, known for classic, elegant custom superyachts, focused on “exploration” with this new concept. Beyond the ability to reach offbeat destinations, exploration also means taking sailboats or Jet Skis to explore local coves wherever the yacht is anchored, or fish from sport-fishing center-console boats, or even explore the blue depths in a personal submarine. The designers came up with creative spaces to house the tenders throughout the hull, without sacrificing areas like the beach club or swimming pools. In-deck garages also include the foredeck, which has a crane that can launch supersized tenders weighing up to 50 tons.
Harrison Eidsgaard’s other assignment was to turn social areas like the main saloon, dining room, and master apartment into glass palaces that offer unobstructed views of the water. The designers used floor-to-ceiling windows across the top three decks. The owner’s deck has a terrace that forms a circle around its exterior, offering privacy during long-range cruises to the Galápagos or Antarctica.
Interestingly, this explorer yacht harkens back to CRN’s roots. In the 1980s, it launched the superyacht industry’s first expedition yacht, called the F100. It’s a far cry from this contemporary beauty, but it shows the Italian yard was thinking ahead of its time, much as it has been in the last few years. “Explorer yachts have always been part of our DNA,” says Stefano de Vivo, chief commercial officer of CRN parent company Ferretti Group. “With Harrison Eisdgaard, we’re now happy to return to the values that have led us to where we are today, though with a very original concept.”
