Royal Huisman brings superyacht scale to a new age of sail with the 81M Sky project

When the Dutch yacht builder Royal Huisman’s Sky project is delivered in 2030 – assuming someone commissions it soon – the new owner will be making a statement even in the face of countless other new superyachts. Shown here in rendered form, the concept yacht is ready to go.

Sky will be sizeable, at 81m long, big enough to carry a 12m tender; to have a full beam stateroom; a wellness spa; an extendable swim platform, and so on. But it will also have a 93m-tall sail, on a carbon mast and boom designed by Royal Huisman’s sister company Rondal. That, at the same height as the Statue of Liberty, will make it the world’s tallest sloop – that’s a single-masted sailing vessel with one mainsail and one or more foresails. It will be some 4m taller than its nearest rival.

‘The appeal of that height is both emotional and practical,’ argues Jurjen van’t Verlaat, head of marketing for Royal Huisman. ‘Sky is an amazing yacht, one of the largest in the world and she looks great. [That size of rig] offers exciting performance even in light winds, high average speeds and easy handling. But it’s also about presence. Sky is bold and ambitious. We’re convinced that when she is out on the water, everyone will be amazed. [This project] shows well what large, and XXL, sailing yachts can do’.

This is something Royal Huisman is well-versed in. It is also in the process of building Project 410, set to become the world’s largest single-mast yacht (by length, at 85m), with three others builds underway – each of which will, on completion, be in the top ten of the world’s largest sailing yachts.

Meanwhile the Sky project – with interior styling by Winch Design and exterior styling by Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design, which scooped multiple awards last year for its 60m Sarissa high-performance sloop – has already been fully designed and engineered. This would shave a year or so off time to delivery in case anyone wishes to put their order in.

The yacht will come with a recyclable aluminium hull and rig that, Verlaat claims, means it will outpace comparable motor yachts while offering the quietness of sail (there is an electric power plant as back-up) and, for the superyacht customer increasingly interested in such advantages, a low-emission experience. Royal Huisman says that Sky will offer the manoeuvrability of a much smaller yacht, closer to 50m in length.

Royal Huisman is a sailing yacht specialist since its foundation 140 years ago last year, and has 60 years’ expertise in building aluminium-hulled yachts; its proprietary Featherlight construction has been critical to Sky’s sailing dynamic. This engineers the right volume of material for the right location and glues aluminium parts to other construction elements – avoiding the additional weight of other fastening materials – so reducing the weight of conventional aluminium construction by 10 to 15 per cent.

This provides weight-saving comparable to that achieved by using a more expensive composite hull. Aluminium is also safer, Royal Huisman argues – it bends rather than breaks on impact.

‘On Sky, a long waterline, lift keel and optimised weight distribution work hand-in-hand with the integrated sailing system,' Verlaat continues. 'The result is a yacht that is fast, safe and simple to handle. It also offers the same space, finish and serenity that clients expect from a motor yacht. [In fact this all] makes Sky an attractive – and possibly even better – alternative to a motor yacht.’

RoyalHuisman.com, @RoyalHuisman.com, WinchDesign.com, MalcolmMckeonYachtDesign.com