Luxury cruiser

Here is one of my newest designs. The Blue Pearl was designed for my clients Greg Hummer and Paul Lincoln who had owned one of my CT 65s for several years and wanted a bigger boat. This project could not have been possible without the help from my old friend Ivan Erdevicki. Ivan and I met years ago when I first reviewed one of his designs while he was still living in Montenegro. Ivan moved to the States, worked in a number of design offices then set up his own shop with offices in both Vancouver, B.C., and Montenegro. Ivan now does all my engineering.

It was easy to get started on this design. I knew that boat well and at the completion of three intense days working on preliminary concept drawings in my office we had the new boat very well outlined. This boat is 114 feet LOA and 106 feet if I leave off the stem clipper extension. I have no idea what that part of the boat is called. I just call it "the beak." The D/L is 130 and the L/B is 4.6 using LOA and 4.28 using LOD. I think LOD is a more representative number to use. The keel is a long, low aspect ratio fin drawing 10 feet. I would have liked to have more draft but pragmatic cruising considerations restricted me. The rudder is a partially balanced spade on a short skeg. There is flare to the forward sections to enhance the clipper look and also tumblehome aft to add some eye candy to that big transom. While I suspect the Farr SW 100RS has almost no deadrise at all, my Blue Pearl has 17 degrees of deadrise amidships decreasing to 10 degrees at the transom. I added a hint of hollow to the sections aft to make the transom prettier. Note how much fuller my design is in the deck plan forward. This is partly due to the added flare in the forward sections.

The biggest difference between the layout of the Blue Pearl and the SW 100RS is the pilothouse of the Blue Pearl. This pilothouse is at deck level and includes a raised dinette to port and a very large nav and steering station to starboard. Down below the saloon features a dinette to starboard and settee to port. Aft of the settee there is a bar and adjacent on the starboard side is an entertainment center. Blue Pearl has been designed to accommodate two partners in mirror-image staterooms aft. There is also a layout with only one stateroom aft but the first boat built out of the mold will have this layout. The galley is huge and has dumbwaiter access to the galley area on deck. Adjacent to the galley is the "library" with a large-screen television and bookshelves. Forward of the saloon are two more mirror-image staterooms with double berths and adjoining heads. Forward of this are two staterooms for the captain and crew, each with its own head and shower. Included in this area is a crew dinette and small crew galley. There is direct access to the deck from the crew galley. It was very important to my client that the crew be well accommodated. Note that all the shower stalls in this layout are very generous. This was another specific client request.

On deck just aft of the pilothouse there is a lounging area with high seat backs sheltered by a fixed hardtop bimini. In this area is the dumbwaiter for the galley, a refrigerator, icemaker and seating with tables for the entire group to dine together. Aft of this area are twin steering stations. Boarding will be on the starboard side with a hydraulically operated fold-down section of the hull. Winches are Harken captive style for hands-off line handling. Halyard and main and mizzen sheet winches are in the bilge. Genoa sheets are led aft under the quarterdeck to captive winches. The tender will be carried on deck as per the owner's request and there is a Steelhead Marine crane to handle it.

The Blue Pearl has been designed to be a stiff and able series-built passagemaker. Construction will begin late this fall at the Han Sheng yard in Xiamen, China, where I have been involved for the past five years. I am proud of the work Ivan and I have done on this design. I think it will be a spectacular yacht.

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LOA 114'; LOD 106; LWL 89'1"; Beam 24'9"; Draft 10'; Displacement 250,000 lbs.; Ballast 89,600 lbs.; Sail area 4,702 sq. ft.; SA/D 17.79; D/L 130; L/B 4.28; Auxiliary Volvo Penta D-9 55-hp; Fuel 2,800 gals.; Water 2,200 gals.

Blue Pearl Yachts, Ltd., 20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 450, Shaker Heights, OH 44122, (216) 543-3031, www.bluepearlyachts.com.

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OBE: $9.5 million
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