McMullen and Wing Splashes Big Fish
href="http://megayachtnews.org/content/yachts/41-motoryachts/1515-aquos-yachts-big-fish.html" target="_blank">Big Fish story from November
The last day of March was a big day for a big yacht, fittingly named Big Fish: launch at McMullen and Wing.
The 45-meter (148-foot) megayacht was without her hardtop and mast when she slipped into the water, but the photos here still give you some idea of her expeditionary styling, complemented by a plumb bow and plentiful floor-to-ceiling windows. Styling is courtesy Gregory C. Marshall Naval Architects. She also marks the first project for a new company, Aquos Yachts, formed to emphasize the "expedition" in "expedition yachts."
As I explained last November when I revealed plans for Big Fish, a Hong Kong businessman, Richard Beattie, commissioned her to stay at sea for several consecutive months and emphasize eco-friendliness. Extensive tank tests were performed to ensure she’d be an efficient cruiser and that the plumb bow in particular would part waves well. She should be capable of a 10,000-mile range at 9 to 10 knots, powered by twin Caterpillar 3508B DI-TAs.
As for being ecologically responsible, Big Fish is the first superyacht featuring stone decking. Specifically, it’s epoxy-impregnated granite, a sample of which I saw and held (see the Big Fish story from November for a photo). It’s comfortable to the touch and resists heat absorption better than teak. It also requires less maintenance and is lighter weight than teak. In addition, Big Fish features LED lighting and can create hot water from the waste heat emitted by the gensets and engines.
To save time, McMullen and Wing has been assembling the interior concurrently with the hull and superstructure construction, on a modular basis. Among the highlights: four guest staterooms that can transform into two full-beam suites; a full-beam owner’s suite aft on the bridge deck; an atrium stairwell connecting the flying bridge with the lowest of her three deck levels; and accommodations for nine crew. Balconies in various rooms are sure to be appreciated, too. Outside, fold-down platforms aft at the waterline form one 37-foot-long beach club that wraps partially around the yacht.
Big Fish – and her custom 28-foot tender, also built by McMullen and Wing – will be delivered next month. After a shakedown cruise and an owner's cruise, she'll be available for charter in the South Pacific in August and September. Those of us in North America will get a chance to see her when she heads to Fort Lauderdale in October. Not a yacht that will sit still for long, Big Fish will embark on a circumnavigation beginning in January 2011, with Antarctica as her first stop. Her owner anticipates her becoming the first private yacht to transit the Northeast Passage and the first vessel of any kind to complete a polar circumnavigation.
As if these plans and the launch weren't big enough news, McMullen and Wing and Aquos Yachts capped it off by signing a contract for a second yacht. To be named Star Fish, she'll measure 50 meters (164 feet) and a similar hull form. Some differences are planned, however: accommodations for 12 plus 14 crewmembers, and an owner's deck on the skylounge level, gaining use of deck areas both forward and aft. If the owner so wishes, the skylounge can serve as a private lounge, or it can be accessed by guests. As for the wheelhouse, it will be one deck level up, the fourth deck.
Delivery for Star Fish is expected in 2012.
