Known all over the world for building some of the most impressive sailing superyachts in operation today, Royal Huisman is set to reveal another epic vessel. Both a world cruiser and performance superyacht, the Nilaya is a fine example of what the latest design technology can do.
The new superyacht’s lucky owners plan to cruise the world onboard their new home away from home. But don’t be fooled by its name (Nilaya is Sanskrit for “blissful home”) because this luxury yacht has the bones of a high-performance racer. In fact, the owners wanted to replace their previous racing yacht, an experienced regatta champion, with something that would be just as responsive and easy to handle, but a bit more comfortable for long journeys at sea.
One way of making the new yacht more comfortable was to greatly reduce noise levels, which was achieved based on complex sound attenuation studies.
Another feature that makes Nilaya (Project 405) stand out is that it’s 11% lighter compared to similar advanced aluminum cruising yachts. This was the result of what Royal Huisman describes as a revolutionary method named Featherlight. At the core of this new method, you’ll find the same spacecraft technology that’s used by the ESA (European Space Agency) known as FEA (Finite Element Analysis).
Every inch of this yacht, including the lighting, insulation, and the interior, was submitted to this specific type of weight analysis. Based on the FEA modeling, the builder was able to choose not just different materials, but even specific thickness and frame space for the aluminum plates, to ensure the optimal weight for every part of the yacht.
The goal was to minimize displacement without compromising hull stiffness, and the result is a powerful superyacht that is as lightweight as composite versions, but also as robust as all-aluminum alternatives.
Royal Huisman’s sister company Rondal developed the carbon fiber mast, boom, and rig, using advanced technology to analyze and predict which components should be made of carbon composite, and which of aluminum. In addition to that, Doyle Sails’ structured luff sail was integrated on a yacht this size for the first time.
As the Dutch builder puts it, it wasn’t just one method, but multiple paths that were used to reduce the superyacht’s overall weight, without impacting performance.
At 154 feet (46.8 meters) this high-performance cruiser sloop can easily accommodate up to ten guests, plus a large eight-people crew. Designed by two reputable brands in the industry, Reichel/Pugh and Nauta Design, Nilaya’s silhouette will be as impressive as its performance, inspired by sleek racing yachts.
This innovative sloop is close to completion, gearing up to be delivered to its owners in the following months, just in time for the summer season.
