Adèle Explorer & Beauty A Study In Contrasts
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
© Hoek Design
Adèle
Explorer & Beauty
A Study In Contrasts
on the HISWA tour last June I didn’t realise that Adèle was at Vitters for us to see
W
HILE
so, to my regret, I missed seeing this yacht, which is a melange of classic looks and
modern naval architecture. In this, she is a very typical design of Andre Hoek. I recently
received a press release from Edson about the special steering they created for Adèle. They
were justifiably proud of this system; specifically designed to allow the helm to be manage-
able yet give good feedback to the helmsman. This only served to highlight the unfortunate
nature of my omission. So, you may be wondering, why is an article appearing in The Yacht
Report about this 54-metre Vitters ketch? Surely TYR doesn’t write about yachts or projects
they haven’t seen. You would be right; we don’t. However, this time we were sent an exten-
sive narrative about her maiden voyage to the North including a comprehensive description
of the design concept and how it was achieved. Better yet, this came from someone who inti-
mately understands the yacht – the Owner, Jan-Eric Österlund. Adèle is the replacement for
his previous 78-footer. He owned Swedish Caprice, built by a small family firm Bröderna
Jacobssons, for 15 years and circumnavigated on it. When I mentioned this, he corrected me,
saying that he has sailed all round the world, but not sailed round the world. He expresses
admiration for those who have, especially single handed, but is himself too sociable to
emulate them.
78 feet to 180 feet is a large size jump, but he feels that to create a world cruising yacht with
enough storage and facilities, that also has the elegance of a classic, demands a size between
the 40 metres of Maria Cattiva (the Huisman owned by a friend) and his own 54-metre Adèle.
At smaller sizes the beautiful overhangs eat useful space and only allow “a Kleenex to be
stowed aft and one anchor forward” – of little use on a yacht destined to visit isolated cruising
grounds. Once committed to such a large yacht, he is astonished that so few owners choose
the classic look. At least one other has: Jan-Eric told me Hoek and Vitters had just signed anoth-
er build: “not a copy of Adèle, but definitely the same concept and of similar size.” He admires
and finds the yachts like Wally’s exciting even if they are not exactly to his taste. They too sac-
rifice interior volume for looks, of course, but mostly for performance.
There is an almost uneasy contrast between the sleek, delicate lines and the (literal) hardness
(and crushing potential) of the ice-ridden environment in which she made her maiden voyage
and where Adèle will venture in the future. Mr Österlund was departing soon after we spoke
to take Adèle round the Caribbean, spending a month on both coasts of Panama, visiting San
Blas and the Galapagos Islands, then through the Pacific before the cold waters of Antarctica
and South Georgia beckon them towards the end of 2006.
Here then is his narrative of Adèle’s pre christening voyage of 6,000 nm from Gothenburg to
Gothenburg, via Svalbard, and his technical report on his yacht.
Tork Buckley
THE YACHT REPORT 113
With Adèle At The Top
Of The World
The sky had at last turned blue as we were heading east along the square metres. The sea was smooth, the waves dampened by the
top of Spetsbergen, the main island in the Svalbard group. The sun pack ice less than 50 miles to the north of us; ideal weather condi-
warmed us up, and we needed it with both air and sea temperature tions for Adèle.
just above freezing. We had left Holland less than a month ago, sailing directly to Bergen
Adèle was flying along with a north-westerly breeze blowing, with the and then followed the Norwegian coast north to the Lofoten archi-
apparent wind just forward of the beam we were reaching in a force pelago, above the Arctic Circle. We had expected cold weather
four wind making around 14 knots. there, but instead were met by incredible sunshine, 24 hours a day,
Adèle is fast at 180 feet overall, with a fine bow that easily cuts during all five days and around 24 degrees centigrade.
through the waves and a generous sail area of more than 1,500 From Lofoten we took a 700-mile leap north to Longyearbyen, the
114 THE YACHT REPORT
The old and new Monegasque exploration vessels in 1905
© NOAA
Albert 1 at the top of the world:
© NOAA
on the bridge in 1905
capital of Svalbard, with 2,000 inhabitants, where we picked up my Next we went into the Smeerenburg fjord on the north-west coast to
friends, André and Ineke Hoek (André designed Adèle), Per-Magnus document the movements of the Smeerenburg glacier. Some 99
Sandér and Katarina Salén (who would be our guides during these years earlier an expedition led by Prince Albert I of Monaco took a
10 days in Svalbard), Arne Wennberg and Christina Bernadotte (who series of photos to illustrate the front of the glacier. We wanted to
had been sailing with me in lots of places around the world on my show the difference between the glacier now and then.
previous yacht Swedish Caprice) and Rick and Annika Tomlinson We climbed the mountain and found the exact spot where the
(Rick is one of the world’s foremost photographers of sailing yachts Monegasque expedition had taken their shots and we repeated the
and sailing adventures). We also had a crew of eight led by Captain procedure. It looks like the glacier has withdrawn around 4,000
André Engblom. metres in 99 years, and from what we understand most of that is in
The temperature sank drastically as we approached Spetsbergen the last 15 to 20 years.
and the sun disappeared behind a constant bank of fog. From However, before we approached the glacier Per-Magnus, our expe-
Longyearbyen to our first port of call in Spetsbergen at 78 degrees dition leader shouted “Polar bears”, so we changed course abrupt-
north, we had sailed a further 200 miles north and east to our ly. Three bears were walking along the shore. Bear cubs normally
present position. stay with their mother for two years learning to hunt, and here was
a mother and two second-year cubs climbing up and down the steep
Glaciers & Polar Bears slopes at the fjord. Slowly motoring we followed the bear family, with
a deck full of photographers and would-be photographers. When
To the north of us was Moffen Island, where, with binoculars, we Adèle’s wake splashed the mother at one point, she decided she’d
could just make out a lonely polar bear walking around, keeping its had enough and climbed higher up the slope, where her cubs were
distance from the walrus colony on the southwest side. We were too eagerly waiting. Afterwards, we returned to the glacier and took
far away to get photos, but the previous day had come incredibly Adèle as close as we dared, to take photos of our one-month-old
close to polar bears. yacht in front of a thousand-year-old glacier.
THE YACHT REPORT 115
aloft some protection from the icy winds. They talked us through
Walruses & Pack Ice the ice by radio as we went further and further north.
Finally at 81 degrees 10 minutes north we were wedged in, with ice
A couple of hours after we left the polar bears of Moffen island the towering up all around us. Our jet-driven tender was launched and
ice increased, and we resorted to motoring as we approached we all took a walk on the pack ice. Arne reminded me that a glass
Phippsöya in the Seven Islands group, the northernmost island in of champagne could be appropriate on this occasion so we got
Svalbard (and Europe) at 80 degrees 45 minutes north. champagne and glasses, but the stewardesses decided that the
We like to eat most of our meals on deck, either in the protected champagne chiller wasn’t necessary!
main cockpit or on deck just aft of the main mast – but none of We returned to Phippsöya that evening and the next morning we
these options suited this cold evening. We retreated downstairs to paid a visit to the walruses for a second time. This time we stayed
a dinner in the deck house, still able to watch two walrus pods in the dinghy to see if they wanted to approach us. As expected
lounging on the beach and afterwards we had a coffee seated their curiosity took over, and when we turned off the engine they
around the fireplace in the saloon. The fireplace is an antique we swam closer and closer until finally we had 20 walruses no more
found in Bath and had restored. It can burn normal wood or coal, than half a metre from us, and some of them were even touching
but we normally prefer the cleaner, artificial logs. the tender with their whiskers.
The next morning we paid the walruses
a visit. They were basking in the sun,
tickling their bellies, looking very con-
tent with life, which is quite astonishing
as they are only males (or maybe that is
the explanation for their relaxed atti-
tude?). The females are far away in
Franz Josef Land, part of Russia, taking
care of their young ones. We stayed
several hours with the walruses, as we
could come as close as a couple of
metres without worrying them.
In the afternoon we decided to sail north
into the pack ice. Conditions were ideal,
with not too much wind, and as the ice
increased we had to motor slowly with
Per-Magnus and Georgina up in the
crow’s nest.
The crow’s nest on Adèle is like a lift running up 40 metres on the Katarina had told us stories of how her Zodiac was punctured by
forward part of the mainmast (to just below the top end of the inner walrus tusks last year, so when they became a little bit too curious,
forestay), with the help of a captive winch controlled from the nest. we thought it best to start the engine. But however much we tried,
The view is fantastic and it is very easy to spot ice floes and bergs nothing could get our engine to kick over. What’s more now the wal-
(although the crow’s nest was mainly designed for spotting coral ruses wanted to come even closer and climb up on the aft platform
reefs in tropical waters). We covered it with canvas to give the crew of the dinghy.
I decided enough was enough and
called Adèle to get a second tender in
the water to ‘rescue’ us. I told them
“that we are surrounded by walruses
and feel quite vulnerable”, but Nick who
received the call thought I said, “… feel
quite wonderful”, so he answered
“Excellent, Adèle out”! We looked at
each other in the tender and didn’t know
what to say, but soon another tender
was launched and came to our rescue.
The walruses swam away for a while but
soon came back to check if Paul, our
engineer, would fix the capricious sole-
noid that prolonged our encounter with
them.
116 THE YACHT REPORT
Speeding South Again Close to us an expedition ship, M/S Origo, had anchored up and we had a conference with them about the weather. The north-westerly wind was increasing, pushing the polar cap closer to us and threat- ening to close the passage back around the northwest corner of Spetsbergen. On Adèle, we decided to turn back and motorsail as fast as we could towards the protected islands at the northwest cor- ner of Spetsbergen. On the other hand, Origo, an older motor ves- sel with a thick steel hull, decided to continue further east. We were happy we decided to go back west, as we later heard that Origo had been enclosed in the pack ice for 36 hours. Although she could han- dle it with her thick hull, it wouldn’t have been equally good for Adèle. The next morning we were at anchor protected from pack ice. Snow flakes covered the deck and our Cayman Islands flag looked slight- ly bewildered in this environment! We launched two of the tenders and succeeded to see and photograph more polar bears on two different occasions. After lunch we meandered through the islands and then set sail going south. With just main and mizzen we were doing 11 knots, and when the genoa came up we were reaching again at more than 14 knots. When the wind slowed down a little after lunch we set the mizzen staysail as well and continued to log similar speeds. We anchored at Signehamna on the west coast and after dinner took two of the tenders towards the glacier. Close to the glacier the water had a light blue colour from the melting ice, and the sunrays (although it was nearly midnight) broke through the floating bergs creating a million shades of blue from the lightest to the darkest. All around us we could hear the sound of air bubbles finally being released after thousands of year of imprisonment in glacier ice. As we returned in the tenders the sun disappeared behind clouds and it started snowing again.
118 THE YACHT REPORT
Kittiwakes were relaxing reading novels in the saloon or deckhouses. Rick and
I were editing pictures on our computers; Rick in his cabin and I in
& Swedish Herrings my library, where I have two computer screens for working with
Photoshop (and to handle emails and other more mundane things).
The next day we motored down to Lilliehööksfjorden, where André, Meanwhile, Per-Magnus was sleeping in his cabin editing his dreams!
our captain, with the help of bow and stern thrusters held Adèle A couple of days later all the guests got off at Longyearbyen and
literally only a couple of metres off a steep mountainside with nest- Adèle went south at full speed to the Swedish west coast, where she
ing puffins, guillemots and kittiwakes. The thrusters are each 125 would be formally christened in Marstrand. By the time the christen-
hp and, of course, designed for tricky manoeuvres in narrow har- ing took place, she had already done more than 6,000 miles and
bours or to take Adèle off a jetty in strong wind. But they work been further than many yachts travel in a lifetime.
equally well to satisfy ornithological enthusiasts! We can control I am editing this article in Lisbon. The sun is shining, our friends are
the thrusters from both port and starboard steering stations. The lying in the sun on deck or lounging in deck chairs and it feels so far
bow thruster can also be manoeuvred from the control station for away from Sweden, where Adèle was christened. In fact though, the
the anchor winches, to make sure the chains keep clear of the top- distance between Lisbon and Gothenburg is shorter than from
sides (and from each other if we have two anchors down). Gothenburg up to Svalbard, where Adèle was put through her first
We continued motoring to the Ossian Sars mountains in really tough test; one she passed with flying colours!
Kongsfjorden to climb up and see more birds. Adèle is nearly as fast
under engine as under sail, normally cruising at around 13 knots.
Before approaching Ossian Sar we had to pass a badly chartered
and quite shallow area. We therefore sent our tenders on ahead.
Two of the tenders have echo sounders and GPS systems, which
continuously send their position, speed, course and depth to the
chart system on the mother ship. Therefore at all times we can see
on the charts, where the tenders are and what depths they have
underneath them. By directing them on radio, we can ‘scan’ the
depth of relevant areas.
We had an afternoon climb up the mountain at Ossian Sars, coming
to the cliffs where kittiwakes and Brunnich’s guillemots were nesting.
After fishing the kittiwakes landed and regurgitated the food for the
new-born chicks. With thousands of birds all around us the noise was
deafening. That evening we gathered for a traditional Swedish
herring dinner with lots of schnapps and songs. I think we ate as
much fish, and sang as loudly, as all the birds we saw.
The next day we sailed back south to Isfjorden. Some of the guests
THE YACHT REPORT 119
Beauty, Speed Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and to me it is in the lines of
classic yachts like the Prince of Wales’ Britannia or Kaiser Wilhelm’s
& Adventure Meteor, or later yachts like the J-class’s. Long overhangs, low free-
boards, flush decks, classic deckhouses and tall masts are all char-
Adèle is built for adventure. For exploring far away places and cul- acteristics that André Hoek built into Adèle.
tures that you otherwise cannot reach that easily. I have been sail- But these classic lines are combined with a contemporary rig and
ing on board Swedish Caprice, a 79-foot sloop, for more than 15 underbody ensuring fast ocean passages and easy handling. She is
years averaging, around three months a year. Now we live on board probably the largest modern yacht built with direct mechanical (as
Adèle for most of the year, sometimes alone, but often with our well as hydraulic) steering. She is very well balanced and easy to
friends or some of my children. In my mind a yacht isn’t a true sail- steer under both sail and engine. Her sails are spectra-carbon and
ing yacht if she isn’t beautiful and fast. When she becomes as large her rig is all carbon fibre. Yet the deck houses are completely teak
as Adèle, it is easier to fulfil those objectives and also provide a plat- clad as on Britannia and the interior is all mahogany, with many cosy
form for far away explorations without compromising. areas embracing sofas to snuggle up into.
© Hoek Design
120 THE YACHT REPORT
Living On Adèle
A Vast Deck Area
The enormous teak deck is the focus of living on Adèle. The main
cockpit is the principal social area on board and also where the
sailing activities take place. It has four L-shaped sofas, two aft
with tables for coffee or dinner, for up to six persons each, and
two forward with a side table that hides a refrigerator on the star-
board side and a sink on the port side.
In the middle of the cockpit is a large centre table with seating
for 10, where we normally dine if it isn’t very cold. Aft of this
cockpit are the two steering positions, and in the middle just in
front of the mizzen mast, a centre console with the charting and
radar screen and all the hydraulic controls for sailing (22 differ-
ent functions). Thus it becomes very natural for guests to walk
up to the electronic chart and check our progress and talk to the
crew members in charge. I like this integration between crew and
guests, sailing and social life.
It is important to provide many interesting seating arrangements,
where people can follow the sailing, relax with a book or talk with
each other and I think we have achieved this well on board Adèle.
Outside the main cockpit there is, on either side, a sofa for two
to read or watch the water moving by. In front of both the middle
and aft deckhouses are further benches to relax on. The pulpit
too has a large triangular seat and on the pushpit room for two
persons to sit on either side.
Between the forward and the main deckhouse we have a shel-
tered area with two very large skylights protecting the sides, as
well as the two deckhouses fore and aft. This can be used for
sunbathing while under way. At anchor the table and chairs
stored in lockers underneath can be brought up for al fresco
dining in warm weather, when the cockpit feels too protected.
Forward of the mast we store our large tender, Ika, in a well. But
when Ika is launched, we can hydraulically hinge the v-shaped
base of the tender well up to create a flush deck area nearly 10
metres long. It’s excellent for partying or sunbathing (though nei-
ther seemed very attractive sailing in Svalbard; this has come to
be very useful in warmer waters).
Finally, aft of the aft deckhouse we have a special owners’ cock-
pit with two large armchairs either side of the entrance and a U-
shaped sofa aft.
Entertaining In Style
Walking down from the main cockpit you come to the deckhouse
with dining table to port and a seating area to starboard and for-
ward also to starboard is the navigation and communication cen-
tre with a staircase down to the captain’s office, the control room
and the engine room.
On the port side forward we have a second chart/planning table.
We have two navigation computers. One is used for navigating
under way, whereas the second is for planning the next legs of
our voyage without interfering with the sailing and navigation.
They are controlled from the starboard and port side of the deck-
house respectively.
THE YACHT REPORT 121Down some steps forward we enter the full-width saloon with two
Reefing & Furling
sofas and two armchairs to starboard facing the antique fireplace
Upwind we normally sail with genoa, main and mizzen (1,350 m2).
and opening up into the library forward; and on the port side is a
When the wind angle opens up a little we also set the staysail (anoth-
third cosy sofa for reading or watching television.
er 200 m2).
Going forward from the saloon you pass the bar and then come to a
In smooth sea we sail close-hauled at an apparent wind angle of
beautiful hallway with stairs up to the forward deckhouse, where a few
around 24 degrees, but in rough conditions we have to increase that
people can withdraw for privacy, connect a computer to the network or
to around 28 degrees. If we are sailing close-hauled it is efficient to
snuggle up and read a book while watching the sailing outside.
reduce sail as soon as the true wind speed reaches 15 knots. We
The mahogany panelling and the detailing of the woodwork together
would start with a reef in the genoa followed by a reef in the main.
with the exciting flow from deckhouse to saloon to library and fur-
When the wind increases further we would sail under staysail and
ther on to the forward deckhouse is really what makes these areas
double-reefed main (around 475 m2 or one third of the total upwind
so special.
sail area) and in storm conditions Adèle is designed to sail with a
reefed mizzen and reefed staysail (~250 m2).
The Owner’s Suite
The owner’s suite is aft with a bathroom, dressing room and full-
width master cabin with bed to one side and desk and sofa to the
other. A few steps up is the aft deck house, which is a separate liv-
ing room for us, if we want to withdraw. We have our own bar (and
I have my cigar humidor!), a desk for computer work and sofas for
reading. A few steps further up is our cockpit and, a couple of steps
further, the aft deck with its sun-lounging opportunities.
The guests have four staterooms to choose from, two doubles
forward and two twins aft. Forward of the two double guest cabins
is the galley. Forward of that are four crew cabins, laundry and the
crew mess.
Sailing Adèle
Powerful Ketch
Adèle is a powerful yacht that carries a substantial sail area. This,
together with her narrow hull and fine entry lines, gives her a lot of
speed even in light weather. We chose a ketch rig for several rea-
sons. Two masts make it easier to carry more sail area downwind.
It has been the preferred combination of many recent fast super-
yachts like MariCha III and IV, and Windrose.
The mizzen staysail on Adèle is very easy to set up and take down, and
adds a substantial sail area when reaching. The two masts give her
more possible sail combinations, making it easier to balance her in all
conditions. Finally, if Adèle was a sloop, she would have a mast so tall
that she wouldn’t be able to pass under the Bridge of the Americas (at
the Panama Canal). Even as a ketch she is just able to pass at low tide.
122 THE YACHT REPORTThe foresails are easily furled with Rondal hydraulic furlers, but for We normally wouldn’t sail Adèle running dead downwind. In an aver-
the main and mizzen, we chose full-length battens and conventional age breeze Adèle is so fast that in a true wind of 150 to 160
reefing. The sail shape is so much better, and they are easier to con- degrees, the apparent tends to crawl forward to nearly half wind. This
trol in different wind conditions. To facilitate a fast and simple proce- makes it much faster to broadreach and gybe running straight down-
dure for taking in or letting out the first reef in the main, we use two wind. And in really strong winds, for safety reasons, we don’t like to
captive winches to control the halyard and the reef lines. The two sail running straight downwind.
winches are synchronised and a PLC controls the lines. When the hal- That also means that like most other modern fast superyachts, Adèle
yard is lowering the sail, the reef winch takes in the reef line at the hasn’t any spinnaker pole and only carries an asymmetric spinnaker.
same pace as the halyard. This keeps the sail stretched all the time. At 1,500 m2, it is certainly one of the largest spinnakers ever made.
The whole sail is guided with lazy jacks to the Park Avenue boom. It’s a fantastic sight to see the red and white asymmetric from the
We can even take in the reefs in both main and mizzen while sailing deck, crow’s nest or as a spectator from another boat. In moderate
close-hauled! To take in the first reef in the main we would still keep wind conditions on a beam or broad reach we would carry the spin-
the genoa and mizzen driving the boat, while the main boom is let naker (although we have carried it in up to 60 degrees apparent,
out enough to do this synchronised manoeuvre, which takes only a when the sea is moderate) and together with the mizzen staysail we
few minutes. will have more than 2,700 m2 of canvas.
All lines, like the halyards for the main and mizzen, run to captive Tenders
winches concealed under the deck. The only exceptions are the
sheets for the downwind sails that are led to big drum winches Adèle has three tenders in total. One, Kina, which is a 14-ft waterjet
(Lewmar 150 and 111). and another, Ika, is a 20-ft Z drive and finally Sanna is a 14-ft open
All operations for the upwind sails are controlled either from the sail robust tender with aluminium bottom, inflatable sides and an out-
control console in the cockpit or from the remote controls that the board. They are all named after my daughters (their childhood nick-
crew can carry around. This way they can position themselves, where names), like Adèle is named after my mother.
they see both the sail shape and the movement of sheets and other We board the tenders from a platform that can be hydraulically unfold-
control lines. ed from the port side of Adèle. We also have a side boarding ladder
folding out from the hull next to that platform. The tenders can be tied
Reaching up alongside the boarding platform. We also store our diving equipment
Adèle is fastest on a close reach. As the wind creeps further aft we inside a hatch accessible from both the platform and from the deck.
would first set the mizzen staysail (500 m2). We can carry it at wind The smaller tenders are stored either side of the forward deck house
angles from around 60 degrees. We hoist it furled then unfurl using and Ika, the large 20-ft one, is placed in a well forward of the mast.
a small hydraulic furler just aft of the forward deckhouse It is then All the tenders (including the outboard one) are diesel driven. This is
sheeted to the outer end of the mizzen boom. It is built of spectra a safety issue, but it is also very convenient to fill up the tender tanks
and mylar so it keeps its form although very light. from the main tanks of Adèle, which carry 24 tonnes of diesel.
All images © Rick Tomlinson/bluegreen pictures unless credited otherwise
THE YACHT REPORT 123You can also read
