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Sailing Superyacht "Ngoni" Has a 9,000 Square Foot Sail

Superyachts give us a glimpse of what it can be like to remove ourselves from the stresses and ruts of everyday life. They represent an escape from the realities of career, responsibilities, and the things that make it possible to obtain them. Some are fortunate enough to take ownership of such a magnificent craft, while others, privileged to take a cruise and experience a few days or weeks of sheer uninterrupted relaxation. Some provide mind-blowing luxury accommodations that rival the best hotels in the world. The Robb Report highlights their Boat of the Week to stir the desire to escape on a superyacht with the Epic Sailing Superyacht, the Ngoni.

Sailing Superyacht "Ngoni" Has a 9,000 Square Foot Sail

If you're into sailing the Ngoni is a dream ship that comes with all of the amenities one's heart could desire. The sleek and low-profile exterior makes the ship look tiny in comparison to the massive sails when they're fully deployed. The giant sails are required to capture enough wind to move the massive luxury craft, but it doesn't mitigate the visual impact of the massive rigging that overpowers the ship beneath.

Building the Superyacht Ngoni

Superyacht Ngoni began as a sketch via the Dubois Naval Architects. This was Ed Dubois' final superyacht project. He worked alongside naval architect Peter Bolke on the design. The owner of the Ngoni strongly desired a yacht with the appearance and functions of a "beast." He provided three design firms with the parameters for the ship with Dubois providing the most suitable sketch of the concepts, winning the bid. The Ngoni was created through the inspiration of a 400 GT proportionately with a subtle design blown up to a massive 190-foot vessel.

Requirements for the design

The owner who commissioned the building of the Ngoni ordered a head-turning superyacht with high-tech equipment, massive proportions, a slim and edgy profile, with curves in the right place, and a boatload of luxury amenities. The concept for the yacht was to build a creative expression from the owner's perspective, but the design team was charged with the task of bringing the concept into material form in a seaworthy vessel.

Specifications of the Ngoni

Before discussing the lovely aesthetics and luxury interior, a look at the impressive construction of the Ngoni is in order. The reverse sheer is constructed of carbon composite material with a rig reaching a height of 247 feet. The mainsail measures 9,129 square feet. The lifting keel has a bulb of 72 tons and adjusts from 26 to 17 feet for shallow water cruising. The listing keel weighs 100 tons with n overall total weight of 144,000 pounds for the specialized components. The counterbalance is huge but it provides for exceptional stability of the yacht and enhances its sailing capacity. This craft was engineered with a performance steering system for steering through the shallows of Mediterranean waters in places and port entry emphasis more than cruising the open seas. The yacht is light enough for smooth manual handling when under sail power. The sloop-rigged Ngoni maintains exceptional longitudinal stiffness with a single mast, forestay, and backstay. Although it puts heavy compression on the bottom of the craft the bulwark cap is wide and thick to compensate for the additional mast compression. The total weight of the keel and mainsail when under sail power is 200,000 pounds. The plumb bow is rounded to decrease wind disturbance and the deck is laid out in a low profile with double curved molded glass that also decreases wind disturbance.

Speed over amenities

The owner who commissioned the building of the Ngoni was clear about his desire for speed over an excessive number of cabins on the interior for accommodating more guests according to Boat International. This stipulation made it necessary for the engineers to figure out a configuration considering loads and speeds to get the highest performance from the sails. It was determined that the large tender would need to be under the deck with a clean and uncluttered deck to achieve the least amount of wind resistance, hence the low profile and sleek, rounded features of the craft.

The interior of the Ngoni

Next, the interior layout was designed. The interior and exterior made the best use of modern and curved glass for aesthetic value and enhanced performance. This is where the exterior meets the interior before the addition of any luxe amenities. With an agreement structurally, aesthetics were added in the form of a wooden asking tub, marble in the showers, a collage of Vik Munoz photos, a Stefano Bombardieri sculpture, Officina Coppola wall panels with customized finishes, art panels of limestone, metal, and resin, and the list goes on. The owner's deck occupies most of the lower deck with other cabins built for crew and guests aboard the ship. It's adorned with bespoke veneers and a host of other luxury features, all planned to make it exceptionally beautiful without interfering with sailing performance.

The Ngoni's interior is designed, all components in unison to create a sense of movement at the bottom of a shallow sea. There is no sundeck as the focus is on contact with the water. BCM Turkey provided the optically perfect glass that encircles the main deck with compound curves. The tinted film was laminated to the glass that provides an almost 360-degree view from nearly anywhere on the main deck you stand. The Ngoni is nothing short of a floating masterpiece that Ed Dubois would not live to see completed, however, his contributions to the design remain.

The Ngoni is for sale.

According to Yachting World, the Ngoni is up for sale. The superyacht is as spectacular as it was on the day of its delivery to its owner in 2017. Fraser Yachts has listed the amazing Beast of the Sea for an asking price of $52,763,000.

Lily Wordsmith

Written by Lily Wordsmith

Lily Wordsmith is a freelance writer who has had a love affair with the written word for decades. You can find her writing blog posts and articles while sitting under a tree at the local park watching her kids play, or typing away on her tablet in line at the DMV. In addition to her freelance career, she is pursuing ebook writing with an ever-growing repertoire of witty ebooks to her name. Her diversity is boundless, and she has written about everything from astrobotany to zookeepers. Her real passions are her family, baking desserts and all things luxe.

Read more posts by Lily Wordsmith

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