Ed Dubois is right in the thick of creating a new 58m sloop with the Royal Huisman Shipyard in the Netherlands. And as is being seen elsewhere in the superyacht market, outright performance is steadily making its way ever higher up the scale of owner priorities…

Design 405 – 58m sloop
Dubois Naval Architects are delighted to be designing this exciting new yacht for a highly experienced owner who has competed at the highest level in offshore and inshore yacht racing. It was clear from the outset that his priorities were exciting in so far as he wanted to combine high performance with completely reliable and also comfortable world cruising ability, and for the yacht to be capable of remaining independent for long periods of time.

From the outset Royal Huisman Shipyard were chosen and we, as designers, saw this as a great opportunity to further cement a relationship with this most prestigious and exceptional yacht builder.

The design has drawn on our high level of experience over many years, beginning with racing yacht design success and carrying on with the emergent, and then booming, superyacht design era through the 1990s and 2000s. In particular, our experience with such yachts as the 66m Aglaia and more recently the 46m Ganesha (launched in 2011 and 2013 respectively) has proved a secure benchmark.

As is becoming increasingly the case with modern performance superyacht design, we duly embarked on a research programme including Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis and the tank testing of a large-scale (1:10) model, using the Wolfson Unit at Southampton University. The details of this research remain confidential; however, the aim centred on developing and refining the various areas of 1) hull form (the best balance of reduced wetted surface versus stability), 2) performance in waves and 3) refinement of keel and bulb shapes. A fourth area of research was to investigate the comparative benefits of single and twin rudders. Structural analysis was a fifth focus for attention, including longitudinal strength and bending.