Feadship launches 46.4m 'Kiss' on Valentines Day
Feadship launches the aptly named 'Kiss' as lovers prepare to do the same.…
Valentine's Day marked the launch of the appropriately named Feadship M/Y Kiss. Following the launches of the behemoth 101.5m Feadship and 83.5m Savannah, the 46.4m Kiss is comparatively modest although highlights Feadships ability to produce superyachts of all sizes. Moreover both the similarities and the differences involved in the creation of Kiss when compared to her hull-sake Como showcase “Feadship’s ability to optimise the efficiency of the engineering processes involved” whilst ensuring that a fully custom superyacht remains the end product.
“With yachts like Como and Kiss, we are effectively building a sporty type boat around our average size of over 15 years ago, but now with all the know-how and intelligence Feadship has developed,” Feadship director Henk De Vries explained in a statement to the media. “This facilitates a clever approach to high-end production, one which remains entirely custom while keeping the costs of a Feadship of this size within the bounds of reason.”
Como and Kiss have obvious exterior similarities, but their kinship is skin deep. De Vries continues, “even though Como and Kiss have similar looks they are very different yachts. Most if not all yards would have taken a platform approach based on Como’s hull, offering the client a discount for the reduced amount of engineering. That’s not how Feadship does things.”
Instead of idly imitating the blueprints set down by Como’s creation, Feadship made a number of alterations necessary to suit owner and purpose. Whereas Como sails with a top speed of 19 knots, Kiss has been limited to a more conventional 16 knots, so her power plant is an entirely different animal. In place of an open top deck, Kiss houses a complete master penthouse. The addition of the penthouse guaranteed additional volume and weight requiring amendments to be made to the lines plan.
One of the standout features of Kiss is her paint work. She features a metallic black hull with a red stripe straddling the water line, Feadship state that Kiss is the most complex object ever to have been metallically painted. This specific request from the owner meant that Feadship had to develop special mixing machines and electrically charged spray guns to maintain a blemish free coating of metallic flakes.
From the studio of Redman Whiteley Dixon, Kiss’s interior presents a “stark, crisp” look. Started by Mark Whiteley and Toby Ecuyer, the project was left to Toby and Douglas Hynd to complete. “They did a fantastic job on Kiss” comments De Vries, “it is never easy to take over an interior design project once underway, on behalf of Feadship, I would like to say how impressed we are again with RWD’s work.”
Kiss’s bold Dubois exterior features a 6.5m wide bulwark window, in conjunction with large doors adjacent to the main entrance a sense of openness is maintained throughout, highlighted by an aluminium-plated sun roof on the owner’s deck – an owner’s deck being an oddity for a superyacht of this size in and of itself. Al fresco attributes include a sun deck with jacuzzi and a transom swim platform with swim ladder and underwater platform.
Where Kiss did benefit from the Como project was an enhanced ability to standardise the design and manufacturing processes rather than the product itself. Como and Kiss are about as similar as a lion and a tiger, both beautiful animals of the same genus with some exceptional differences.
“With yachts like Como and Kiss, we are effectively building a sporty type boat around our average size of over 15 years ago, but now with all the know-how and intelligence Feadship has developed,” Feadship director Henk De Vries explained in a statement to the media. “This facilitates a clever approach to high-end production, one which remains entirely custom while keeping the costs of a Feadship of this size within the bounds of reason.”
Como and Kiss have obvious exterior similarities, but their kinship is skin deep. De Vries continues, “even though Como and Kiss have similar looks they are very different yachts. Most if not all yards would have taken a platform approach based on Como’s hull, offering the client a discount for the reduced amount of engineering. That’s not how Feadship does things.”
M/Y Kiss
Instead of idly imitating the blueprints set down by Como’s creation, Feadship made a number of alterations necessary to suit owner and purpose. Whereas Como sails with a top speed of 19 knots, Kiss has been limited to a more conventional 16 knots, so her power plant is an entirely different animal. In place of an open top deck, Kiss houses a complete master penthouse. The addition of the penthouse guaranteed additional volume and weight requiring amendments to be made to the lines plan.
One of the standout features of Kiss is her paint work. She features a metallic black hull with a red stripe straddling the water line, Feadship state that Kiss is the most complex object ever to have been metallically painted. This specific request from the owner meant that Feadship had to develop special mixing machines and electrically charged spray guns to maintain a blemish free coating of metallic flakes.
From the studio of Redman Whiteley Dixon, Kiss’s interior presents a “stark, crisp” look. Started by Mark Whiteley and Toby Ecuyer, the project was left to Toby and Douglas Hynd to complete. “They did a fantastic job on Kiss” comments De Vries, “it is never easy to take over an interior design project once underway, on behalf of Feadship, I would like to say how impressed we are again with RWD’s work.”
Kiss’s bold Dubois exterior features a 6.5m wide bulwark window, in conjunction with large doors adjacent to the main entrance a sense of openness is maintained throughout, highlighted by an aluminium-plated sun roof on the owner’s deck – an owner’s deck being an oddity for a superyacht of this size in and of itself. Al fresco attributes include a sun deck with jacuzzi and a transom swim platform with swim ladder and underwater platform.
Where Kiss did benefit from the Como project was an enhanced ability to standardise the design and manufacturing processes rather than the product itself. Como and Kiss are about as similar as a lion and a tiger, both beautiful animals of the same genus with some exceptional differences.
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